Adapted from the OT Practice Framework – 4th Edition (pp. 55-56) (AOTA, 2020)
This resource is intended to outline how OT/PT practitioners effectively contribute to differentiated core and the system of interventions (supplemental and intensive). While OT/PT practitioners are often more heavily involved in the design of instructional, curricular, and environmental supports throughout the tiered model, OT/PT practitioners may also be involved in the delivery of various supports. In the MTSS framework, the ‘client’ or focus of OT/PT service is most often the adults providing support to students but may also include students at the group or individual level. OT/PT involvement will be dependent upon many factors, including, but not limited to, existing systems and procedures, available resources, funding structures, staffing needs, expertise of team members, scope of practice, and licensure requirements.
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Differentiated Core
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System of Interventions
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| Client |
- District
- School campus
- All students and staff
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- Groups of teachers and students
- Interventionists
- Classrooms/grade levels
- Individual students
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| Design and/or Delivery: (OT/PT Examples) |
- Universal screening (e.g., mental health, ergonomics, developmental readiness, transition readiness)
- Professional development for educators, school staff, and parents (e.g., social and motor development, self-regulation, sound biomechanics/ injury prevention, sensory friendly environments, self-determination)
- Resource development for challenges, common in the classroom (e.g., positioning, classroom set-up, writing, flexible schedule, adapting routine)
- School-wide initiatives & programming (e.g., active recess, incorporating movement into instruction, district, or school-wide safety/emergency procedures)
- Curriculum design/selection (e.g., social emotional learning, handwriting)
- Coaching & modeling (e.g., guide staff with implementation of SEL into routines)
- Data analyses (e.g., identify trends for certain schools, grade levels, groups)
- Environmental adaptation (e.g., classroom setup, playground design/ accessibility, ergonomic screen of workstations for students or staff)
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- Standard protocol/ validated intervention program (e.g., whole class instruction on self-regulation program, co-facilitating social groups, handwriting/ motor group as part of a literacy station)
- Group & classroom level accommodations and interventions (e.g., physical activity as engagement/ behavior management strategy)
- Data analyses & progress monitoring (e.g., problem-solving with instructional staff, student or parent, team analysis to identify new strategies)
- Coaching & modeling (e.g., strategies, varied implementation, feedback, scaffolding assistance/support)
- Classroom observations of instruction, curriculum, & environment
- Student-level accommodations & interventions (e.g., hygiene or meal routines/environments, adapting game/play)
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Note: Intensive supports in general may be provided by an interventionist/instructional staff for a student with or without a disability. OT/PT practitioners may provide episodic interaction with students not identified under IDEA or Section 504, but the primary focus would be to model/coach an interventionist/instructional staff and to provide instructional, curricular, and/or environmental strategies. If the skilled expertise of OT/PT is needed on a direct, ongoing basis for a student, then it is likely the student has an underlying impairment which indicates suspicion of a disability and the need for further evaluation under IDEA or Section 504 (entitlement services). OT/PT practitioners must also consider licensure requirements (i.e., evaluation is required prior to provision of individualized intervention plans and supports).