Unlocking Potential: How New OT Grads Can Excel in Early Intervention
Are you a new Occupational Therapy professional considering a position in Early Intervention? Or you’re an Early Intervention administrator needing to hire more Occupational Therapists? In this blog post, we’ll discuss how new grads can thrive in Early Intervention with the proper support.
Did you envision becoming an Occupational Therapist so you could work with those adorable babies and toddlers?
Have you been told that Early Intervention is not an area of practice suited for new grads?
Don’t let anyone tell you that new grads can’t thrive in Early Intervention.
I don’t believe that’s true and in this blog post, I’ll show you why you can absolutely can excel in this area of practice and share some tips and recommendations on how to make it a reality!
First, let’s get clear on your role:
The Role of the Occupational Therapist Professional (OTP) in Early Intervention
The Early Intervention Occupational Therapist’s role as defined by AOTA entails 8 core principles:
1. Occupation
OTP’s help to support the “occupations” of infants and toddlers. Some of those could include:
Playing
Sleeping
Feeding
Dressing
Toileting
Social participation
Education (e.g., pre-literacy, adaptive, cognitive, communication, physical, social and emotional development).
2. Participation
One of the core principles of Early Intervention is that Infants and toddlers learn best through everyday experiences and interactions with familiar people in familiar contexts.
Early Intervention OTPs work with families to learn about their daily routine (aka all the things they do on a regular day).
We have 2 clients to keep in mind at all times (the caregiver and the child).
OTPs problem-solve with the family to embed strategies into their everyday routines for increased opportunities to boost development.
3. Family-centered
Families and caregivers know their children best!
Early Intervention OTPs rely on families to know their children’s strengths and challenges. Outcomes should be based on their priorities...not just a child’s developmental delays.
4. Family capacity and resources
Not all families have the same capacity and resources (medically, financially, etc.).
The role of the Early Intervention OTP is to respect this and meet families “where they are at” and provide resources to support them when needed.
This is also one of the biggest reasons why OTPs should go “bagless” when working in families natural environments. Bagless means that the OTP doesn’t bring toys and other equipment into the natural environment but instead uses what the family already has in order to promote increased carryover of skills when the therapist is not with the family.
5. Natural environments
Early Intervention takes place wherever the child spends time. This may include the child’s home, daycare, another caregiver’s home, a community park, etc.
6. Family routines and rituals
Early Intervention OTPs prioritize the family’s routines and then individualize strategies (based on their learning styles, preferences, and cultural beliefs) to help families become more successful in that routine.
7. Culturally-Sensitive
Early Intervention OTPs are culturally sensitive and seek to learn more about a family’s cultural beliefs to factor these into appropriate recommendations.
8. Evidence-based
Another EI principle is IFSP outcomes must be functional and based on children’s and family’s needs and priorities. The beauty of Early Intervention is the holistic nature of working on the occupations that are meaningful to the family and child, despite what a standardized test measures or the percentage of delay.
When each family understands that strategies are worth working on because they lead to practical improvements in the child’s and family’s lives, outcomes are achieved more often.
The fresh new perspective of new grads in Early Intervention
Many years ago, I was fortunate enough to hold the title of Academic Fieldwork Coordinator for an OTA program. My biggest pride was watching students transition from the classroom to the professional world.
New grads enthusiasm is contagious and their determination to make a real impact is palpable. They are also a very creative bunch and have a knack for making sessions fun (2 very important traits for an EI therapist 😁).
I’ve had many students over the years excel in pediatric settings. Some even went on to be hired as the first new grad in that setting after their fieldwork rotation.
Some of the traits that made these students seamlessly transition into the role of practitioner included:
Past experience in Early Childhood (daycare workers, babysitter/nannies). Experience taking care of young children will give you lots of confidence to know if what you’re seeing is typical or not.
Experience as a parent: If you’ve raised your own children, you know what I’m talking about. No one can prepare you for the journey that is parenthood. Whether you’re raising neurotypical or neuordiverse children, there’s no doubt that your parenting experience will give you the confidence to know more of what to say and recommend during your EI career.
Past experience teaching and communicating with adults. The child is not our only client. Knowing how to teach adults and communicate effectively is a big part of being an Early Intervention OTP.
How Early Intervention is different from other practice settings
Recently, I had an OT reach out who wanted more guidance on what goals she was allowed to work on in Early Intervention. The family she was working with had some behavioral concerns that were directly impacting most of their daily routines. This OT has recently transitioned from a school-based setting into Early Intervention and was apprehensive to work on a goal that was not “OT”, especially since behavior was not an area she was allowed to focus on in her school-based position.
