What Occupational Therapy Should Know About the New IDEA

With more than a third of occupational therapists (OTs) and OT assistants working in schools and early intervention programs, considerable attention is focused on the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA 2004," P.L. 108-446). As states and districts implement the law and its regulations, school-based and early intervention practitioners will have to come to terms with IDEA's central focus on student achievement and school success. A critical question for consideration is "how is OT relevant to learning and behavior for all students (not just those with disabilities)?"