Occupational Therapist

Posting Date: 04/15/2025

Position Title: Occupational Therapist

Reports to: Coordinator of the Whole Child Support Team

Service Area: Santa Fe NM

Employment Term: Fulltime; Exempt 10 month position

Salary/Wage Range: Depends on qualifications and experience

Deadline for Application: Open until filled

Summary

Occupational Therapists (OT) at NMSD 1 have integral roles in education and are essential members of school faculty 2 help students meet the performance standards of NMSD and the state by assuming a range of responsibilities 3 work in partnership with others to meet students needs and 4 provide direction in defining their roles and responsibilities and in ensuring appropriate services to students. . It is anticipated and expected that all functions of this position will be performed in a positive and receptive manner while helping to advance the mission and vision of New Mexico School for the Deaf.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities (Other duties may be assigned)

• Works closely with an educational team to perform evaluations.
• Performs ongoing assessments.
• Prepares and submits comprehensive evaluation reports and periodic reports on students activities and progress.
• Performs comprehensive evaluations for deaf and hard of hearing students for various NMSD departments including Early Intervention.
• Keeps current on best practices and current research in the field.
• Ability to work with students ranging in age from 18 months22 years of age
• Maintains up to date therapy logs and Medicaid documentation.
• Creates and implements individual educational plans for students with the educational team.
• Works with the educational team to create and implement plans to support and improve function including: helping children to prepare for and perform important learning and schoolrelated activities and to fulfill their role as students support academic and nonacademic outcomes including social skills math reading and writing (i.e. literacy) behavior management recess participation in sports selfhelp skills and prevocational/vocational participation.
• Supports the implementation of the schoolwide handwriting program including determining appropriate materials to be used.
• Works with others in applying knowledge of sensory integration and selfregulation skills in relation to the academic setting.
• Provides oneonone or small group occupational therapy when appropriate.
• Integrates services into the classroom and other school settings when appropriate.
• Trains teachers educational assistants parents other staff members and caregivers regarding educating students with diverse learning needs
• Adheres to NMSDs Vision Mission and Belief statements.

Competencies: To perform the job successfully an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

Ability and commit to represent the vision mission and beliefs of NMSD

• Job Knowledge Competent in required job skills and knowledge; exhibits ability to learn and apply new skills; keeps abreast of current developments; requires minimal supervision; displays understanding of how job relates to others; uses resources effectively.

• Analytical Synthesizes complex or diverse information; collects and researches data; uses intuition and experience to complement data; designs work flows and procedures. Continuous Learning Assesses own strengths and weaknesses; seeks feedback to improve performance; pursues training and development opportunities; strives to continuously build knowledge and skills; shares expertise with others.

• Planning/Organizations Prioritizes and plans work activities; uses time efficiently; plans for additional resources; sets goals and objectives; organizes or schedules other people and their tasks. Must be organized and detailoriented. Must be able to complete work within deadlines. Must be able to plan and carry out plans/units efficiently utilizing the entire tasks.

• Continuous Learning Assesses own strengths and weaknesses; seeks feedback to improve performance; pursues training and development opportunities; strives to continuously build knowledge and skills; shares expertise with others.

• Attendance/Punctuality Is consistently at work and on time; ensures work responsibilities are covered when absent;

• Cooperation Establishes and maintains effective relations; exhibits tact and consideration; offers assistance and support to coworkers; works cooperatively in group situations; works actively to resolve conflicts.

• Teamwork Balances team and individual responsibilities; exhibits objectivity and openness to others views; gives and welcomes feedback; contributes to building a positive team spirit; puts success of team above own interests; supports everyones efforts to succeed.

• Initiative Volunteers readily; undertakes selfdevelopment activities; asks for and offers help when needed.

• Innovation Displays original thinking and creativity; meets challenges with resourcefulness; generates suggestions for improving work; develops innovative approaches and ideas; presents ideas and information in a manner that gets others attention.

• Judgment Supports and explains reasoning for decisions; includes appropriate people in decisionmaking process.

• Achievement Focus Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles.

• Conflict Resolution Confronts difficult situations; maintains objectivity; keeps emotions under control.

• Adaptability Adapts to changes in the work environment; manages competing demands; changes approach or method to best fit the situation; able to deal with frequent change delays or unexpected events.

• Delegation Delegates work assignments; matches the responsibility to the person; sets expectations and monitors delegated activities.

