LATI Academic Programs

While enrolled in the OTA program, students participate in a wide variety of educational experiences, including fieldtrips to facilities in Eastern South Dakota where OT services are provided. Also, speakers are scheduled from across the state to come into the classroom and assist in the students’ learning. The faculty is dedicated to OTA education and provides many professional networking and professional development opportunities.

Occupational Therapy (OT) involves the use of familiar and/or enjoyable activities to assist individuals in improving physical, cognitive, mental, or emotional limitations. OT promotes well being and satisfaction with life by helping clients with injury prevention and with improving performance in living.

An Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) is a health care professional who, under the supervision of an Occupational Therapist, assists individuals of all ages in learning to manage physical, cognitive, mental, and emotional aspects of living. By implementing safe performance of daily activities (self-care, independent living skills, work, leisure, play and social participation), the OTA is able to use the interests of the individual in treatment to teach injury prevention, improve functional ability, and/or adapt equipment or environments to improve success.
This program prepares the student to work in a variety of community and health care settings where Occupational Therapy services are presently available and where the services will be available in the future.

This program, twenty months in length, consists of lecture, laboratory experience, discussion, demonstration, and off-site field-work experiences. Satisfactory completion of this program requires that the individual maintain a 2.0 GPA and complete all course work with a grade of C or higher with the exception that one grade of a D will be allowed in a general or related course. Upon completion of the curriculum, the graduate receives an Associate of Applied Science degree.

Graduates of this accredited program are eligible to take the national certification examination for the occupational therapy assistant administered by the National Board of Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) NBCOT's Web Site. After successful completion of the exam, the graduate will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). Most states also require licensure to practice which is typically based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Exam.
South Dakota Occupational Therapy Practice, Rules and Regulations.

Lake Area Technical Institute is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The OTA program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association at 4720 Montgomery Lane, PO Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220, phone (301) 625-2682.
Be advised that students graduating from an unaccredited program are not eligible to take the NBCOT Certification Exam. In addition, a felony conviction may affect an individual's eligibility to sit for the national exam and/or obtain state licensure. LATI is an open admissions technical institute.

Job opportunities in the field of occupational therapy are expected to grow over the next ten years. The Occupational Outlook Handbook 2008-2009 projects "the employment of occupational therapy assistants is expected grow 25 percent from 2006-2016, much faster than average for all occupations." This may be due to various factors including the aging of our population and the advances made in the medical industry. The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2006 the average earnings for an Occupational Therapy Assistant was approximately $42,110/year.

Students interested in applying for admission in the fall of each year may begin building an application file at any time. Completed applications are processed as they are received. Contact the admissions assistant with questions regarding the status of your application file as applications are not processed until complete. Class size will be limited to 22 students per year. Applicants should be aware that this is an academically intense curriculum.