This introductory course prepares occupational therapy practitioners who are new to school-based practice or transitioning from medical, outpatient, or pediatric clinic settings. Participants will learn the role of OT in schools, the difference between medical and educational models, workload versus caseload thinking, service delivery options, documentation expectations, and how to avoid being reduced to “the handwriting therapist.” Current evidence supports expanding school-based OT toward participation, inclusion, transition support, MTSS, and embedded collaborative models.
Live Webinar
Thu, Jul 30, 2026 at 3:00 pm EDTUnder Review: AOTA/0.2 - Application has been made to the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA's) Approved Provider Program.
Learning Outcomes
- After this course, participants will be able to describe the role of a school-based OTP and the importance of transitioning from medical and clinic-based models.
- After this course, participants will be able to explain school-based OT service delivery models, including direct, consultative, push-in, pull-out, and MTSS approaches.
- After this course, participants will be able to list the role of a school-based OTP in supporting participation, regulation, routines, transitions, collaboration, and inclusion.
Agenda
| 0-30 Minutes | Describe the current role of a school-based OT, including barriers to transitioning from medical and clinic-based models. |
| 30-60 Minutes | Discuss the parameters of school-based OTPS and review service delivery. |
| 60-75 Minutes | Highlight the limitations and potential strategies to address different types of service delivery in schools based setting. |
| 75-115 Minutes | Discuss examples of evidence-based strategies to set up and provide school-based services using a case study example. |
| 115-120 Minutes | Summary; Q&A |
Presented By
Aditi Mehra
DHSc, OTR/L
Dr. Aditi Mehra is a pediatric occupational therapist with over 25 years of experience across school, clinical, and educational settings. She holds a Bachelorʼs degree in Occupational Therapy from Western Michigan University and a Doctorate in Health Sciences from Midwestern University. During her doctoral studies, she also completed certification training in Behavior Analysis to further deepen her understanding of learning and behavior.
Dr. Mehra is the Director of the Chicago Fit Learning lab, where she integrates Precision Teaching and data-driven learning methodologies to support academic and developmental growth. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Lewis University and develops continuing education trainings for therapists and educators, with a focus on neurodiversity, learning, and AI-supported educational practices.
In addition to her clinical and educational work, Dr. Mehra is currently preparing her first published continuing education presentation and educational resources focused on innovative, evidence-based approaches in therapy and learning.
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Aditi Mehra received an honorarium for presenting this course. Non-financial: Aditi Mehra has no relevant non-financial relationships to disclose.
Sponsor Disclosure: This Course is presented by OccupationalTherapy.com, a Continued site.
Content Disclosure: This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.
Course participation information
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NOTE: Full attendance for all courses is mandatory. For self-study courses, this includes reading the full text, listening to the full audio recording, or watching the complete video, as appropriate for the format of the course.
Passing an online exam and completing a course evaluation will be required to earn continuing education credit.
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