Occupational therapy practitioners provide services directed at enabling people to engage in the tasks and activities (the occupations) that are relevant to their daily lives.

The occupation of self-care, for example, includes the activities of bathing, shaving, dressing and feeding, each of which requires varying degrees of skill in motor, perception, cognition and psychosocial functioning.

A child's occupation is play.

Play encourages growth, exploration and development of social and cognitive skills.

When a child is unable to enagage in play due to a physical or emotional limitation, their ability to grow and learn may be limited.

Through the use of adapted toys and games, the child is able to engage in their occupation of play.

WebOT4Kids empowers parents by educating them on topics such as typical childhood development as well as ways to facilitate typical growth. We hope to ease parent fears and give parents the knowledge they need to understand developmental milestones and how they pertain to future skills.

WebOT4Kids offers webinars, which can be viewed by your parents from the comfort of their own homes. We offer topics for all age groups. Some examples of our most popular workshops include: “Bike Riding- Tools For Success”’ “Foundations For Handwriting- How To Give Your Preschooler The Right Start,” “Bouncy’s, Bumbos and Swings: How Baby Equipment Is Affecting Our Children’s Development”, “Sensory 101, Sensory Processing For Beginners”, and “OT and Your Preschooler Is It Necessary?” WebOT4Kids can also customize webinars to meet your community’s individual needs.

The occupation of a school-age child is learning. When a physical or emotional limitation exists, their ability to engage in learning is limited.

Occupation for an adult with cardiac problems may include learning to conserve energy while doing daily activities.

An occupation for the elderly may be encouraging and promoting participation in activities as well as maintaining personal independence.

Occupational Therapy provides service to those individuals whose abilities to cope with their occupations (tasks) of living are threatened or impaired by developmental deficits, the aging process, physical injury or illness, or psychological and social disability.

Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTA) work under the supervision of and in collaboration with Registered Occupational Therapists (OTR) addressing an individual's functional abilities and limitations in performance of daily occupations.

The COTA's responsibilities include providing purposeful activity to restore lost physical, cognitive and psychosocial skills, training in the use of assistive devices, and adapting environments and occupations to enable successful and safe performance.

The occupational therapist typically works in an interdisciplinary team with other health care professionals, such as the Physical Therapist, Social Worker, Speech Therapist, Registered Nurse, Medical Doctor, Psychologist and Nutritionist.

National U.S. membership for occupational therapists is with AOTA, certification examination is provided by NBCOT, and licensure by the State Regulatory Board. Each state has a local organization... ConnOTA is the local organization in Connecticut.

Check out the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Manchester Community College,

Review the occupational therapy assistant (COTA) resume, available for work in Connecticut.