Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA)

SCC is now accepting applications for the 2025-2027 Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Program!  SCC is proud to offer the only OTA program in southern IL that is also accessible to students in western KY and southeast MO.

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Twenty-five (25) students will be admitted to the SCC Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program each fall.  Classes are held at Shawnee Community College’s Union County Extension Center in Anna, IL.

Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) courses have lecture, hands-on laboratory and clinical components.  Portions of the lecture sessions and/or entire classes are web-based to help decrease transportation costs.  During the program, students will develop entry-level knowledge and clinical skills necessary to provide services to persons of all ages who have a functional loss due to physical, neurological, social/emotional, cognitive or developmental disabilities.

The profession tailors rehabilitation services individually for each client.  Through evaluation and treatments, OT seeks to restore or improve function in “occupational” performance.  Occupation may be defined as ordinary things people do each day to work, play and take care of themselves or others. As each person choose “occupational” roles that are important to us, the loss or impairment of how a person performs those occupations may lead to decreased independence and self-worth.

The practice of OT uses purposeful and meaningful occupations to treat deficits in function, as well as using those occupations as goals for treatment.  Treatment will consist of restoration of specific performance abilities, instruction in compensatory techniques, the adaptation of tasks, processes or the environment, disability prevention techniques or health promotion strategies.  Occupational therapy assistants, under the supervision of an occupational therapist, will work directly with individuals to achieve a maximum level of independence within the capacity that remains after disease, accident or other disabilities.

The OT profession serves a diverse population in a wide variety of settings such as hospitals, out-patient clinics, rehabilitation facilities, extended/skilled long-term care facilities, sheltered workshops, schools, camps, private homes, physician offices and community programs.

Graduates of SCC’s OTA program will qualify to sit for the National Board of Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc. (NBCOT) national certification exam. Successful completion of this exam confers the title of Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA).  Illinois and most states additionally require licensure to practice; most states basing qualification on the NBCOT exam results.  * A felony conviction may adversely affect ability to sit for the NBCOT exam and/or attain state licensure.