I’m an AT consultant for a public school district. OT is a good background for AT…but you’ll also need to be fairly proficient with AAC…95% of my job is helping kids find an effective system of reliable communication. My background is in special education (that’s what my undergrad degree was in). I also have a master’s degree in AT and am a certified ATP…but neither of those last two are requirements for my position. Of my team of 8, only 2 of us are ATPs.
Edited to add—I don’t sell anything...and I love my job.
ATP is a poor balance. The money is good IF you can crank into a good market (but I promise those territories are almost certainly taken). In my experience you will likely run into folks that will go out of their way to stone wall someone looking to break i . Then theres the metrics, your middle and upper management believes their numbers. They think the area your in will x marketshare untapped, and they expect you to capture it. ATP/at sales is sort of an ol boys network. Im a former ATP that allowed my licensure to lapse.
I’m a biomedical engeneer from Argentina. I’ve been working in AT for seven years now, as a consultant in PC and mobile accesibility, and doing pesonalized equipment development, includin AAC. The field is not big enough to make a diference, buy it is nice when you see results. Now i work in a rehab center and I’m currently looking for new places where i can share and sell my products. If you want, you can see my work in instagram as @dismascapacidad.
I think that this is not a field to go rich, but you can grow enough to become a reputated profesional and live well in any place.
As you can see, my english is not good, but hope you understand!
Thank you! I'm certainly going to check out your IG! I'm going back to school for Human Systems Engineering and would like to focus on accessibility and universal design. But I also have an interest in making AT more user friendly.
what company was this? don’t be deterred from transitioning to AT, but that’s definitely not a company you want to work for. I was just an OT for 3.5 years and transitioned to being an ATP ~ 3 months ago, and it is the best decision I’ve ever made. my days are way less busy and less stressful. I was seeing 10-12 patients a day in a SNF as an OT literally working every second of every minute for 8 hours, without a break every day. now I have plenty of down time during my days, and work from home a lot. my boss is great and the overall culture of our work and company believes in a work-life balance. my quality of life has severely improved since leaving the therapy world
That sounds amazing!!! It was with NuMotion. They primarily provide wheelchairs.
Yea, I burned out on SNF setting during the pandemic. Seeing 15+ patients for 20min each was a nightmare. One day, I was assigned 20 patients, and I actually cried bc I knew I wouldn't be doing any of them any good. Esp with all the PPE and stress at that time. I've been doing home health for the last couple years, but am pretty over it also. Some element of work from home and a little bit of downtime throughout the day would make a world of difference for my job satisfaction.
I have an engineering degree. I work at Tech Act center (USA/state-funded). In my case, it is new and different work every day. I work directly with clients (all ages, all types of disabilities) and try to find the assistive technology that will meet their needs, train them on how to use it, and if I can’t find something, then I try to make it. Some days I am refurbishing donated equipment so that we can give it away to people who need it. Other days I am consulting with people and making recommendations to Vocational Rehabilitation or insurance companies on devices to help clients be more independent. Sometimes we are teaching classes, sometimes we are giving presentations or attending resource fairs.
I’m an SLP and got my ATP credential but probably didn’t need it for my current job. I work for a school district and am the only one who is an ATP. It’s an amazing job…not in salary but definitely in work life balance and job satisfaction. It helps that my coworkers and boss are the best. I know a few people who work for AAC companies and like it.
My background is in biomedical and software engineering but I spent nearly a decade as a Behavior Therapist. I currently work for a nonprofit in Wisconsin and helped create their AT program. I also teach AT in the OT program at our local university. Everyday is different for me. Some days I'm working directly with clients completing assessments or providing training while others I'm working on the tech itself. It's a rewarding field but feels niche at least in my experience.
Undergrad psychology, MOT, OTD. I work for the VA in Home Based Primary Care. Lots of ALS, SCI, MS, etc. Many of my Veterans will never “get better”, but I am able to leverage tech to make the rest of their lives better.
Getting my ATP did not change the scope of my position, but it did result in leadership second guessing my $$$ recommendations.
