Welcome to Special Education

As a related service the goal of occupational therapy (OT) is to enable students with disabilities to be functional participants in their educational environment. Occupational therapists (OT’s) provide direct and indirect services to students when it is required in order to implement the students’ educational programs. These services to students, school teams, and families may include:

Helping school teams devise strategies and adaptive aids in order to improve school performance, and to include students with disabilities in school activities.

Helping teachers understand the sensorimotor aspects of school activities such as writing, eating, and handling materials, in order to address problems in those areas.

Developing activities to improve fine motor control, to improve oral motor control for feeding, or to promote sensorimotor development (body awareness, postural control, eye-hand coordination).

School OT intervention is limited to those services that are required for a student to benefit from their educational program. There may be aspects of a student’s disability that do not interfere with education but could be addressed by an occupational therapist in another setting.

What Are School OT Services?

OT may provide services to school teams on behalf of a student. They may include:

Explaining how a student’s medical or sensorimotor problems will affect school performance.

Suggesting modifications to school activities and the school environment.

Adapting materials for use in school.

Referring a student for an assistive technology consultation.

Recommending consultation with adapted physical education specialists.

Helping to set realistic expectations for the student’s performance.

Monitoring the effectiveness of therapeutic modifications and accommodations carried out by school personnel.

OT may provide services directly to students, either individually or in a group. They may include:

Exploring and monitoring seating and positioning adaptations to increase independence and participation in school activities. Example: extra support to allow control for writing or cutting tasks.

Exploring modifications to school activities. Example: adapting worksheets and using materials that are easier to handle or to control.

Exploring individualized adaptations of school materials to increase independence and school participation. Example: adapting feeding utensils, pencils, or scissors.

Developing a program of therapeutic activities to support a student’s performance in the educational environment. Example: hand strengthening activities for writing, cutting, or opening containers.

Training school staff in techniques for handling, feeding, or helping a student use special equipment and then monitoring use of the techniques.

Ongoing reassessment of the student’s needs and the role of OT in addressing those needs.

Which Students Are Eligible for School OT Services?

To be eligible for school OT services students must:

Be identified as having a disability that interferes with education under the criteria of IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;

And have sensorimotor problems that interfere with their ability to manage classroom materials, activities, or their self-care needs in school;

And need OT intervention to become more independent or better able to participate in school activities.

Who Provides School OT Services?

School OT services are provided by Maryland licensed occupational therapists and Maryland licensed occupational therapy assistants.

OT’s and OTA’s are part of the multidisciplinary team that plans and monitors the student’s special education Individualized Education Program or written 504 Plan.

What is the Difference Between School OT and Medical OT?

School OT intervention consists of services that are required for students to benefit from their educational programs. There may be facets of a student’s disability, which do not interfere with education but could be addressed by an occupational therapist in another setting.

How Can I Find Out More About School-Based OT?

If your child attends a Baltimore county Public School:

Contact your child’s teacher or school administrator.

If your child is birth to three years:

Contact Baltimore County’s Infants & Toddlers Program at 410-887-2169

If your child is three years old to 21 years old and does not attend a BCPS school:

Contact the Office of Child Find at 410-887-3017

Beth George, Team Leader
egeorge2@bcps.org
410-887-5441