Deciding if a Child Needs OT

Earn 1 hour of continuing education by joining OT Potential after taking this course.

Course Description

Most parents start their OT journey with a frantic Google search: “Does my child need OT?” Unfortunately, the answers they find are often buried in vague recommendations about “missing milestones.”

In this one-hour course, former AOTA President and pediatric practice owner Alyson Stover, MOT, JD, OTR/L, BCP explores how we can move beyond ambiguity. We’ll dive into actionable strategies for improving clarity and access, ensuring that therapists can empower parents and providers to connect children with the right services at the most critical times.

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OT Potential courses are presented as live webinars, then released on-demand video and audio via the OT Potential Podcast. Attendance in the live webinar will be indicated on your certificate. Learn more about how our courses help meet live webinar requirements, and OT CEU requirements overall.

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Learning Objectives

1. You will be able to identify at least three common barriers families face when trying to access and maintain pediatric OT services.
2. You will be able to recognize strategies for improving clarity around developmental milestones and OT who benefits from an OT treatment plan, following an evaluation.

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Discussion (40 minutes)

1. Tell me about your private practice- and what you most enjoy about it. 
2. I’ve seen this lack of clarity around “Does my child need OT” as a big problem for our profession. Do you agree- and have you seen it too? What does it cost families when there’s no clear answer?
3. Part of the access gap seems to be happening before anyone even picks up the phone to call a clinic. What would it look like for OT to have a stronger presence in primary care — and how do we get there practically?
4. Is better-defined developmental milestone language part of the answer? How do we make that usable for parents and pediatricians without it becoming a checklist that misses the full picture?
5. Should we be using PROM as screening tools both in primary care offices, and for parents to do independently? I see this happening in 
6. Many parents navigate this on their own- what would it look like for OT to have a closer primary care relationship? 
7. What can players like OT Potential and the AOTA do to help provide clarity around this question?
8. What is one thing individuals can do to help increase access to care in their own setting? 

Live Q&A (10 min)

Closing (5 min)

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Role of Occupational Therapy in Pediatric Primary Care: Promoting Childhood Development
• Associations Among Clinical Factors and Occupational Therapy Service Utilization in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Exploring Referral and Service Utilization Patterns Within an Outpatient Interdisciplinary Pediatric Chronic Pain Program 
• Referral networks for pediatric patients with genetic conditions: The perspective of occupational therapists

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about when children may benefit from OT services. The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.

Speakers

Alyson Stover, MOT, JD, OTR/L, BCP

A childhood family trauma introduced Alyson to the power of occupational therapy. A subsequent lifetime of study and practice convinced her that consumer advocacy was every bit as essential as her technical practice of occupational therapy. 

Now, Alyson and her husband own a private outpatient pediatric practice in a rural county in Pennsylvania and co-founded a non-profit organization that uses occupation to address community, societal and population needs.  She currently serves as the Director of Clinical Services and continues to practice as an occupational therapist at Capable Kids and lead clinical consultant for Capable Families. 

Alyson’s areas of expertise include pediatrics and holistic, occupation-centric approaches to substance misuse and trauma.  Additionally she consults in various capacities, including clinical as well as systems, bringing expert program development knowledge, change at the micro, meso, and macro levels, sustainability, and business resilience/staff wellness.   

Alyson also is committed to promotion of occupational therapy through grassroots advocacy initiatives and development of community collaborations to support community wellness.  She has partnered with many organizations in her hometown to implement innovative, interdisciplinary programs through community grant funding and state funds.  She is AOTA Board Certified in Pediatrics. 

Additionally, Alyson is an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh where she also obtained her juris doctorate in law with a post-graduate certificate in health law.  Her interests include using occupational therapy as a powerful driving-force for larger health care change, advancing occupational therapy’s national and global relevance and occupational therapy’s role as a leader in policy development and implementation.  Alyson is honored to have served as the President of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Requirements. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

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