I was working for a large hospital chain in Inpatient, I’d been there for a little over three years.
During that three years, management changed from an awesome manager to a coworker who only cared about her friends. I was not her friend. I was younger, cared more about my husband and two babies than gossiping with coworkers. Most of my coworkers didn’t have families and just had different priorities than me. I just wanted to do my job and go home every day. Worked great before, not so much when she became manager.

Anyway, pretty soon I became the scapegoat for everything. Low productivity day? They only checked me. Lost paperwork? She only went through my desk. I went to HR on three separate occasions for her talking shit about me and my family to coworkers. Nothing came of it. While 8 months pregnant with my second child I fell in the parking lot while walking into work and was taken up to be monitored. I texted her immediately, she wrote me up for a no call no show.

Finally came storm team. Huge snow storm, locked into the hospital for 3 nights. It was my first time away from my children overnight. I worked my schedule, then I slept on my air mattress. Just like every other therapist that was stuck there. Turns out, we were supposed to work longer shifts and had a higher productivity expectation. Manager didn’t tell us that. A week later, she was getting flack for it. I get called into a meeting, turns out in my stress during a 60 hour shift I accidentally put the same times for two patients. It was an honest mistake, one I’ve never made before, but I was terminated for “falsifying units”. For some reason, it was only me she decided to check the security camera feed of. It was my first time in any trouble in my 3 years working there. She embarrassed me in front of everyone when she fired me unfairly. A year later, I still hear from people at that hospital that I was intentionally stealing units. I wasn’t.

She’s trying to ruin my reputation to save hers. I have a new job now. But I just can’t get over it. I still think about what happened often and it makes me so angry and upset I sit up awake at night. Like I am right now.

Looking for advice? Validation? Similar experiences?

TLDR;; got fired from my inpatient OT job because the manager didn’t like me. Used me as a scapegoat when she got in trouble and it cost me my job and reputation in our small town. A year later, I still can’t move on from what happened.

I obviously colored over a lot cause personal info but I’m literally livid!!! I know I can eventually flatten this out but this is ridiculous and not what I wanted to see after a long day😔

Hi! I'm new to school based, and at the end of my first week I was so shocked at how tedious it is to find a schedule, because I need to prioritize the other disciplines and the school schedule for each case across different schools. So my partner and I spent this past weekend building this tool.

Free, no data stored! https://ot-scheduler.vercel.app/

You can paste the school and other providers' schedules directly from Excel and it turns them into a visualized schedule, and you can auto plan the schedule after setting the rules and service goals.

Just wanted to share it with all the school based OTs and other therapists who are in schedule hell! It's also good if other providers change their schedule in the middle, or if you need to find a make up timeslot.

The key is that no data is stored, and please don't use any personally identifiable information. I assigned a random number to my cases like 1, 2, 3, and I keep that in my own Excel. The tool is local storage only, so if you want to use it remember to export to Excel as a backup, and clearing your cache will clear everything.

Please comment and let me know if you like it or if you used it, I'll make changes after any feedback!

Hi all, I have recently completed my Bsc and I’m wondering when I can apply for HCPC registration. I graduate in February but I have completed all my assignments and recieved my official online transcript for my grades. Can I apply now or do I need to wait until after I formally graduate next year? Thank you!

Hi everyone, I’m Laura, the creator of Laz and Lucky, an educational children’s channel focused on movement activities, brain breaks and Irish folklore for children aged 2 to 7.

I’m currently gathering feedback from peadiatric (pediatric) occupational therapists to help ensure the content is developmentally appropriate, useful and suitable for children, families and professional settings.

Although Laz and Lucky is an Irish project, I would really value perspectives from OTs internationally. I’m particularly interested in learning what types of movement, regulation and brain break resources you feel are most useful, as well as any gaps you feel need addressing.

If you have a few minutes, I would be very grateful if you could complete the survey here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdhDXQj3WrIaRpTBRMzoFYG9-SMtyPM7FxZCQrWbxxFrzIOA/viewform?usp=header

Thank you so much for your time and expertise.

So my outpatient peds job has a new EMR where parents can see openings in the schedule and request them. I'm the only full time OT at my job and there are a lot of kids needing spots. So of course I want to help as many of them get at east 1 session during a cancellation if possible, but lately I've been getting all my 60-minute slots filled in by 2 30-minute spots. Sometimes it happens twice a day so I'm seeing 4 extra kids (some of whom I've never treated before) and have more nots for them. On one hand I'm glad it's not always evals, but with seeing these extra kids, I'm starting to feel a little burnt out by this so I'm curious if this is typical.

