ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog

 A couple posts back I blogged about a new tool that has been in development called the Comprehensive Observations of Proprioception.  I was a little surprised about the editorial decision to publish an article about performance on the tool without publishing about the tool itself.  Now we have a paper on the tool itself - so the ordering of publication is a question for AJOT editors - not the authors of the paper. The authors describe the tool as an observational measure that is criterion referenced.  The test includes 18 items that purportedly represent some aspects of proprioceptive function and they use literature review as one tool to substantiate the content validity of the items.  As I mentioned in the original post on this matter I am concerned that some of these items might represent some aspect or measure of proprioception but then again they also might not.  Fully 25%+ of the items are behavioral measures like 'overactive' and 'enjoyment when ...

More regulatory mumbo-jumbo, while I am on a roll: The New York State Department of Health has proposed an amendment to Subpart 69-4 of Title 10 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, the Early Intervention Program. The public comment period ends October 22, 2012.  The new regulations create a requirement for arms-length relationships to tamp down conflict of interest that may be contributing to over-utilization and cost over runs. An arms-length requirement between evaluators and providers is reasonable given the evidence of inappropriate utilization and significant cost over runs in these programs.  Although not all inappropriate utilization can be attributed to this factor, it is ethically correct for providers to remove any possibilities of conflicts.  Existing rules and regulations, whether in professional practice acts or the EI regs themselves, have not controlled this problem Here is a pertinent part of the regulation:    (ii)(a...

The following material was copied from the NYSOTA Facebook page.  A fan of the page (George Nickel) posted a general "calling out" to NYSOTA which prompted my response.  This might be lengthy, but I believe that it is instructive. Post from George Nickel on Facebook: Okay, I am calling you out. We have received written support from The New York State Speech Hearing and Language Association and the Regional Physical Therapy Association but none from the OT regarding the issue of the Related Services Tier System of The NYC Department of Education. Is it not an important issue that children with special needs and their families need you to join with the other organizations to advocate for not just them but for your profession? Christopher Alterio responds: George, this sounds like a local RFP that you lost and not a professional problem. if you have some more detailed information to share I would be interested in seeing it. I looked at various Facebook pages that are ...