Occupational Therapy Assistant

**About the Role**

An exciting opening has arisen for a Children’s Occupational Therapy Assistant to begin or develop a career in Special Educational Needs & Disability Service (SEND) and Children’s Social Care within a unique local authority setting. As an Occupational Therapy Support Assistant based in the Children with Disabilities Team you will be given the opportunity to work with a variety of children and young people who have differing needs including predominantly children with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) & / or Behaviours of Concern, a learning disability, physical disability, and / or sensory impairment.

You will develop a range of skills enabling you to undertake frontline holistic assessments within a social care setting, building your experience in home safety assessments, safety risk assessments, equipment assessment and provision, minor and some major adaptations, practical manual moving and handling assessments; with the aim of supporting our children and young people to live safely and as independently as possible within their own homes and in the wider community.

**About you**
The successful Occupational Therapy Assistant will manage their own case load, and work alongside other children’s social care colleagues including Social Workers, and the OT Health Team. The work is varied and is predominantly home assessments, supporting parents and carers to continue to care for their children at home, and assisting the children to maintain and maximise their safety and independence in their own homes.

The Occupational Therapy Assistant role offers a competitive starting salary, with a 25½ hours per week (pattern to be determined) with some options for agile work practice with the tools to manage this. You would be well supported by the Occupational Therapy Team and the Occupational Therapy Team Manager and would also have opportunities for ongoing development, training and regular formal supervision.

Part of your community based role requires you to carry out frequent home visits within the locality, on occasion travelling outside of your locality base. Some of these settings include client’s homes, residential settings, foster carers homes, and on occasions in educational settings.

The successful applicant is required to keep accurate records and adhere to the Council’s policies and procedures.

A quotation from one of our Occupational Therapists:_ “As an Occupational Therapist you were undoubtedly drawn to this profession by your own passion, personality and nature, to make a real difference in the lives of others. In this OT team we work together supporting each other to identify and promote any opportunities to facilitate that goal in the most child centred way possible. We measure our successes, big or small, on the positive impact that we can have on children’s lives. We have excellent peer, supervision, and a management structure to enable us to do this; also by having also_ excellent close interagency and collaborative working relationships directly with our parents and carers, and colleagues in Health, Education and the Voluntary Sector”._
- Experience of working with disabled children with various disabilities, including Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) & / or Behaviours of Concern.
- Experience undertaking assessments and identifying needs relating to children with disabilities, including Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) & / or Behaviours of Concern.
- Experience identifying and delivering services to disabled children / young people, including Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) & / or Behaviours of Concern.
- Experience and knowledge of disability equipment and housing adaptations for disabled children / young people and carers, including those with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) & / or Behaviours of Concern.
- Is able to communicate clearly, verbally and in writing in a professional manner, having experience of customer support and dispute resolution.

**So if you are interested in joining a dynamic and passionate Children’s Occupational Therapy Team that will offer a unique and inspiring job role that will enable you to have a positive impact in the lives of disabled children and young people, we would love to hear from you. You are very welcome to speak to a member of the team, Sarah Lemonofides on 01706 925900**

**About us**

So if you are interested in joining a dynamic and passionate Children’s Occupational Therapy Team that will offer a unique and inspiring job role that will enable you to have a positive impact in the lives of disabled children and young people, we would love to hear from you.

Interview date tbc