AOTA's Occupational Therapy Channel

Heather Parson, AOTA’s Associate Chief Officer for Federal Affairs is joined by Abe Saffer, a Congressional lobbyist for AOTA, to discuss AOTA’s efforts to pass legislation in Congress, aimed at diversifying the profession. The bill will provide OT programs, along with PT, speech, and audiology programs with funds to help recruit and retain students from underrepresented groups including racial and ethnic minorities.

In honor of SAMSHA’s Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day this episode of the Pediartic Podcast includes a series of three 10-minute conversations with an OT, parent, and educator to highlight the importance of supporting children’s mental health through participation in everyday occupations, such as learning and play. The interviews are led by AOTA member and pediatric occupational therapist Colleen Cameron Whiting, MS, OTR/L. These interviews highlights children’s mental health as an important feature of strong communities and promotes occupational therapy as a key service provider.

Interprofessional training opportunities are available for occupational therapy practitioners. Listen and learn about Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) and the role of OT in interprofessional practice, leadership, and advocacy. Featuring guests: Kris Barnekow, PhD, OTR/L, IMH-E Associate Professor University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Douglene Jackson, PhD, OTR/L, LMT, ATP Assistant Professor University of St. Augustine-Miami Benjamin R. Kaufman, MSW Senior Program Manager for Maternal and Child Health Technical Assistance Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) Sandra Schefkind, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA Moderator AOTA Pediatric Practice Manager

Listen to an AOTA podcast on Building Accessible Learning Opportunities in the Community. A panel (OT educator, business leader, school OT, and students) will discuss a community event at a park coordinated through a university, school, and business partnership.

More than 79 million backpack-carrying students across the U.S. are settling into new routines – some of which include bringing the same items home each afternoon. Heavy loads in backpacks can cause injuries and chronic low back pain. Students, educators, parents, and health professionals mark National School Backpack Awareness Day annually in September with backpack weigh-ins, check-ups, activities, and events. In this podcast, Karen Jacobs, EdD, OTR/L, CPE, FAOTA, and Jacquelyn M. Sample, DrOT, M.Ed., OTR/L, share their experiences rwith how-to steps on making your activity a success: Weigh-in Event: Grab a scale and AOTA’s weigh-in sheet and record the weights of students’ backpacks. Send home materials to parents on how to select a safe backpacks, and how to wear a backpack. Read AOTA’s Tips for a successful weigh-in event. Skit: Jacobs’ can provide a skit for students to perform based on “The Incredibles.” For this year’s skit, visit www.promotingot.org. School Assembly: Speak with students about the dangers of heavy backpacks, and what can be removed to lighten the load. Math Lesson: Weigh backpacks, talk about what makes them heavy, create bar graphs and dot charts on how much they weighed, find the mean, median and average of the weights. Table of Materials: Share AOTA’s handouts. Write a Blurb for the School Newsletter Coloring Contest: Download and distribute AOTA’s OTRex Coloring Sheet. Backpack Giveaway: Coordinate with a local company to donate backpacks to students. Stickers: Download and distribute AOTA’s Backpack Awareness Day stickers. Social Media: Using #BackpackSafety, share tips for safe backpack use Learn more at www.aota.org/backpack