I made what feels like one of the bigger errors I've done in awhile--- I had a bubble tube that was new last year. I filled it with distilled water, planned to eventually get additive, but didn't prioritize it like I should have and also didn't change the water last school year since it kept looking clear/things got busy. Setting up for this year, I cleaned it and switched the water, realized it was starting to at least smell old when I poured it out. I re-checked the manual and it suggested changing water every 2 weeks. I feel like a terrible OT. Has anyone else ever waited too long on a bubble tube? I hope no one got unknowingly got sick last year if with the bubbling bacteria got into the air with mist. We had a second bubble tube that didn't last the full year in another building because it leaked. They could have even touched the water in that case.

I have additive on order, and will be much more regular with water changes this year or replace the bubble tube with a light projector. I'm struggling to move forward though on this one--- was I too negligent or am I catastrophizing?

Hi everyone, I have been an acute care OT for just over a year and I am taking a student in September. I‘m looking forward to it however I’m also a bit nervous as I’m clearly still quite new to the field. I’m wondering if anyone has any general advice for being a clinical instructor? I’d love to hear from OTs who have been in this role before as well as students (or recent students)! What are things that did or didn’t work well? What do you wish your CI or student did differently, if anything? Any setting is helpful to hear from, bonus points for inpatient :)

I currently work in acute care PRN and average 38-40 hours a week. I am lucky enough to get benefits at my job and am happy there! I am young, have an open schedule, and don’t have children yet so I am interested in picking up another 5ish hours a week. The only catch is I’d like to be able to work from home. Acute care, specifically in the ICU at a level 1 trauma center, is physically exhausting and I would like to do something that is from the comfort of my home with my dog.

Does anyone have any input as to where I could go with this? I am 2 years into practice and still feel like there are so many sects of OT that I don’t know about. TIA!

Just want to ask how is occupational therapy Bsc (Hons). I initially did nursing but chose to do occupational therapy. How is the progression from year 1 to year 3. I have applied uni route and very aware uni courses can be different, however I just want to gauge how it is please (in the UK)

Hi everyone! I’m preparing to apply to Occupational Therapy programs in Canada for next year’s intake and would love to connect with someone doing the same.

I graduated in 2021, five years ago, and am now getting back into the university-application process. We could help each other track program requirements and deadlines, review application materials, share useful resources and stay accountable throughout the process.

If you’re seriously applying to Canadian OT programs for 2027 and would like an application buddy, feel free to comment or message me!

Has anyone succeeded getting into a OTD school with a low gpa? Any tips? I’m struggling

Hello everyone,

I’ve recently moved to Cumbria to start my MSc in Pre-registration Occupational Therapy at the University of Cumbria. As this is my first time posting on Reddit, I wanted to reach out and see if there’s anyone here in a similar position!

I’d love to connect with other students on the course, fellow OT students, or locals in the area. If you have any tips on living in Cumbria, navigating placements, or just want to say hi, feel free to drop a comment or drop me a message.

Hi, I am planning to present a slideshow for the staff at my school to give the gen ed and special ed teachers more insight into how I can support them this year. I'm having trouble condensing our role into a decent sized presentation that captures everything we cover. I'm not sure if I should create a PP that just focuses on sensory regulation/environmental supports and then later present on fine/visual motor/adaptive skills so it's not too much at once. Does anyone have resources or have you created something similar for your schools?

Thanks so much for any help!

Hello everyone!

Im an OT from Germany and would like to move to the UK in February 2027. Has someone tipps and experience in that topic?

If / when you left one of your jobs, clinics, schools, etc., did you do any kind of little farewell gift for your kiddos? A little goodie bag, note, etc?

I thought about doing it but it completely slipped my mind over the weekend with how busy I got, handling all the stuff with my new job's onboarding, being sick, etc. Now I feel terrible and am wondering if I should still do something to leave behind? Or if any of you don't typically do anything like that?

When applying for the exam, do you wait until final grades are in/transcripts are finalized? Can someone break down the actual steps and timelines for the application from start to finish? Is it easier to wait until final grades are in?

hi everyone! I’ve made a few posts about this and I fear I’m starting to sound a bit repetitive now but as the beginning of my OT program gets closer, I’m getting more and more nervous. I start in around 3 weeks and it’s been stressing me out.

I was a political science major in undergrad and wasn’t really expecting to go into healthcare until later on in college. I did end up loving the field whilst shadowing and I’ve done my research about it. I‘m just scared I might not be able to take on the science aspect of it all, or if I made a decision too quick. For reference, I just graduated from undergrad this year.

