Activities	Under close supervision of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, occupational Therapist aides typically prepare materials and assemble equipment used during treatment. They are responsible for a range of clerical tasks, including scheduling appointments, answering the telephone, restocking or ordering depleted supplies, and filling out insurance forms or other paperwork.
Outlook	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	$27,430 per year in May 2010
Work Context & Conditions	The hours and days worked may vary, depending on the facility and whether work is full-time or part-time. Many outpatient therapy offices and clinics have evening and weekend hours, to help coincide with patients' personal schedules.
Minimum Education Requirements	General High School Program
Skills	Social Perceptiveness, Instructing, Active Listening, Service Orientation, Reading Comprehension, Speaking
Abilities	Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Oral Comprehension

Job Category		Healthcare Support
Job Description		Occupational therapist aides work under the direction of occupational therapists to provide rehabilitative services to persons with mental, physical, emotional, or developmental impairments.The ultimate goal is to improve clients’ quality of life and ability to perform daily activities. Aides prepare materials and assemble equipment used during treatment and are responsible for a range of clerical tasks. Duties can include scheduling appointments, answering the telephone, restocking or ordering depleted supplies, and filling out insurance forms or other paperwork. Aides are not licensed, so by law they are not allowed to perform as wide a range of tasks as occupational therapist assistants.
Working Conditions		The hours and days that occupational therapist aides work vary, depending on the facility and whether they are full-time or part-time employees. Many outpatient therapy offices and clinics have evening and weekend hours, to help coincide with patients' personal schedules. Aides need should be in good physical condition, because they are on their feet for long periods of time and may be asked to help lift and move clients or equipment.
Salary Range		Median annual earnings of occupational therapist aides were $27,430 in May 2010. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $17,440, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $52,750.

Education Required		Occupational therapist aides usually receive most of their training on the job. Qualified applicants must have a high school diploma, strong interpersonal skills, and a desire to help people in need. Applicants may increase their chances of getting a job by volunteering their services, thus displaying initiative and aptitude to the employer.
Recommended High School Courses		Biology, Mathematics, English, Health
Postsecondary Instructional Programs
Certification and Licensing

Interest Area		Social Involves working and communicating with, helping, and teaching people.
Work Values		Achievement Get a feeling of accomplishment. Moral Values Never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong. Social Service Do things for other people. Security Have steady employment.
Skills		Social Perceptiveness Be aware of others' reactions and understand why they react the way they do. Instructing Teach others how to do something. Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Service Orientation Actively look for ways to help people. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Problem Sensitivity Able to tell when something is wrong or likely to go wrong. This doesn't involve solving the problem, just recognizing that there is a problem. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Related Jobs		Assistant, Medical, Assistant, Occupational Therapy, Assistant, Dental, Assistant, Physical Therapist, Aide, Physical Therapist, Technician, Pharmacy, Aide, Pharmacy
Job Outlook		In 2010, occupational therapist aides held approximately 7,500 jobs. About 27 percent of jobs for assistants and aides were in hospitals, 28 percent were in offices of occupational therapists, and 20 percent were in nursing and residential care facilities. The rest were primarily in community care facilities for the elderly, home health care services, individual and family services, and State government agencies. Employment is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2020. Federal legislation imposing limits on reimbursement for therapy services may adversely affect the job market for occupational therapist assistants and aides in the near term. However, over the long run, demand for occupational therapist aides will continue to rise, with growth in the number of individuals with disabilities or limited function. Job growth will result from an aging population, including the baby-boom generation, which will need more occupational therapy services. The increased prevalence of sensory disorders in children will increase the demand for occupational therapy services. Increasing demand also will result from advances in medicine that allow more people with critical problems to survive and then need rehabilitative therapy. Third-party payers, concerned with rising health care costs may begin to encourage occupational therapists to delegate more of the hands-on therapy work to occupational therapist assistants and aides. By having assistants and aides work more closely with clients under the guidance of a therapist, the cost of therapy should be more modest than otherwise.
More Information		American Occupational Therapy Association
References		Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Occupational Therapy Assistants and Aides, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-therapy-assistants-and-aides.htm O*NET OnLine, on the Internet at http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/31-2012.00