ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog

I have been seeing Xinren for several months, on and off, in a primary care fashion.  That is a frustrating interaction pattern from an occupational therapy perspective, and perhaps one that as a profession we are simply not acculturated to.  In traditional contexts occupational therapists see children on an ongoing and regular basis.  Xinren's family would call and then would be seen for a consult and recommendations were made and then they seemed to not follow up for some time. The family initiated contact with me because they were concerned about their child's gross motor skills. The initial evaluation indicated that three year old Xinren had a lack of muscle tone and strength in both lower extremities, primarily in the ankles and feet.  Deep tendon reflexes were diminished and he had tightness in his heel cords and only trace strength in his ankles and toes that had a clear impact on his play skills.  I sent my report to the doctor who had no problem wit...

Question : Why do students in OTD programs respond so differently to survey questions about the OTD mandate? In May 2018, the American Occupational Therapy Association sent a survey to all AOTA members about the educational requirements put forth by ACOTE. More than 7,400 AOTA members completed the survey.  Students enrolled in OTD programs responded very differently than every other group.  That is a data point that requires some analysis.   This particular graph, with this breakdown of responses, represents an ethical question for the profession. That we have 60-65% of everyone except OTD students AGAINST the mandate, and 60-65% of OTD students FOR the mandate is a call for some real soul searching. I personally believe that this response pattern may represent a sunk cost bias phenomenon.  The more important question is "How did that happen?" or "Why do students have such different ideas on the OTD mandate?" AOTA members are bound by the AOTA Co...