Highlights and Special Events
Events labeled CE carry continuing education credit.
Wednesday, April 22
8:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m
AOTA/AOTF Postdoctoral Research and Networking Forum
This forum will provide current postdoctoral fellows with an opportunity to dialogue with members of AOTF’s Academy of Research, who will offer strategies related to selecting an institution and a position involving research, writing successful grant proposals, obtaining tenure, and identifying and connecting with mentors and research collaborators. Coffee, tea, and a light breakfast will be served.
$15 for AOTA/AOTF Pre-Conference Institute 003 registrants
$25 for non-registrants. Preregistration is required.
12:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
AOTF Moody Garden Tour and Lunch - cancelled
7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
Special Interest Sections Networking Reception
New and seasoned SIS participants—don’t miss this favorite informal event to get your Conference experience off to a great start! Take the opportunity to meet and network with both new and experienced colleagues who share your specialty interests. Meet your SIS leadership and perhaps you’ll explore SIS leadership opportunities of your own. Each SIS has a designated gathering area at the reception so you can enjoy networking at its best.
$20 per person (Includes light snacks and cash bar)
7:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m. CE
Doctoral Network Reception and Annual Meeting
Everything You Ever Wanted or Needed To Know About Preparing for a Doctorate (by Elizabeth Blesedell Crepeau, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA)
Dr. Elizabeth Crepeau, Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire Occupational Therapy Department, will look at the life and needs of doctoral students and answer such frequently asked questions as: What do I look for when selecting a doctoral program? How should I shape my professional career? How can I gain an understanding of academic life?
An optional roundtable mentoring session (6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.) will consist of 10 tables of 8 participants, with each table led by its own mentor. Participants must sign up for their mentor prior to attending the Doctoral Network Meeting.
$27 per person (Includes light refreshments)
Thursday, April 23
7:30 a.m.–8:15 a.m.
First-Timers’ Orientation
Get the tips you need to make the most of your first AOTA Annual Conference & Expo! Join us at the First-Timers’ Orientation where the Conference Program Manager will be available to help guide you through program options and answer all of your questions.
Included in Conference registration
Sponsored by Geico
4:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
Welcome Ceremony and Keynote Address
Beating the Odds: Preparing a Diverse Workforce in the Sciences and Allied Health (by Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
What will students need to know in order to succeed academically, and what skills and values must they possess? What strategies can colleges and universities use to support and ensure the success of students from all backgrounds? Answers to these questions will substantially affect the quality of life of all Americans and the nation’s global competitiveness.
Over the past 3 decades, Freeman Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), has studied minority student achievement, focusing special attention on the underrepresentation of minority students, particularly African-Americans, in science and engineering. A major outcome of his research and vision is the successful Meyerhoff Scholarship Program for high-achieving minority students in science and engineering at UMBC, a predominantly white, public research university.
Initially funded by a gift from the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Foundation, the program was designed to address the shortage of African Americans, particularly males, who successfully pursue careers in science and engineering. Now in its 20th year, the program has produced nearly 560 graduates, Including 125 who have earned PhDs, MD/PhDs, and MDs.
Included with Conference registration
Sponsored by Marsh Affinity Group Services
5:30 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
Expo Grand Opening and Welcome Reception
Get energized from the first moment you step into the AOTA Expo Hall where hundreds of exhibitors wait to greet you! Step right from the Welcome Ceremony into the Expo and enjoy an opening reception full of connections with friends, a tantalizing spread of great food and drinks, and state-of-the-art products, services, and job opportunities you can’t afford to miss! Includes delicious hors d’oeuvres and cash bar.
Included with Conference registration
Sponsored by Texas Nerve and Paralysis Institute
9:00 p.m.–10:30 p.m.
Student Mixer
Join your fellow students for a fun meet-and-greet. Remember, networking is one of those all-important professional skills that doesn’t appear anywhere on your transcript; start to hone those skills here as you meet your student colleagues from around the country and have a great time. Entertainment provided. Open exclusively to students who are registered for Conference. Includes light snacks and entertainment
$20 per person
Sponsored by Peoplefirst Rehabilitation and RehabCare Group
Friday, April 24
7:30 a.m.–9:00 a.m. CE
15th Annual AOTF Breakfast With a Scholar
Lives in Words: The Poetry of Making Meaning (by Jan Epton Seale, Poet, Writer, Teacher, McAllen, Texas)
One special quality of occupational therapy practitioners is their recognition that the arts and humanities help enrich lives and create meaning. Join AOTF as it continues featuring notable scholars of the arts and humanities.
Get the morning started with breakfast and stimulating conversation with Jan Epton Seale, a nationally acclaimed poet, teacher, and writer. The author of several books of poetry and short stories, Jan Epton Seale’s work has been featured on National Public Radio, and published in leading literary magazines as well as through the prestigious PEN Syndicated Fiction Project. She is one of four notable poets featured in Texas Poets in Concert: A Quartet.