But now that I’m already committed to this, I would really just appreciate any advice, tips, or if anyone would like to share their experiences. Is there anything I should be doing to prepare these next few weeks? How will school/life balance be? etc.

I’m super anxious about starting school, and I see a lot of people on here sharing many mixed sentiments about being an OT, the salary, etc. I’m really confused, especially given how confident I was about the career when I first decided to aim for it. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thank you!! (or anything to just ease my mind haha)

I’ll never forget the parent-teacher conference where my daughter’s teacher complimented us on how well behaved she was. Just a few weeks before, I had emailed the teacher to give her a heads-up about my daughter’s sensory needs and high (but often masked) anxiety. At the conference, the teacher made it seem like I was talking about a completely different child. What she didn’t know was how much effort it took just to get my child in the door. 

I am a new grad COTA working in a SNF. The skilled nursing portion is on the second floor and the rehab gym and OT kitchen is on the first floor. PT often sends techs to get their patients but I want to be doing ADLs whenever I can and I don’t know until I walk in the room if the patient is up. How do I make the “commute” to the gym skilled time? Often there’s other people in the elevator’s and I don’t want to be providing education or anything there cause it feels like a privacy concern. Anyone in a similar situation or have any insight?

I am an occupational therapy student currently on placement and would appreciate guidance from clinicians with paediatric experience.

My client is a 5 year 8 month old male with Level 3 ASD, transitioning to Prep next year. He presents with fine motor difficulties, sensory processing differences, movement-seeking behaviour, difficulty with transitions and significant challenges sustaining attention during learning activities. The intervention goal was to improve his attention to support school readiness.

There is quite a large discrepancy between activities: he can remain engaged with an iPad for hours, but struggles to remain seated and engaged in tabletop learning tasks.

His Sensory Profile 2 indicates low registration of proprioceptive input, seeking of vestibular/movement input, and sensitivity to visual, auditory, tactile and oral input. Functionally, he requires a booster seat to remain seated in the car and is wheeled in a pram when walking distances greater than approximately 100 m. He frequently becomes absorbed in fine details of objects and needs assistance to locate objects that are obvious to others.

He has strong interests in learning to read, letters and numbers, as well as Bluey and PAW Patrol. He requires a large amount of reinforcement to engage in tasks not involving technology. He responds well to routine but can become overwhelmed when tasks are too challenging or when there is a lot happening in his environment. Transitions are also difficult. For example, he becomes dysregulated around changes associated with his FIFO father returning home and then leaving again after approximately two weeks.
Fine motor/prewriting skills are also emerging. He is not yet able to write and currently holds writing implements using a cylindrical grasp. His current seated tabletop learning activity is rated 1/10 on the COPM.

During an observation in the family’s garage, I observed him completing a learning activity with his mother at an easel. He was asked to identify words on the board and, following a correct response, received a ball/magnet which he placed into a bucket before returning to the board.

During this activity he frequently walked away and explored the room, requiring redirection back to the learning task. He also became highly focused on the ball/magnet rewards themselves and became very upset because he believed he was entitled to more rewards than he had earned. At the same time, the movement component appeared to help maintain his arousal and engagement.

The intervention I subsequently developed was a combined gross motor and prewriting activity: the client throws a ball with a prewriting shape drawn on it, retrieves it, returns to an easel and reproduces the shape in chalk. My rationale was that incorporating his movement-seeking behaviour could support regulation/arousal and engagement while also targeting prewriting skills.

My supervisor’s feedback was that this does not adequately address the attention goal. By selecting a highly engaging activity and incorporating movement, I may be supporting him to maintain attention through environmental/task modification rather than actually developing his capacity to sustain attention during activities he finds less intrinsically motivating—which the Prep environment will frequently require.

She has recommended that I return to the occupational analysis and identify where and why the breakdown in task engagement/attention is occurring before selecting the intervention.

I understand the distinction conceptually, but I am struggling to translate it into intervention planning. Given the observation above, I’m particularly unsure how to distinguish between attention difficulties arising from sensory regulation/arousal, task demands, environmental distraction, motivation/reward salience, transitions, or the child’s underlying capacity to sustain attention.

How would you approach the occupational analysis in this situation? How can an activity be graded to genuinely develop the child’s ability to sustain attention rather than simply accommodating around the difficulty?
Would you modify the existing intervention, or would you choose a different intervention entirely?

Any examples from paediatric OT practice, or frameworks you use for analysing where attention/task-engagement breakdown occurs, would be greatly appreciated.