Program Accreditation & Licensure
The Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Program is accredited by the
Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American
Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (AOTA) located at 4720 Montgomery Lane,
P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220, phone: 301-652-AOTA.
Graduates of the program are awarded an Associate of Applied Science (AAS)
degree and are then eligible to take the national examination to become a
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). The national examination
is administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy
(NBCOT) located at 800 S. Fredrick Ave., Suite 200, Gaithersburg, MD 20877-4150,
phone: 301-652-990-7979.
Once certified the individual must apply to the Texas Board of Occupational
Therapy Examiners (TBOTE) for a license to practice in the state of Texas.
The TBOTE is located at 333 Guadalupe, Suite 2-510, Austin, TX 78701-3942.
Graduation, certification and licensure are separate
mechanisms and are the responsibility of the individual student.
TEXAS DEFINITION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
As of September 1998, the State Texas defines Occupational
Therapy as follows:
Occupational Therapy - The use of purposely
activity or intervention to achieve functional outcomes. Achieving
functional outcomes means to develop or facilitate restoration of the highest
possible level of independence in interaction with the environment.
Occupational Therapy provides services to individuals limited by physical injury
or illness, a dysfunctional condition, cognitive impairment, psychosocial
dysfunction, mental illness, a developmental or learning disability or an
adverse environmental condition, whether due to trauma, illness or condition
present at birth. Occupational therapy services include but are not
limited to:
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The evaluation/assessment,
treatment, and education of or consultation with the individual, family or other
persons.
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Interventions directed toward
developing, improving or restoring daily living skills, work readiness or work
performance, play skills or leisure capacities;
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Intervention methodologies to
develop, restore or maintain sensorimotor, oralmotor, perceptual, or
neuromuscular functioning: joint range of motion; emotional, motivational, cognitive or
psychosocial components of performance.