Filed in Category Pediatric Therapy
I am graduating college next year but I am interested in pediatric occupational therapy.
I was hoping that a professional could give me some insight on the typical day as a pediatric occupational therapist.
Also, what is the average salary?
3 Comments so far
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Can Anyone Give Me Information On Pediatric Occupational Therapy?
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I currently work as a pediatric occupational therapist in a school system, but I’ve also worked as a pediatric OT in private practice and at a hospital. All three settings are a little different, but there are several similarities.
The day usually starts between 7 and 8 in the morning. You will have a regular “caseload” of children that you see at scheduled times during the day. You will also likely have an evaluation slot in your schedule to evaluate new children to see if they are eligible for OT services. Part of your day will consist of dealing with the parents and/or teachers of the children you work with, and another part of your day will be spent in documentation. Documentation is very important to keep a record of your evaluations and daily treatments with children.
Working with kids requires a bit of creativity, and most pediatric OTs are constantly gathering “tools” for their practice toolbox, whether it be activity ideas, toys and equipment, or evaluation or screening tools. OTs (at least good ones) are always learning new strategies and techniques so they can be as effective as possible at their jobs. I read in my “free time” and go to continuing education courses on a regular basis to further my knowledge.
Salary depends a lot on where you live, and also depends on what area of practice you go into. As a rule, private practice generally pays a little better than working for the school system or a hospital.
I would highly recommend finding some pediatric clinics in your area to go observe so that you can get a true picture of what an OT does on a daily basis. It’s a fun and rewarding but endlessly challenging career.
For more information on salaries, job outlooks, and general information about occupational therapy, check out the information about OT on the Occupational Outlook Handbook, available at http://www.bls.gov/OCO/.
Actually there is no defined “pediatric occupational therapy”. An OT that works with peds is just a regular OT that has had a length of experience in the pediatric dept and may have some special certifications. you can expect to make from $54,000 – $75,000.
As for the typical day of an OT in the peds dept…Look on youtube for OT videos, it is just way too hard to explain without the proper experience, lol.
OT Girl is right that there is no degrees specifically for pediatrics but if you really want to work with children we recommend that you take a couple of fieldwork rotations with kids. There are a variety of settings that will enable you to work with children – school-based, outpatient, hospital based and early intervention are the most common. So as you can see the “typical day” will be quite different depending on the setting you choose.
Salaries for new grads range as well depending on the setting and the geographic area you are in. If you work for a school district as a direct hire, salaries start in the mid 30s. If you work for a clinic you can expect the 40s depending on location. Some areas are even paying 50K+ plus to start if you are in an expensive city. If you are bilingual you can command even more.
If you wish to contract with a company like ours you will make more than 50K per year for a school year with the summer off. It really depends on what you are looking for.