• Dependability Follows instructions responds to management direction; takes responsibility for own actions; keeps commitments; commits to long hours of work when necessary to reach goals.

• Compassion Demonstrates a general knowledge of the history and significance of Deaf and other minority communities in New Mexico.

• Personal Appearance Dresses appropriately for position; keeps self well groomed; is mindful of visual needs when selecting clothing/accessories.

• Cultural Sensitivity Demonstrates an understanding for diverse family dynamics eye contact conventions and gender roles in various cultures and how these cultural differences potentially might influence a communicated message.

• Humility Demonstrates an openness to learning; never assumes her/his expertise excludes her/him from having to learn about other cultures.

• Multiculturalism Possesses general knowledge about Deaf education and attitudes toward Deafness; Demonstrates an ability to apply American cultural values to business norms such as punctuality and conciseness in communication and apply Deaf cultural values to interpreting and other interactions via attitude and demonstration of consideration and respect.

• Diversity Shows respect and sensitivity for cultural differences; educates others on the value of diversity; incorporates multicultural viewpoints into instruction and materials.

• Ethics Treats people with respect; keeps commitments; inspires the trust of others; works with integrity and principles; upholds organizational values.

• Language Possesses adeptness in working across a wide range of registers genres and variations of English and ASL; demonstrates flexibility using language free of regionalisms when interpreting for a consumer who does not share the same variety of English or ASL; Demonstrates ability to identify Englishspeaking and Deaf consumers language use and accommodate with appropriate target language form.

• Communications/ Written Communications Exhibits good listening and comprehension; keeps others adequately informed; selects and uses appropriate communication methods; listens and gets clarification; responds well to questions; participates in meetings. Writes clearly and informatively; varies writing style to meet needs. Ensures that communication with clearly presented and grammatically correct.

• Visionary Leadership/ Leadership Displays passion and optimism; inspires respect and trust. Inspires and motivates others to perform well; accepts feedback from others; gives appropriate recognition to others.

• Problem Solving Gathers and analyzes information skillfully; develops alternative solutions; works well in group problem solving situations; works well with supervisors and other specialists.

• Strategic Thinking Develops strategies to achieve organizational goals; understands organizations strengths & weaknesses; identifies external threats and opportunities; adapts strategy to changing conditions.

• Achievement Focus Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles.

• Quality/ Quantity Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve and promote quality. Completes work in timely manner; strives to increase productivity.

• Quality Management Looks for ways to improve and promote quality; demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.

• Project Management Completes projects on time.

• Organizational Support Follows policies and procedures; completes tasks correctly and on time; supports organizations goals and values.

• Customer Service Responds to requests for service and assistance; meets commitments.

• Use of Technology Adapts to new technologies; troubleshoots technological problems; uses technology to increase productivity; utilizes technology and software to enhance learning.

• Safety and Security Observes safety and security procedures; determines appropriate action beyond guidelines; reports potentially unsafe conditions; uses equipment and materials properly; manages area environment for safety and security.

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Education and/or Experience: Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy with at least two years of experience and a progressive and directly related experience with children who are deaf or hard of hearing. PED State Licensure is required. National Board Certification in Occupational Therapy required.

• Language Skills: Ability to read analyze and interpret occupational therapy periodicals professional journals technical procedures or governmental regulations. Ability to write evaluations and business correspondence. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from teachers and parents.

• Sign Language: American Sign Language skills at hire are favorable. The applicant must have some sign language skills and will be required to demonstrate progressive sign language acquisition and if needed participate in sign language classes offered at NMSD.

• Mathematical Skills: Ability to add subtract multiply and divide in all units of measure using whole numbers common fractions and decimals. Ability to compute standard scores percentile ranks and age equivalents for evaluations based on standardization charts.

• Reasoning Ability: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written oral diagram or schedule form.

• Computer Skills: To perform this job successfully an individual should have working knowledge of Microsoft Windows as well as various software packages including Microsoft Office.

• Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this Job the employee is frequently required to stand walk sit and play on the floor with students. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision distance vision and peripheral vision.

• Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

NMSD conforms to all the laws statutes and regulations concerning equal employment opportunities and affirmative action. We strongly encourage women minorities individuals with disabilities and veterans to apply to all of our job openings. We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion gender sexual orientation gender identity or national origin age disability status Genetic Information & Testing Family & Medical Leave protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.