As an OTP who has worked in many different settings, I have found Early Intervention to be the most holistic, collaborative, and functional. We’re not just throwing solutions at a problem or trying to achieve the next milestone just to achieve a milestone. It’s finding out the families’ priorities and working on solutions collaboratively. The work we do is important and impactful!
Overcoming challenges in Early Intervention
I went into the field of Occupational Therapy specifically to work with young children. It was my dream since the age of 14!
But it wasn’t an easy path towards becoming a confident practitioner and I needed to step away from this area of practice many times throughout my career. Some of those early challenges included:
Feelings of isolation
Lack of support
Lack of knowledge (especially when it came to the other areas of development outside of motor development)
Difficulty collaborating with parents
Overall, not knowing what I didn’t know
I believe these are just some of the challenges that EI therapists face early on in their career and it’s contributing to why we are seeing provider shortages in Early Intervention.
At my most recent EI position, we were always short-staffed. However, my employer only wanted to hire experienced EI therapists. When I mentioned that we could take more fieldwork students and then hire them or start a mentorship program, it always fell flat because of the concern that it would take away from my productivity.
Many states here in the US are experiencing provider shortages and are looking to hire many therapists so now is the perfect time to consider applying for an Early Intervention position as a new graduate or for an experienced practitioner wanting to transition from another practice setting.
Not sure what to expect during the interview process?
Check out this post to so you can rock your interview!
Once you land your first job in Early Intervention
Getting started in Early Intervention can be overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be.
My biggest piece of advice for new grads is to remember you don’t need to have all the answers!
Slow down and enjoy building relationships with your families and focus more on collaboration than providing solutions.
If you’d like to see my other 9 tips every new OTP should know before starting their first job, check out this post!
The power of mentorship in Early Intervention
When I graduated from school (a long time ago…), there was no Facebook, Instagram, or online communities. I had books and continuing education classes.
It took years to take all the courses, gain certifications, and sort through many books to even begin to feel confident in what I was doing in my practice.
An even bigger piece of feeling confident came from being able to work alongside more experienced therapists.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of our 1:1 work in Early Intervention, it can be very isolating to work in this practice setting.
While I know that new graduates can work successfully in this field, I also feel it’s critical that mentorship and guidance are provided.
Ideally, your first EI job will provide frequent mentorship opportunities with an experienced OTP to help guide you.
Mentorship is a game-changer. It can help you:
Gain confidence
Become more impactful in your practice in a much shorter period of time
Prevent burnout
Master the art of communication
Grow personally and professionally
However, since I know good mentorship is not always provided in the workplace and we need more passionate OTPs in this world to do the important work of caring for young children and their families, I have created 2 programs to help with these challenges.
2 ways to gain mentorship as an Early Intervention Occupational Therapy Professional
The first option, The Therapy Village is a place where new and experienced Occupational Therapy Professionals working in the world of Early Intervention come together to learn new skills, collaborate with each other, gain mentorship, and obtain time-saving valuable resources all from the comfort of home!
This membership includes a library of masterclasses, guest interviews, mini-lessons, parent handouts, done-for-you treatment resources, and monthly group mentorship with Melanie and other Therapy Village members where you can problem-solve your cases and get your questions answered.
This is so much more than a course. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to broaden your learning in a variety of specialty areas, gain a supportive community of other OTs that “get it”, and increase your confidence as an Early Intervention OT!
Check out all the amazing Therapy Village membership benefits here!
The second option to gain mentorship through Growing Little Brains is through our newly-created 6-week group mentorship opportunity. This is specifically for new-to-the-field Occupational Therapy professionals or new graduate OTPs looking to land an EI job. In just 6 weeks, this experience will transform you from a newbie to a confident Early Intervention OTP through weekly lessons and weekly online group calls to apply this knowledge to your caseload.
Find out more about this 6-week group mentorship opportunity here!
Looking for Early Intervention related CEU’s instead?
Check out Growing Little Brains’ FREE AOTA-approved course titled “Getting Started in Early Intervention" here!
and then the 5.5 hour AOTA-approved “Getting Started with Parent Coaching” course here!
Looking for more posts like this one? Check out these popular posts:
50+ ways to rock your Early Intervention Teletherapy sessions
5 tips to simplify the transition from therapist to parent coach
How to rock your Early Intervention interview
7 Family-friendly OT Assessments for Early Intervention
References:
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2014). What is the role of Occupational Therapy in Early Intervention. Retrieved from https://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/Practice/Children/Browse/EI/Role-of-OT_1/Early-Intervention-FAQ.pdf
