Observing OTs in schools

[rcludo]

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I am looking to get some observation hours in a school setting over the next few months, but I am having trouble figuring out how to do that. I haven't really heard about schools in my area (Portland, OR) employing OTs as opposed to generic school counselors and the websites of the schools and districts I've looked at aren't particularly helpful. Does anyone have any advice about how to find OTs in schools? My last resort would be just be calling each school in the area individually, but it would be nice if this information was available online somehow. Thank you!

 

[mlc54]

Unfortunately, it might come down to having to contact each school individually/directly. I just looked on the website for the school that I shadowed an OT at (out of curiousity after seeing your post) and I couldn't find anything either, but since I've already shadowed there, I know there is an OT there. When I was first looking, I emailed the principal of the school and explained that I am a future OT student looking to do some observation hours in a school setting, asked if it would be possible for me to shadow an OT there and gave an estimate as to how many observation hours I was looking for. As long as you explain that, most schools/people seem more than willing to help you out!

Either way, the worst answer that they could respond with is "no". But I'm sure you'll find someone who is willing to help you out! 🙂

I hope that helped a little! Good luck!!

 

[rcludo]

Thank you! I definitely don't mind contacting specific schools if that's what it comes down to; I was just wondering if there was a more efficient way I was unaware of. I appreciate the advice!

 

[OT2015]

It might be easiest to go through the district level services coordinator/contact. That's what worked best for me (since I had zero contacts in any schools). You mentioned you had already looked at websites for the district, but I thought I'd include the links below in case you hadn't reached out to the contacts listed for some of the specific special education teams:

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/special-education/3600.htm
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/special-education/3798.htm
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/special-education/3597.htm
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/special-education/6364.htm

 

[rcludo]

I shadowed/volunteered with OTs in three different school settings but here's the thing...I met all of them because I had connections. Little connections, but connections nonetheless!

For the first school, I went to a volunteer orientation for my city's school district. After a long presentation, I was told that they didn't have any OT-related opportunities. I was disappointed but undeterred; I decided to email the principal of one school in the district that had a special class for hearing-impaired children. I dropped the *volunteer coordinator's* name in the email, and even though it was a cold email, she set me up with an OT shadowing gig there.

The second school was a "spectrum" campus for kids with autism. I knew a *friend* who used to work there, and though we weren't particularly close over the past few years, I mentioned her name in the email and set up another day of shadowing.

The third school, a regular elementary school, came up when I mentioned my OT requirements to a *friend's friend's girlfriend*, who I had just met at dinner. The girlfriend, a third grade teacher, said she had an OT in her class who she could ask. I got her contact info, mentioned her name in the email and now I'm doing my last 30 hours there 😀

In summary: I don't know if it's necessary to drop a name in a cold email, but it seemed to help me a lot

That's actually really helpful - I didn't think I had really any connections in the school districts, but your post made me remember a couple distant ones that could turn out to be useful. You're right, connections are key, and I'm glad yours worked out for you! Thank you!

It might be easiest to go through the district level services coordinator/contact. That's what worked best for me (since I had zero contacts in any schools). You mentioned you had already looked at websites for the district, but I thought I'd include the links below in case you hadn't reached out to the contacts listed for some of the specific special education teams:

http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/special-education/3600.htm
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/special-education/3798.htm
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/special-education/3597.htm
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/special-education/6364.htm

Wow, mind blown. This is perfect! For some reason I had only looked at the site for the Beaverton School District (right outside of Portland, and closer to where I work), which was the unhelpful site I mentioned. I can't believe I didn't even think to check if the Portland Public Schools one was better! From your links, in addition to the contact info for those teams, I found the contact info for 15 OTs in the Portland Public schools! I'm optimistic that a few will be willing to let me shadow. Thank you thank you thank you!

 

[resot]

I am looking to get some observation hours in a school setting over the next few months, but I am having trouble figuring out how to do that. I haven't really heard about schools in my area (Portland, OR) employing OTs as opposed to generic school counselors and the websites of the schools and districts I've looked at aren't particularly helpful. Does anyone have any advice about how to find OTs in schools? My last resort would be just be calling each school in the area individually, but it would be nice if this information was available online somehow. Thank you!

Sorry, this may be off topic now and it looks like you have the information you were searching for, but this quote: "... employing OTs as opposed to generic school counselors..." concerned me because school counselors and school OTs do NOT have interchangeable roles.

Hopefully once you get your observation hours in, you will be able to see the difference in the two career paths.

Also, keep in mind that some school districts contract out for their OTs because they are not successful in hiring some on their own. This may be why you were finding it difficult to find school OTs. You may want to consider contacting pediatric therapy providers (there are many private companies along with some non-profit ones like the Easter Seals) that send their OTs out to schools that they have contracts with.

 

[rcludo]

Sorry, this may be off topic now and it looks like you have the information you were searching for, but this quote: "... employing OTs as opposed to generic school counselors..." concerned me because school counselors and school OTs do NOT have interchangeable roles.

Hopefully once you get your observation hours in, you will be able to see the difference in the two career paths.

Also, keep in mind that some school districts contract out for their OTs because they are not successful in hiring some on their own. This may be why you were finding it difficult to find school OTs. You may want to consider contacting pediatric therapy providers (there are many private companies along with some non-profit ones like the Easter Seals) that send their OTs out to schools that they have contracts with.

I definitely do know the big difference between the two, and that was just my poor choice of language that made it seem like they were interchangeable. Sorry about that.

However, I do think there can be some overlap at times. For example, a school counselor might talk with a kid who is acting up in class and lashing out at students or teachers. I currently volunteer with an OT at a sports rehab center who often works with post-concussive patients. Some of them have problems with frustration levels and lashing out at people, because their brain is still healing and has trouble handling strong emotions and stimulation. My OT works with them to create strategies for "going to their happy place" in these situations, something I could see a school counselor doing as well. But yes, I know that these cases are less frequent and that they generally have very different jobs.

I'm also volunteering at a pediatric therapy provider, so I'll check and see if they contract out to schools at all. Good idea!