Occupational Therapy Assistants Careers

Average Annual Salary for Occupational Therapy Assistants:

Median annual earnings of occupational therapist assistants were $36,660

Necessary Education for Occupational Therapy Assistants Career:

An associate's degree or a certificate from an accredited community college or technical school is generally required to qualify for occupational therapist assistant

What is Occupational Therapy Assistants in a nutshell?

Works with people with disabilities (physical, mental & learning) to enable them to live as independently as possible.
This involves: assessing & teaching basic living skills, providing equipment, visiting people's homes, working with groups & individuals, using activities e.g. pottery, drama, cookery to develop others skills. Enabling them to take stock & make changes if they wish, giving direction towards information, new skills, helping agencies, supporting through change.

Types of Occupational Therapy Assistants jobs:

Occupational therapist assistants and aides work under the direction of occupational therapists to provide rehabilitative services to persons with mental, physical, emotional or developmental impairments. T he ultimate goal is to improve clients' quality of life and ability to perform daily activities.

• Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying.
• Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
• Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify strengths and weaknesses.
• Learning Strategies: Selecting and using instructional methods and procedures that are appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Future Outlook for Occupational Therapy Assistants:

Employment of occupational therapist assistants and aides is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2012.