OTIS End of Year Report for WOTA
Submitted June 15, 2005 –Revised June 18, 2005
WOTA Committee: Occupational Therapy in Schools
Committee Co-Chairs: Dottie Handley-More, Yvonne Swinth, Sara Woodward
Meetings/Communication:
OTIS co-chairs met 5 times throughout the year. Quarterly reports were prepared and submitted. OTIS co-chairs communicated with and/or attended Continuing Education and Annual Conference committee meetings. OTIS co-chairs responded to member practice queries forwarded by administrative assistant, Celeste Bowman, and the WOTA Executive Board.
OTIS Goals and Accomplishments:
1. OTIS will communicate with WOTA leadership and membership regarding current issues affecting school-based practice.
1.1 OTIS will provide school-based practice updates via the WOTA newsletter. OTIS Updates were submitted for August 2004, October 2004, December 2004, February 2005, April 2005, and June 2005 newsletters. An additional column, Ask OTIS, was added and submitted for February 2005, April 2005, and June 2005 newsletters.
1.2 OTIS will provide specific updates regarding federal legislation such as the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. See 1.1. Dottie and Yvonne provided a class on IDEA for the WOTA Continuing Education Committee with a 2nd offering and potentially a third in the fall. These classes have filled quickly with the need to develop waiting lists.
1.3 OTIS will analyze and distribute results of the WOTA online survey of WA state school-based occupational therapists and use findings to prioritize future goals and objectives. Objective not yet met.
1.4 OTIS will work with the Conference Committee to further develop opportunities for school-based practitioners at annual WOTA conference. OTIS has worked with the conference committee to strengthen the pediatric/school-based practitioner offerings. Three sessions were offered at the 2004 conference with 30-40 attendees at each. This year’s tentative schedule includes five 90-minute sessions with the possibility of seven and includes two concurrent sessions during Saturday time slots. AOTA’s Leslie Jackson is a confirmed presenter. A poster session is planned as well as an OTIS meeting.
2. OTIS will provide current resources to WA state school-based occupational therapy practitioners for the express purpose of enhancing service delivery through the use of best evidence.
2.1 OTIS will maintain a listserv for its members. Objective met. Join the listserv by sending name and email address to listserv manager, Roberta Reardon, at
2.2 OTIS will develop Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Tip Sheets, e.g., Caseload, OT Role in the Schools, and Supervision, for distribution via the OTIS web pages. Objective not yet met. The Ask OTIS column was added and submitted for February 2005, April 2005, and June 2005 newsletters. These questions will be posted on the website. See 2.4.
2.3 OTIS membership will assemble quarterly to network with other practitioners. An OTIS meeting was held October 1 during the 2004 WOTA conference to share tools and resources used in school-based practice. Renee Watling presented on school-based OT services for students with autism/PDD at the May 26, 2005 OTIS meeting. Next OTIS meeting will be Bob Mahan at the Special Education Technology Center (SETC) in Ellensburg on Friday, September 9, 9:30a-2:30p. Another meeting will be held during the 2005 WOTA conference.
2.4 OTIS will develop web pages for the WOTA website to include Mission and Goals, FAQ/Tip Sheets/ Q & A, Resource List, Listserv information, Links to AOTA, SETC, OSPI, etc. Objective not yet met. OTIS met with Ron Stone to prepare for website development. A proposed webpage has been developed with above items included. OTIS is currently sponsoring a contest to develop a logo. See June 2005 newsletter for details. Submissions due by July 15, 2005.
3. OTIS will collaborate with other professional associations, organizations, and committees, in order to address the needs of schools and school-based therapists.
3.1 OTIS will explore development of a joint statement with the Physical Therapy Association of Washington (PTWA) regarding role delineation within school-based practice. Objective not yet met.
3.2 OTIS will maintain membership in local and state committees as they exist, including Special Education/ELL Joint Task Force on the Certificate of Mastery, Washington State Special Education Coalition (WSSEC), and Washington Educational Staff Associates Council (WESAC). Objective met. Ongoing meetings for WSSEC and WESAC. The Special Ed./ELL Joint Task Force presented recommendations for changes to the requirements for obtaining a Certificate of Mastery. The state has adopted these recommendations and the work of the Task Force is completed.
3.3 OTIS will establish, build, and maintain relationships with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Washington Education Association (WEA). OTIS represented WOTA at the Washington School Readiness Summit on 11/8/04. OTIS has participated in joint planning efforts between OSPI and WEA to develop an educational staff associate (ESA) conference. Initially scheduled for August 16 & 17, 2005, this has been postponed to the fall sometime. OTIS will continue to be involved in the planning. Emphasis at that conference will most likely be on Early Intervening Services, part of the IDEA reauthorization. Additional OTIS representation has occurred at joint ESA meetings at WEA to discuss ESA shortages, legislative updates, and contract language.
Needs/Future Goals:
Finalize, analyze, and distribute results of the WOTA online survey of WA state school-based occupational therapists
Clarify procedures for representatives to outside organizations, e.g., WSSEC, requesting reimbursement. OTIS has a line item for annual WSSEC contribution and yet SOP Responsibility I for WOTA Representative to Outside Organizations states that this request will require approval of WOTA Executive Board
Finalize development of OTIS webpages
Finalize OTIS SOPs
Discuss possibility of having reimbursement for conference presenters available to offset registration fees