Jan Epton Seale has held faculty appointments at the University of North Texas and at The University of Texas–Pan American. She regularly shares the art of creative writing with others through workshops that help people capture their memoirs or otherwise use words creatively as a means of self-expression. Includes breakfast and a commemortative gift
$50 per person
Sponsored by The American Occupational Therapy Foundation
11:15 a.m.—12:00 p.m. CE
Presidential Address
Creating a Web of Energy Without a True Spider (by Penelope Moyers Cleveland, EdD, OTR/L, BCMH, FAOTA)
Envision webs of energy making seamless connections where practice, education, and research link together to dynamically inform, develop, and improve the profession of occupational therapy. Through these interlinking webs, we will stretch with continuous energy toward the AOTA Centennial Vision for 2017 and beyond.
In the past, these three components of the profession have often appeared to develop independently, performing as a single spider would in creating a lone web. Advances in one area do not fully integrate with the other aspects of the profession, resulting in a loss of energy and action. The ideal linkages—or webs of energy—will better position our profession to meet the occupational needs of society where persons are able to “Live Life To Its Fullest.”
Join President Cleveland as she examines the most important ways to influence a change in our professional culture so that we are all influential spiders, or co-creators, of fully integrated and multilayered webs that dramatically improve practice, education, and research. Learn how to use our professional values, innovative ideas, and energy to: facilitate personal change and become a scholarly practitioner, system changer, service innovator, or societal leader; capitalize on the energy of all occupational therapy practitioners and form these important webs by using factors of change within professional networks; and make feasible system changes in which one helps to build a structure supportive of high quality and authentic occupational therapy.
Included in Conference registration
12:30–1:15 p.m. CE
Special Interest Section Roundtable Discussions
New this year! Each of the 11 Special Interest Sections will offer two small group discussions. Sessions will offer one structured discussion on an identified topic, and a second, more informal session will allow members to dialogue about a variety of “hot” topics relevant to their practice area. The Hand and Private Practice Subsections and Driving and Home Modification Networks will offer one structured roundtable topic. Seating is very limited to allow for close interaction. Topics for all structured group discussions will be listed in advance on the AOTA Web site and in the on-site Program Guide. Tickets are required for either session you wish to attend. They will be available in the AOTA Member Resource Center during the Expo Grand Opening on Thursday, April 23. (Tickets will not be available on Friday morning.)
Included in Conference registration
1:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. CE
AOTF Research Colloquium and Tea
Life in Space: Research on Occupational Performance and Reflections of a NASA Astronaut
Join the AOTF Institute for the Study of Occupation and Health for a unique Research Colloquium and Tea. The program will feature Leroy Chiao, PhD, veteran NASA astronaut of four space flights and former Commander and Science Officer of the International Space Station. Dr. Chiao will share his experiences, in cooperationwith scientists from occupational therapy and allied disciplines whose research intersects with NASA as the agency addresses not only the challenges of living outside earth and after reentry from space, but also the benefits of such research for understanding daily activity on our planet.
Joining Dr. Chiao in this dynamic program will be Jeffrey P. Sutton, MD, PhD, of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute; Helen S. Cohen, EdD, OTR, FAOTA, of Baylor College of Medicine; and Jacob J. Bloomberg, PhD, and Lauren Leveton, PhD, both of the NASA/Johnson Space Center. Linda Tickle-Degnen, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, of Tufts University, will moderate. Includes tea
$30 per person
5:15 p.m.-6:30 p.m.CE
Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture
Reclaiming Our Heritage: Connecting the Founding Vision With the Centennial Vision (by Kathleen Barker Schwartz, EdD, OTR, FAOTA)
This year’s Slagle Lecture will examine the ideas and values that underlie the vision articulated by the founding generation of occupational therapists, and compare its similarities with the Centennial Vision.
It is the purpose of history to elucidate connections, in the hope that we can learn from our rich past and feel more related to it. Understanding the connection between the Founding Vision and the Centennial Vision can give practitioners of today a sense of continuity and community with earlier generations of occupational therapists, and an understanding that many of the values we currently hold were first articulated by occupational therapy’s founding generation almost 100 years ago.
Included with Conference registration
9:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m.
AOTF Gala: Sparkle and Shine!
An evening at the Houston Museum of Natural History Gem Collection and Gem Vault
Bring out your bling and join the American Occupational Therapy Foundation at the Houston Museum of Natural History Gem Collection. The collection embodies the ultimate combination of natural perfection and flawless artistic execution, and many of the jeweled masterpieces appear to be floating in darkness in this eye-dazzling collection. This is the dramatic setting for an evening of temptations.
Treat yourself like royalty with an exquisite mouth-watering menu of desserts created especially for our guests. Toast the evening with champagne or indulge with a rich specialty coffee as you view the sparkle and shine of gems and jewels.
