Occupational therapy services are related services provided children with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Occupational Therapy service providers in the Houston ISD are licensed by the Texas Executive Council of Occupational Therapy Examiners (http://www.ptot.texas.gov/page/what-is-ot)

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) 20 USC 1401§602.26

RELATED SERVICES.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘related services’ means transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services (including speech-language pathology and audiology services, interpreting services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, social work services, school nurse services designed to enable a child with a disability to receive a free appropriate public education as described in the individualized education program of the child, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and medical services, except that such medical services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes the early identification and assessment of disabling conditions in children.

Texas Education Code (TEC)§29.002. Definition.

(2) related services, which are developmental, corrective, supportive, or evaluative services, not instructional in nature, that may be required for the student to benefit from special education instruction and for implementation of a student’s individualized education program.

Senior Manager for Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Assistive Technology Services.

The request for Occupational Therapy screening is responded to within 10 school days and is completed within 30 school days.

The Occupational Therapy evaluation is completed within 45 school days.

Occupational therapy services in the Houston ISD assist students with disabilities to participate in and benefit from the special education program provided them at school.

Occupational therapy personnel:

• Identify barriers that limit a child/adult student’s participation in classroom and school related activities
• Assist school teams to universally design programs and systems to facilitate inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities
• Provide school administrators and teachers with strategies to adapt classroom environments and/or activities to address identified barriers and support the implementation of the child/adult student’s individualized education program (IEP),
• Support classroom personnel in implementing assistive technology to support student success, and
• Support campus teams in designing alternative assessment methods, relevant instructional programs, and transition plans.
• Provide classroom-based support services for Preschoolers Achieving Learning Skills (PALS), Skills for Learning and Living (SLL), Structured Learning Classroom (SLC), and Preparing Students for Independence (PSI) classrooms where teachers. With the classroom-based support service, OT practitioners and teachers work collaboratively to incorporate developmentally appropriate sensory and motor skills as a natural component of the classroom routine. In general, OT services support the teacher to incorporate the fine motor, self-help, and sensory motor skills as a universal component of the instructional program.
• Provide student specific services to facilitate the implementation of the individualized educational program (IEP)in the natural classroom setting. Student specific OT services are available for all students receiving special education services if an educationally related need is identified through OT evaluation that requires OT services to address the need. This service is provided to facilitate the student’s functional participation in his or her individualized educational program (IEP). These services are provided as an integrated support in the classroom where the OT practitioner may work directly with the student within the classroom and/or support the student’s participation in the instructional program by working with classroom personnel to implement strategies designed specifically for that student. These services typically focus on providing environmental adaptations including the provision and monitoring of assistive technology. The process of identifying an educationally related need for a student specific OT service begins with requesting a screening by OT services.

Referral Process

The screening for instructional purposes provided by Occupational Therapy (OT) services is the procedure anyone in the Houston ISD uses to initiate a request for OT services. The screening process provides a means for anyone from a school, field, or district office to readily access the input of an OT service provider to facilitate the instructional program provided to a student with disability. This screening is not evaluation but may lead to an evaluation if:

• a student specific need is identified by the OT service provider, or
• a parent of a student with disability, in the process of contributing to the screening, requests the therapist to move from a screening to an evaluation process.
  

Request a Screening for Instructional Purposes

A request for OT screening is typically initiated for one of the following reasons:

• Educational Concern – A member of a student’s individualized education program (IEP) team, 504 committee, or IAT committee identifies a concern for a student’s progress in the goals and/or objectives that have been developed for the student and requests the input of an OT service provider.
• Transfer Student - A student transfers into the Houston ISD from another school district or other instructional setting with OT services documented in the students individualized education program (IEP) developed in the previous instructional setting.

To request a screening for instructional purposes by OT services, the school, field office, or district office personnel complete an “Additional Service Request” in Easy IEP.

