PRESIDENT ’ S ADDRESS ANNE KIRALY-ALVAREZ , OTD , OTR / L , SCSS
Jan | Feb | Mar 2022
I was recently speaking with someone about some of the things ILOTA board members and volunteers are doing , and they were surprised at how much we ’ ve been doing that they weren ’ t aware of . So , I ’ d like to use this space to highlight some of the initiatives that our members have been working on . I don ’ t have room to mention every contribution , so if I don ’ t mention something you ’ ve contributed to , please don ’ t be offended - I still appreciate your efforts !
The Illinois Occupational Therapy Practice Act sunsets in 2024 , so we have had several different workgroups that have begun revising some of our administrative rules or developing new proposed rules to further clarify our practice act and respond to changes in occupational therapy ( OT ) practice . Some of the rules they have focused on so far relate to continuing education , modalities , supervision of OT / OTA students , and defining the types of OT services that do not require referrals . The groups have been meeting and discussing how to make improvements to these rules so they clearly address questions or concerns that have been brought up about our practice act . We have submitted some draft rules to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and are awaiting further direction on next steps .
Several of our Special Interest Section ( SIS ) chairpersons and committees have been busy , too ! Some SIS chairpersons and committees meet on a regular basis to discuss topics of interest and advocacy issues . They have been developing resources that are beneficial to our members ( if you haven ’ t checked our website recently , you can find these resources here :
https ://
We also have committees devoted to our larger continuing education events : the Student Conclave , which we host each spring , as well as our Annual Conference , which we host in the fall . Members of these committees meet frequently to plan and manage all the logistics of these events . They also spend countless hours communicating with others and completing tasks relevant to these events .
Finally , our Leadership Development Program ( LDP ) is currently in its third year . The LDP committee ensures the program stays on track and also plans / runs continuing education sessions for the mentors and mentees . The LDP mentors meet regularly with the mentees to work toward their professional development goals . Some of the mentors and mentees have also gotten involved in some of the other efforts I mention above !
These are just a few examples of the wonderful things ILOTA members are doing to support our profession and our members . If you are ever interested in getting more involved with ILOTA in these or similar efforts , please feel free to contact me at
president @ ilota . org or explore volunteer opportunities here :
https :// ilota . memberclicks . net / ilota-volunteer-opportunities .
5 Illinois Occupational Therapy Association | 2022 ISSUE 1