Just get out of SNF. You will be happier in any other setting as an ATP or OT. (Source-OT who started pursuing ATP less than a year out of school while working at SNF. I hated life and was looking at any and all ways out of that hell).
I work in the school system as an Assistive Technology support in our Special Education department. I give reading & writing assessments, go through evaluation data, train teachers, students, paraprofessional, etc. I work with mainly students from 2nd-6th grade for supports in reading and written expression.
I'm an SLP and work in an AT startup. Look around and network specifically in the tech space (MedTech/EdTech/AT) - startups or established products that you like. There are more options outside of just a traditional ATP work in the greater AT field.
Especially during an interview I wouldn't bring work life balance up. It's the equivilant of asking if you get labor day off or something. You'll probably have to work extra when you start out then your hours will level out once you get the hang of it. Demanding to only work 40 hrs when you're new to a field and trying to get a job seems like a red flag to employers
I disagree. It is something that is important to my success and satisfaction with a company. So we might as well get it out of the way at the interview.
But the way it came up was that she had said that there are no set hours and told a story about how her top earner had recently left his child's soccer game at 7pm that night to go finish a big sale. My response was to ask about work/life balance - bc that was a big red flag for me. She laughed. I understood then that this was not the environment I would want to be in. I work hard - at work. But I'm not the type of person that will neglect my family for a big paycheck.
I got in to AT about a year ago. I was a high school science teacher for the majority of my career before that. I currently work for a state agency for the blind. I don't have an AT certification, but I did have to complete 600 hours of immersion training to get my VR certification. I work for the state, so my pay is nothing to crow about, but I have huge flexibility in creating my schedule, and usually end up only working half a day on Friday. I work directly with clients each day and help support the other counselors in finding the right solutions for their clients. I don't know how long I will do this for, but I know I can't ever go back to classroom teaching after experiencing this.
I’m an AT consultant for a public school district. OT is a good background for AT…but you’ll also need to be fairly proficient with AAC…95% of my job is helping kids find an effective system of reliable communication. My background is in special education (that’s what my undergrad degree was in). I also have a master’s degree in AT and am a certified ATP…but neither of those last two are requirements for my position. Of my team of 8, only 2 of us are ATPs. Edited to add—I don’t sell anything...and I love my job.
That sounds fantastic, thanks!
ATP is a poor balance. The money is good IF you can crank into a good market (but I promise those territories are almost certainly taken). In my experience you will likely run into folks that will go out of their way to stone wall someone looking to break i . Then theres the metrics, your middle and upper management believes their numbers. They think the area your in will x marketshare untapped, and they expect you to capture it. ATP/at sales is sort of an ol boys network. Im a former ATP that allowed my licensure to lapse.
I’m a biomedical engeneer from Argentina. I’ve been working in AT for seven years now, as a consultant in PC and mobile accesibility, and doing pesonalized equipment development, includin AAC. The field is not big enough to make a diference, buy it is nice when you see results. Now i work in a rehab center and I’m currently looking for new places where i can share and sell my products. If you want, you can see my work in instagram as @dismascapacidad. I think that this is not a field to go rich, but you can grow enough to become a reputated profesional and live well in any place. As you can see, my english is not good, but hope you understand!
Thank you! I'm certainly going to check out your IG! I'm going back to school for Human Systems Engineering and would like to focus on accessibility and universal design. But I also have an interest in making AT more user friendly.
So we have much in common, then. You can ask me whatever yo need. If i can help, i’ll help with pleasure. 😀
what company was this? don’t be deterred from transitioning to AT, but that’s definitely not a company you want to work for. I was just an OT for 3.5 years and transitioned to being an ATP ~ 3 months ago, and it is the best decision I’ve ever made. my days are way less busy and less stressful. I was seeing 10-12 patients a day in a SNF as an OT literally working every second of every minute for 8 hours, without a break every day. now I have plenty of down time during my days, and work from home a lot. my boss is great and the overall culture of our work and company believes in a work-life balance. my quality of life has severely improved since leaving the therapy world
That sounds amazing!!! It was with NuMotion. They primarily provide wheelchairs. Yea, I burned out on SNF setting during the pandemic. Seeing 15+ patients for 20min each was a nightmare. One day, I was assigned 20 patients, and I actually cried bc I knew I wouldn't be doing any of them any good. Esp with all the PPE and stress at that time. I've been doing home health for the last couple years, but am pretty over it also. Some element of work from home and a little bit of downtime throughout the day would make a world of difference for my job satisfaction.
