Supporting children with special educational needs (SEN): An introduction to a 3-tiered school-based occupational therapy model of service delivery in the United Kingdom

Abstract

In the last 30 years, cumulated practice- and research-based evidence highlight that the collaboration between occupational therapists, nursery/school staff, parents and other professionals involved is the primal importance in supporting children with special educational needs through developing an integrated therapy programme. This clinical practice article aims at introducing a 3-tiered school-based occupational therapy model of service delivery with examples of clinical application used in the United Kingdom (UK). Challenges in implementing this model, different factors of good practice and recommendations for future development are discussed in order to further refine and validate this model.