Frequently Asked Questions

Full scope occupational therapy refers to a comprehensive and holistic approach to treating individuals with physical, mental, or cognitive factors or conditions that impact their ability to perform daily activities, carry out meaningful routines, and fulfill personal and communal roles. This approach involves evaluating a person’s abilities and limitations and then designing interventions to help them regain or improve their functional abilities to the greatest extent possible while resorting to compensatory and adaptive strategies as needed or as desired by the client. Full scope occupational therapists utilize a range of interventions including but not limited to occupation-specific activities, physical techniques and exercises, cognitive and psychosocial processing skills, and environmental and task modifications to help clients achieve their goals. They work with people of all ages and in a variety of settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools, private clinics, the community, and even the homes of individual clients. The goal of full scope occupational therapy is to practice occupational therapy as it was originally intended with the holistic viewpoint of the client guiding each step of the intervention process.

The people represented by the FSOTP petition and their shared experiences have indicated that the problems outlined in the petition have not been improving. Instead, it appears these problems may be getting worse, and we are concerned for the future of the profession if substantial change does not occur. Specifically, we are concerned that occupational therapy’s relevance and efficacy within the medical system will lessen, potentially to the point of disappearing altogether. Given that the majority of OT jobs are within the medical system in its various parts, there is great concern about the stability of the profession without adequately supporting these positions in the profession in addition to supporting OT jobs existing in other settings such as the school system, mental health settings, community health, industry and others.

Full Scope Occupational Therapist /Therapy Assistant (Practitioner), is something that already exists! It’s not something to join but something each practitioner should strive to embody. A full scope occupational therapy practitioner makes a commitment to learning and practicing the full scope of their practice as outlined in the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 4th edition (OTPF-4). Being that the scope outlined in the OTPF-4 is vast, we recognize it is impossible for any one individual to become a master in implementing every component within it in their practice. However, the goal of FSOT is to have a posture of lifelong learning and a commitment to applying the most current and highest quality evidence in as many relevant areas of the OT scope as possible related to a given client and their specific goals. While this looks different for each practitioner and each client, the goal of FSOT is to move beyond the typical limitations traditional occupational therapy practice has imposed upon itself or by others to embrace the entirety of the OTPF-4 in practice.

The FSOTP recognizes AOTA as the formal advocacy body for the profession of occupational therapy and is eager to partner with AOTA to solve the problems outlined in the FSOTP petition. We recognize that with the support and action of AOTA, these problems will have a much greater likelihood of being solved. FSOTP respects all nationally organized bodies (AOTA, ACOT, and NBCOT) and seeks to support the work being done to futher enhance their efforts towards building a successful profession. The FSOTP also recognizes that these problems have been vocalized to AOTA previously, and AOTA has yet to take action to solve these problems meaningfully. As a result, the FSOTP exists to elevate the voice of practitioners, students and educators who are seeking more structured and transparent action by AOTA so that all  can thrive in their respective settings within the profession.

ACOTE is a committee of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). ACOTE standards are developed through a collaborative process that involves input from various stakeholders in the occupational therapy profession, including educators, practitioners, and students. ACOTE uses a rigorous process that includes research and analysis of best practices, review of feedback from stakeholders, and consultation with experts in the field. Once the standards are developed, they are reviewed and approved by the AOTA Board of Directors. ACOTE is then responsible for implementing the standards and ensuring that all accredited occupational therapy education programs meet the established criteria. This includes conducting on-site evaluations of programs, providing guidance and resources to programs seeking accreditation, and monitoring programs to ensure ongoing compliance with the standards. Overall, ACOTE standards are designed to ensure that occupational therapy education programs provide a high-quality education that prepares students to become competent and effective practitioners in the field. The goal is to maintain the integrity and professionalism of the occupational therapy profession while also meeting the needs of patients and clients who rely on occupational therapy services.

The FSOTP petition has changed since its original concepts in two ways. First, the original petition contained suggestions about making structural changes to the way fieldwork and professional training is completed by OT students that were likely far too large in scope to actualize at the time. These suggestions were removed from the petition, and the focus was refined to narrow in on problems facing OT education, the fieldwork experience itself as it currently stands, and OT advocacy. Second, the petition originally was written with  tone and language that was less approachable than its current revision. Consequently, the style of the petition was changed to continue to address all of the same content found in the original iteration (sans the aforementioned structural fieldwork changes) with language that would be more approachable to a larger audience.

Link to petition timeline: https://www.fullscopeot.com/full-scope-occupational-therapy-petition/

Our desire is for complete transparency in the process of gathering and disseminating information contained in the petition. If a person who has previously signed the petition wants to unsign it, we certainly believe this should be possible for everyone. You can contact change.org to have your signature removed from the petition at any time. 

Please click this link to read further information: Unsign the Petition

Again, transparency with this petition is of utmost importance to the FSOTP. You can view a timeline of the changes to the petition here: https://www.fullscopeot.com/petition-timeline/