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When professional decision making is compromised by policy: A study of preschool outcome measures in NY State
Published on 2012-02-10 11:51:00
Quality indicators are monitored when public monies are used, such as for Public Law 108-446, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004. The act mandates that states develop and submit a six year State Performance Plan (SPP) to the government. For each of the quality indicators that states report on there has to be improvement activities and targets. The idea of all this is to drive improved quality within the systemQuality indicator 7 for preschool services requires that a
Practitioners around NY State begin learning about EI reform proposals
Published on 2012-02-03 21:08:00
Earlier this week I noticed a large uptick in Google searches regarding early intervention that were landing on this blog so I started wondering what was going on. Turns out that there was a NYS Association of Counties meeting this week and the Department of Health gave a powerpoint presentation about the Governor's proposal. Copies of the powerpoint started to make their way around the State - and that got people doing some Internet searches for more information. Here is a link to the presen
'Non Traditional Fieldwork' runs face first into proposed New York State regulations
Published on 2012-01-29 07:05:00
My sensitivity for the challenges of being an Academic Fieldwork Coordinator runs quite deep; I held that position at a college for three years and experienced the difficulty with finding student placements. There never seems to be enough fieldwork placements, there are challenges with finding places that will provide a quality experience for the student, and although there have been efforts to incentivize practitioners to take students that does not overcome the practical obstacles.The repeati
Are three hour autism training courses helpful?
Published on 2012-01-26 13:22:00
I received an email today from an agency that provides three hour training courses on autism required by the NY State Office of Teaching Initiatives (OTI) for all candidates seeking a Special Education Classroom Teaching certificate. The three hour course is popular because it is frequently used by CSEs as a training mechanism for educational staff who are working with children who have an autism spectrum diagnosis.I think the intent here is good - many professionals and paraprofessionals who w
Understanding upcoming changes to early intervention and preschool services, Part 1
Published on 2012-01-18 11:35:00
Early intervention and preschool services to children who have disabilities will be scrutinized heavily in the upcoming year and many reforms are being discussed. This summary is a general outline of some of the salient drivers that are impacting reform efforts in New York State.I strongly recommend starting your reading with the Reforming Mandates, Reducing Costs report that was written by the New York State Association of Counties. This report was submitted to the Medicaid Redesign Team last
Tear down the wall: Broken models of mental health service delivery
Published on 2012-01-03 16:52:00
I have a longstanding interest in Systems and their impact on our ability to care for people. In 2005 (I can't believe I have been blogging that long) I wrote a blog entry about foster care policy and its impact on occupational therapy.I try not to get outraged on a daily basis because it makes it a little challenging to maintain focus. If you think about foster care too much though it is hard not to get a little upset.These Systems are populated by well intentioned and kind people who have to
2011 Pushback against Fad OT Interventions
Published on 2011-12-31 07:20:00
Another significant theme in my 2011 forum conversations was pushing back against fad OT interventions. I think that it is an important enough topic to be re-posted here.Some of the fad and pseudoscientific interventions that I discussed in forums this year included therapeutic listening and other auditory interventions, deep pressure protocols (brushing programs), weighted vests, and Brain Gym.Fad interventions were relatively common in health care until research came along - and now we have m
The 2011 Social Justice Debates in occupational therapy
Published on 2011-12-31 06:20:00
I wondered this morning how much writing I have done on various OT message boards and I started thinking that an awful lot of my opinions are probably documented all over the Internet. I visited the forums on the AOTA website and found the equivalent of over 40 single spaced pages of my writing! Then I thought it might be interesting to see what motivated me to post on professional forums this year. Here is a summary of one interesting forum conversation:The Social Justice DebatesEarly this y
"It's going to be very, very exciting." Not.
Published on 2011-12-05 18:07:00
I don't mince words, mostly because I lack time to do so and secondarily because I lack interest in political correctness. Let's talk straight about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.For some background and additional reading on the debacles that occur when government intrudes into health care decision making click on the 'health insurance' topics in this blog.At the 2010 Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties, Nancy Pelosi made her now famous remarksYo
The role of the occupational therapist in carpet cleaning
Published on 2011-11-28 17:10:00
Jimmy was especially active and his mom was having a really difficult time keeping him occupied while she filled out his intake paperwork. His mom was a little frazzled as Jimmy darted around the room, jumped onto the chairs, pulled on the curtains (pulling them off the rod!), and banged on the windows. I intervened at the window banging for safety reasons and as I gently redirected Jimmy he lunged for his mom's coffee, and with a spray of cappuchino across the carpeted waiting room he finally