In responding to the request for screening, the OT practitioner may take any or all of the following actions as appropriate:

• Review of the student's assessment information, present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, and documentation of previous services and supports provided
• Observation of the classroom environment where the educational concern is presented
• Conversations with the student's teacher(s) regarding the student's history and progress in relation to the identified educational concern
• Review of the student's work samples that have been collected by the student’s teacher(s).contact
• Contact the student's parent/guardian/surrogate parent to review any questions or concerns pertaining to the educational concern to be addressed.
• Upon completion of the screening process:
• If no additional support is indicated:

The therapist will provided a written summary of the actions taken during the screening process and the outcome of the screening process in the "Additional Service Request" module in Easy IEP. This summary is to be reviewed by the ARD/IEP committee in the next scheduled ARD/IEP committee meeting. The therapist will verbally review the response to the screening with the parent, guardian, or adult student (if available) and the classroom teacher submitting the request upon completion of the response.

• If further service is indicated:

The therapist will request consent to proceed into evaluation using the Consent for Related Service Evaluation for Occupational Therapy Services form.

Evaluation Process

Requesting/Initiating an Evaluation

• The evaluation of a student to determine the student’s need for OT services at school may be requested or initiated by one of the following means:
• In completing a screening for instructional purposes, the OT practitioner refers the student for an OT evaluation,
• An ARD/IEP Committee with the input of the OT practitioner identifies an educational concern necessitating the OT evaluation,
• A student moves into the district with documentation identifying the student as having received OT services at school as a part of their previous IEPand no current evaluation report is provided by the previous school district within 30 calendar days, or
• A student currently receiving school OT services and the formal OT evaluation is approaching three years old

Requesting Consent for Evaluation

• Once the need for an OT evaluation is determined, the OT practitioner will request consent to proceed with evaluation by providing the Houston ISD approved consent form. This form is provided in one of the following ways:
• In the process of an ARD/IEP committee meeting where the OT practitioner is in attendance,
• Via the normal channels by which the classroom teacher communicates with the student’s parent/guardian/surrogate parent, or
• Other communication method established by the campus.

Referral Processing by the Campus

• Upon receipt of signed Houston ISD approved consent form, the campus team member who received the form, dates the form by the date the form was received and initials the date. This is the date the district received consent to proceed into evaluation. The campus team member who received the form notifies the OT practitioner supporting the campus via email that the form has been received. The signed original of the form is placed in the student’s special education eligibility folder and a copy of the signed original is provided to the OT practitioner supporting the campus.
• If assistance is needed to successfully process the consent form, it can be requested by contacting the Senior Manager for Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Assistive Technology Services.

Evaluating the Student

• The Occupational Therapy (OT) evaluation process consists of three phases: data gathering, formulating recommendations, and evaluation report preparation. These steps have been adapted from Polichino, J. (2001)

Service Delivery Models

• In collaboration with classroom teachers, OT practitioners in Houston ISD schools provide an array of OT services including:
• Classroom based support is available for all Preschoolers Achieving Learning Skills (PALS), Skills for Learning and Living (SLL), Structured Learning Classroom (SLC), and Preparing Students for Independence (PSI) classroom. With the classroom-based support service, OT practitioners and teachers work collaboratively to incorporate developmentally appropriate sensory and motor skills as a natural component of the classroom routine. In general, OT services support the teacher to incorporate the fine motor, self-help, and sensory motor skills as a universal component of the instructional program.
• Student specific services to facilitate the implementation of the individualized educational program (IEP)in the natural classroom setting. Student specific OT services are available for all students receiving special education services if an educationally related need is identified through OT evaluation that requires OT services to address the need. This service is provided to facilitate the student’s functional participation in his or her individualized educational program (IEP). These services are provided as an integrated support in the classroom where the OT practitioner may work directly with the student within the classroom setting or support the student’s participation in the instructional program by working with classroom personnel to implement strategies designed specifically for that student. The process of identifying an educationally related need for a student specific OT service begins with requesting a screening by OT services.
• Environmental adaptations which may include the provision and monitoring of adaptive equipment.