The profession of occupational therapy is concerned with providing services to individuals whose lives have been disrupted by accident or illness, birth defects, developmental problems, social problems or psychological problems. Occupational therapy personnel work in hospitals, schools, workshops, mental health centers, clinic and home-health agencies.
Assistants help therapists in evaluating patients to determine patient and family needs.
After the therapist sets the treatment goals, you may be responsible for implementing therapy by using selected activities. Treatment may involve group activities, such as role playing, games or work and discussion groups, or individual programs, to help strengthen impaired muscles, to improve coordination or to compensate for perceptual problems. Assistants may also instruct and train patients in the use of specially designed devices to allow people with physical disabilities to dress or feed themselves, take care of their homes or return to work. Course work focuses on human development, and the tasks and skills used in everyday life. If you plan to enroll in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program, you must have one year of high school biology or one semester of college biology, and one year of high school algebra.