Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA): You See Yourself Helping People

Are you seeking a profession that dedicates itself to helping people of all ages? Do you get a sense of personal fulfillment in seeing someone with a disability achieving his or her personal life goals? If so, you are precisely the type of person who would make an excellent Occupational Therapy Assistant – an OTA.

What an Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Does

Occupational therapy involves activities and assistive actions that help people reach the quality of life they want. It’s the OTA, working with a supervising occupational therapist (OT), who carries out the day-to-day therapy.

What an OTA does is crucial to those who face age-based developmental challenges, lost physical function, or cognitive ability due to disorders or injury. Other clients may struggle to overcome sensory processing issues like a paralyzing reaction to loud noises or intense social interactions.

OTAs get to know their clients, their situation, and their life goals and work one-on-one with them to accomplish activities of daily living that most of us take for granted, such as:

• Following a schedule for the day – brushing teeth, combing hair, etc.
• Navigating the structure of a school day
• Using assistive tools like wheelchairs or walkers
• Preparing a meal for themselves or reaching up into cabinets
• Assessing obstacles to daily living in the client’s home environment and making recommendations like adding bathroom grab bars or ramps for stairs.

For more details about how OTAs help change lives for the better, check out this blog.

An Occupational Therapy Assistant Helps People of Ages

The essential characteristics of an occupational therapy assistant include the ability to show empathy and understanding, coach others in positive, constructive ways, initiate the therapy plan and monitor progress toward the client’s life goals, and have a creative ability to adjust therapies to fit the client.

It’s healthcare from a whole-person profession. The skills and knowledge an OTA achieves in an occupational therapy assistant program are beneficial to people of all ages – from preschoolers to adults recovering from life-changing events, to seniors who want to live independently as long as they can.

• For kids, personalized “play/therapy” activities can increase balance control, range of motion, and fine- or gross-motor strength and dexterity.
• For an office worker, carpel tunnel injuries can be overcome through the OTA introducing assistive equipment like a more ergonomic keyboard.
• For an adult recovering from major surgery, an OTA can show the best ways to move from a bed to standing without causing pain or re-injury.
• For a senior adult with diminished physical abilities, an OTA might demonstrate how to use extended handles for kitchen faucets or shower knobs.

It’s a People-first Profession with a Terrific Career Outlook

The multi-dimensional skills of occupational therapy assistants are in demand, and the pay scale for OTAs reflects this.

Starting salaries for new OTAs average about $46,000, and experienced, certified OTAs could make from $53,000 to $61,000, according to the data site Salary.com. Occupational therapy assistants are in demand in a wide variety of settings:

• Offices of physical, occupational, and speech therapists
• School districts
• Hospitals
• Assisted living and nursing facilities
• Home healthcare agencies
• In the home
• Corporate health clinics.

Because occupational therapy is proving to be effective in improving the quality of life for so many, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the role of occupational therapy assistants to grow by 31% from 2018 to 2028.

The bottom line: There’s never been a better time to see yourself in an occupational therapy assistant program.

The 2-Year Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at CUKC

Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is a nonprofit, private, healthcare-focused university. The two-year Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) in Occupational Therapy Assistant program at CUKC launches you into the healthcare workforce by preparing you to be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) in as few as two years.

Our OTA degree program is accredited by the American Council of Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE). Unique to OTA education is the Level I and Level II fieldwork experience students go through to ensure skill competencies before they graduate. AT CUKC, coursework is presented in eight-week segments to immerse students in their class subjects.

Other aspects of our two-year A.A.S. in Occupational Therapy Assistant program:

• Accreditation by the Accreditation Council of Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE)
• On-campus simulated living quarters lab
• Class starts in spring and fall; begin prerequisite coursework anytime

Add it all up, and there’s no better time to become an occupational therapy assistant! Request information today, and also get this free eBook: Your Complete Guide to an Occupational Therapy Assistant Career.