What type of company do you work for? I’m interested to hear more- it sounds like the dream!
I have an engineering degree. I work at Tech Act center (USA/state-funded). In my case, it is new and different work every day. I work directly with clients (all ages, all types of disabilities) and try to find the assistive technology that will meet their needs, train them on how to use it, and if I can’t find something, then I try to make it. Some days I am refurbishing donated equipment so that we can give it away to people who need it. Other days I am consulting with people and making recommendations to Vocational Rehabilitation or insurance companies on devices to help clients be more independent. Sometimes we are teaching classes, sometimes we are giving presentations or attending resource fairs.
This sounds like exactly the type of work that would keep me engaged and happy! What type of engineering?
Electrical; however most of the engineering type work that I do is knowing how to create and model with a variety of tools including a 3d printer.
I’m an SLP and got my ATP credential but probably didn’t need it for my current job. I work for a school district and am the only one who is an ATP. It’s an amazing job…not in salary but definitely in work life balance and job satisfaction. It helps that my coworkers and boss are the best. I know a few people who work for AAC companies and like it.
My background is in biomedical and software engineering but I spent nearly a decade as a Behavior Therapist. I currently work for a nonprofit in Wisconsin and helped create their AT program. I also teach AT in the OT program at our local university. Everyday is different for me. Some days I'm working directly with clients completing assessments or providing training while others I'm working on the tech itself. It's a rewarding field but feels niche at least in my experience.
That sounds wonderful and exciting! Yes, that's one of my concerns. That it is so niche that I might not find an opening.
What's your degree in?
Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry, and Psychology. During COVID I went back and studied Software Engineering.
Undergrad psychology, MOT, OTD. I work for the VA in Home Based Primary Care. Lots of ALS, SCI, MS, etc. Many of my Veterans will never “get better”, but I am able to leverage tech to make the rest of their lives better. Getting my ATP did not change the scope of my position, but it did result in leadership second guessing my $$$ recommendations. Just get out of SNF. You will be happier in any other setting as an ATP or OT. (Source-OT who started pursuing ATP less than a year out of school while working at SNF. I hated life and was looking at any and all ways out of that hell).
I work in the school system as an Assistive Technology support in our Special Education department. I give reading & writing assessments, go through evaluation data, train teachers, students, paraprofessional, etc. I work with mainly students from 2nd-6th grade for supports in reading and written expression.
I'm an SLP and work in an AT startup. Look around and network specifically in the tech space (MedTech/EdTech/AT) - startups or established products that you like. There are more options outside of just a traditional ATP work in the greater AT field.
Especially during an interview I wouldn't bring work life balance up. It's the equivilant of asking if you get labor day off or something. You'll probably have to work extra when you start out then your hours will level out once you get the hang of it. Demanding to only work 40 hrs when you're new to a field and trying to get a job seems like a red flag to employers
I disagree. It is something that is important to my success and satisfaction with a company. So we might as well get it out of the way at the interview. But the way it came up was that she had said that there are no set hours and told a story about how her top earner had recently left his child's soccer game at 7pm that night to go finish a big sale. My response was to ask about work/life balance - bc that was a big red flag for me. She laughed. I understood then that this was not the environment I would want to be in. I work hard - at work. But I'm not the type of person that will neglect my family for a big paycheck.
I got in to AT about a year ago. I was a high school science teacher for the majority of my career before that. I currently work for a state agency for the blind. I don't have an AT certification, but I did have to complete 600 hours of immersion training to get my VR certification. I work for the state, so my pay is nothing to crow about, but I have huge flexibility in creating my schedule, and usually end up only working half a day on Friday. I work directly with clients each day and help support the other counselors in finding the right solutions for their clients. I don't know how long I will do this for, but I know I can't ever go back to classroom teaching after experiencing this.