Your participation in the AOTF Gala supports the Foundation’s programs to advance occupational therapy education and research, and is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. Includes dessert
$100 per person
Saturday, April 25
7:30 a.m.–9:00 a.m. CE
International Breakfast
Promoting Emerging Areas of OT in Countries With Limited Resources: What Should Be Our Role? (by Elsie R. Vergara, ScD, OTR, FAOTA)
Dr. Elsie Vergara, an associate professor of occupational therapy at Boston University, has traveled extensively to advance pediatric occupational therapy practice, particularly in Latin America. Most recently, she spent 7 weeks as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of Sydney consulting on postgraduate curriculum development. She will share the challenges she has encountered while promoting the development of neonatal practice in various countries; the greatest challenge has been balancing the “expert” role with the need to ensure that her recommendations are culturally appropriate, thus likely to be implemented. Successful—and not so successful—strategies will be discussed. Includes breakfast
$35 per person
8:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m. CE
1:15 p.m.–2:45 p.m., 3:15–4:45 p.m.
NEW! Tech Day
Join the Special Interest Sections in a hands-on, interactive exploration of high- and low-technology products to enhance client participation in occupations across the lifespan. The two morning sessions will address technology applications for children and youth, and the afternoon sessions will target adults of all ages. Presenters will discuss and demonstrate new products and software at multiple work stations, and attendees will have the opportunity for hands-on learning. Sample topics to be covered include voice recognition, Microsoft access features, the Wii, low-tech feeding equipment, Boardmaker in occupational therapy, AT literacy, computer access for users with upper-extremity limitations (the AccuPoint head mouse system), low technology for vision rehabilitation, and switches for environmental control units and toys.
Included with Conference registration
11:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
AOTA’s 89th Annual Business Meeting
Please join President Penelope Moyers Cleveland and other leaders at the 2009 AOTA Annual Business Meeting to learn how the Association is moving us toward our Centennial Vision goals. Equally important, find out how you can get involved in this incredible journey. You can begin your participation by sitting with colleagues from your state, yelling out “Present” during roll call, asking questions, and contributing ideas. AOTA and the profession of occupational therapy need you to help create a positive future for 2017. Come join the excitement!
Included with Conference registration
5:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Annual Awards and Recognitions Ceremony
Each year AOTA and AOTF take great pride in honoring our colleagues who have made significant contributions to the profession. Join friends, family, and colleagues as we gather to recognize and pay tribute to those whose achievements have enriched the field of occupational therapy. This important ceremony provides a wonderful opportunity for each of us to reconnect with our profession and reflect not only on the accomplishments of others, but our own capacity for achievement. All are welcome!
Open to the public.
7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Annual Awards and Recognition Reception
Our honored award recipients are ready to celebrate! Please join them and all your colleagues to enjoy an evening of mingling and sharing of good wishes at this wonderful event. Includes desserts and cash bar
$35.00 per person.
8:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m.
AOTPAC Night: OT Karaoke Idol
Warm up your voice and rehearse your moves for this one-of-a kind competition and party. The American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee’s annual celebration will mix it up with music and dancing—and for something new—a friendly and fun OT Karaoke Idol competition! Join your friends and colleagues and enjoy munchies and a cash bar. You won’t miss Simon, Paula, and Randy when you see the surprise judges! Individual and group entrants are welcome. Watch for details on the AOTA Web site and in OT Practice.
$40 (OTs/OTAs)
$25 (Students)
Sunday, April 26
8:00 a.m.–8:45 a.m. CE
Plenary Session: OT in Dementia Care: From Research to Practice
Panel Moderator: Janice P. Burke, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Panel Members: Laura N. Gitlin, PhD; Catherine Piersol, MS, OTR/L, and Tracey Vause Earland, MS, OTR/L
In the newly established Living Laboratory for Elder Care at Thomas Jefferson University, occupational therapy practitioners, educators, and researchers partner to deliver evidence-based services, train health professionals in these services, and identify service gaps to inform research concerning older adults with dementia and their families. The Living Laboratory integrates evidence-based practices with workforce preparation and represents an innovative approach to knowledge dissemination and science implementation. This new service–training–evaluation model is ideal for incubating occupational therapy service innovations and identifying real-world practice ideas that require systematic inquiry.
The panel will describe this model and its iterative efforts to date, which involve moving research to practice while recognizing everyday practice issues that can further inform research questions concerning dementia care. Discussion will include the critical importance of developing innovation in occupational therapy practice, education, and research to “retool” for an aging society and address a misaligned reimbursement and health care system.
Included with Conference registration
9:00 a.m.–10:30 a.m. CE
Centennial Vision Session (SC 401)
The Centennial Vision and Diversity Within Our Profession: Celebrating Success
This year’s Centennial Vision session will highlight five successful practitioners from diverse backgrounds, and their innovative practice areas. From using golf in a gang-prevention youth-mentoring program, to designing an indoor accessible playground, to creating a hip-hop dance troupe dedicated to dance education and outreach to diverse communities, these practitioners are all hard at work bringing the Centennial Vision to life. Panel members are clinicians, educators, and researchers involved in accessibility services, traditional clinical care, and assistive technology. Come hear about the groundbreaking work being done by occupational therapy practitioners throughout this country to meet the diverse and dynamic needs of today’s society.
Included with Conference registration