School-Based Occupational Therapist

Job Summary:

Identify, evaluate, and treat functional sensorimotor, perceptual, and fine motor deficits in students with physical, cognitive, and emotional/behavioral challenges through collaboration with teachers, paraprofessionals, parents and other related service providers. ACCEL’s student population consists of students with a variety of developmental disabilities in K-12+ educational settings.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide consultative and direct occupational therapy services. Duties include consulting and providing ideas to teachers and parents: providing therapy and instruction to students in the classroom setting.
• Evaluate and write evaluation reports for students in need of therapy services using a variety of diagnostic tests, informal rating scales, observational opportunities, and other means, as appropriate.
• Participates in MET and IEP meetings when appropriate, to discuss a student’s Occupational Therapy evaluation, present level of performance and to make recommendations regarding IEP goals and objectives.
• Develops and writes Individual Education Plans for each student requiring therapy services providing student’s present level of performance and formulating annual goals and benchmark objectives.
• Evaluates student’s progress through ongoing and periodic assessments, documenting progress with the same frequency as for all ACCEL students.
• Prepares treatment plans and develops creative therapeutic activities which reflect best practices and meets the functional sensorimotor, perceptual, and fine motor needs of students.
• Maintain up to date and accurate student list, dates of IEP reviews, scheduled meetings, and current copies of student goals and objectives.
• Consults with teachers, therapists, directors, and other school professionals to provide collaborative programming and problem solve student issues. Therapist will work, as appropriate, within the classroom utilizing a team approach with education staff in delivering functional sensorimotor, perceptual, and fine motor activities. This will include providing writing activities when appropriate, developing sample materials and strategies for teachers when not in the classroom.
• Responsible for determining alternate seating and adaptive feeding equipment needs of students.
• Supervises and monitors job performance and caseload of Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTAs) when applicable.
• Develop and maintain a professional relationship with ACCEL staff, parents/caregivers, and members of the community at large.
• Submit all reports within designated time frames.
• Maintain an accurate record keeping system.
• Maintain attendance and hourly contact records for Medicaid.
• Submit Medicaid billing as directed.
• Maintains therapy department equipment and materials.
• Participates in school meetings, in-services, and committees designed to improve/enhance the overall school program. Contribute to the professional growth of colleagues by providing relevant in-services.
• Maintains regular attendance.
• Performs related duties, special assignments and projects as required by the Therapy Supervisor.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Supervises assigned subordinate staff as applicable.
• Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws.
• Responsibilities include training employees, planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; addressing complaints and resolving problems as needed.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• All personnel hired by ACCEL shall be fingerprinted as a condition of employment, except for certified personnel who, as a condition of certification, are required to have a valid fingerprint clearance card. All other personnel shall obtain a state level fingerprint background check.

Language Skills:

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret educational documents and assessments. Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from parents/caregivers and other individuals authorized to obtain educational information.

Reasoning Abilities:

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.

Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Physical Requirements:

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

During the workday, the employee is frequently walking and standing while performing the duties of this job. The employee may frequently bend or twist at the neck and back, reach with hands and arms, climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl while performing the duties of this job. The employee is regularly required to use hands and fingers to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include peripheral vision, close vision, distance vision, color vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus. Specific hearing abilities required by this job include the ability to hear the spoken word at a normal volume and at 20 feet with your back turned.

The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. At times employees may, with assistance, lift and/or move up to an individual student’s body weight.

Work Environment:

The work environment is representative of what an employee may encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to loud. Students may exhibit inappropriate physical behavior which may include hitting, biting, kicking, etc.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Valid Arizona Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners License.
• Obtain an AHCCCS number for submission of Medicaid billing.
• Current NPI number is needed.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in occupational therapy, preferred.