Occupational Therapy Aides
Official O*NET title: Occupational Therapy Aides (31-2012.00)
Also called: certified occupational rehabilitation aide, direct service professional, direct support professional, occupational rehabilitation aide, occupational therapist aide
Do you do this at work?
Answer each card — it takes about a minute.
Do you do this at work?
Observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records
Swipe right for yes, left for not me. On a keyboard: → yes, ← not me, Z undo. +2 XP per answer.
How AI is changing occupational therapy aides work
1 of 12 measurable main tasks for this job show up in real AI-use data, so we rate it Green (little AI use yet) — 8%.
This shows where people already use AI, not whether the job will disappear. How we measure this.
Tasks in this job and recorded AI use
- Observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records (main task) — some recorded AI use
- Encourage patients and attend to their physical needs to help with the attainment of therapeutic goals (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Report to supervisors or therapists, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, attendance, and accomplishments (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Prepare and maintain work area, materials, and equipment and maintain inventory of treatment and educational supplies (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Transport patients to and from the occupational therapy work area (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Instruct patients and families in work, social, and living skills, the care and use of adaptive equipment, and other skills to help with home and work adjustment to disability (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Assist occupational therapists in planning, implementing, and administering therapy programs to restore, reinforce, and enhance performance, using selected activities and special equipment (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Demonstrate therapy techniques (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Manage intradepartmental infection control and equipment security (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Perform clerical, administrative, and secretarial duties (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Supervise patients in choosing and completing work assignments or arts and crafts projects (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Adjust and repair assistive devices and make adaptive changes to other equipment and to environments (main task) — no recorded AI use
- Evaluate the living skills and capacities of clients with physical, developmental, or mental health disabilities — too new for the AI data
- Accompany patients on outings, providing transportation when necessary — no recorded AI use
- Assist educational specialists or clinical psychologists in administering situational or diagnostic tests to measure client's abilities or progress — no recorded AI use
Tasks: O*NET 31.0. AI use: Anthropic Economic Index (exact or close text match).
Your first steps (guidance)
- Week 1: Open a free AI assistant and say hello. Follow our “Getting started with AI” guide. Ask it one simple question about your work.
- Week 2: Use AI on one task you do often. Try the prompt for: “Observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records”. Try the prompt for: “Report to supervisors or therapists, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, attendance, and accomplishments”.
Tick your own tasks above to get a plan based on what you really do. The first 2 weeks are free; Premium (coming soon) adds weeks 3–12. New to AI? Read our beginner’s guide.
Questions about AI and occupational therapy aides
Will AI replace occupational therapy aides?
Our data can’t predict job losses, and we don’t try to. What it does show: 1 of the 12 main tasks for this job match tasks people already use AI for (Anthropic Economic Index), giving a Green rating (little AI use yet). Using AI on a task is not the same as AI doing the whole job, and 13 of the 15 listed tasks show no recorded AI use yet.
Which occupational therapy aide tasks is AI used for most?
In the data, the most AI use among this job’s tasks is for: observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records.
Which occupational therapy aide tasks show little or no AI use?
For example: encourage patients and attend to their physical needs to help with the attainment of therapeutic goals; report to supervisors or therapists, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, attendance, and accomplishments; prepare and maintain work area, materials, and equipment and maintain inventory of treatment and educational supplies. These are good places to keep building your own skills.
How does this job compare to others?
In Microsoft Research’s “Working with AI” study, this job’s AI applicability score is equal to or higher than 11% of the occupations they scored. That measures overlap with AI chat use, not risk of job loss.
How can a occupational therapy aide start learning AI?
Start small: open a free AI assistant, try it on one task you do often, and always check facts and numbers yourself. The plan on this page is guidance, not professional advice.
See how this job ranks
Occupational Therapy Aides ranks #507 of 572 jobs for the share of main tasks with AI use (#1 = most), and #68 of 80 in Healthcare.
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