Clarify Licensure Requirements in New York Assembly Bill 6875
- Victoria Ann
- Nov 11, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 15, 2019
Bringing awareness to the public about the impact A.B. 6875 can have on other professions including Occupational Therapy.
Background Information
The purpose of this policy is proposed to set licensing requirements for professionals considered vision impairment specialists (vision teachers, vision rehabilitation specialists, orientation and mobility specialists, etc.) in New York State. The anticipated outcomes are specifically for vision rehabilitation services and orientation/mobility practitioners to meet certain criteria to provide services to the public once Assembly Bill 6875 is passed.
According to the New York Vision Rehabilitation Association (n.d), "This legislation was subsequently vetoed by Govenor Andrew Cuomo on December 11, 2015 and new bills were drafted and reintroduced in May 2016, January 2017 and March 2019."
Potential Issues
If Assembly Bill 6875 gets passed this upcoming service year in New York State, low vision specialists will be infringing on occupational therapy's scope of practice. According to Assembly Bill 6875, low vision specialists can address things such as providing training on: adaptive equipment and technology, problem-solving skills, psychosocial skills, home management skills, and improving independent living skills like: activities of daily living (ADLs), leisure skills, and work-related skills. (A.B. 6875, 2019; Academy for the Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals, 2016).
Click here to read vision rehabilitation therapists certification criteria published by Academy for the Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals.
How does this apply to other professions such as occupational therapy?
If the bill passes in the Assembly, it will be implemented in NYS and can cause practitioners such as occupational therapists to become limited in the services they can provide to low vision and visually impaired clients.
Occupational therapists have a broad scope of practice with intense education requirements to address a wide variety of medical diagnoses such as low vision and visual impairments to promote participation, safety, independence as well as providing recommendations on home and environment modifications. Occupational therapists can also provide training on adaptive devices and assistive technology as well as provide education and training to improve performance in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) (Warren & Nobles, 2016; American Occupational Therapy Association, 2014).
(Warren & Nobles, 2016)
What can you do?
*****Contact your local Assembly member to address your concerns*****
CLICK HERE to check out the rest of my website!
References-
Academy for the Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals. (2016). Vision rehabilitation therapist certification handbook.
[Microsoft Word Document File]. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from
https://www.acvrep.org/resource/docs/CVRT-Certification-Handbook.docx
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2014). Occupational therapy
practice framework: Domain and process (3rd ed.). American Journal of
Occupational Therapy, 68(Suppl. 1), S1-S48. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2014.682006
Hall, C. (2016). The best of OT Toolkit resources: Low vision and blindness [Digital
Image]. Retrieved November 13, 2019, from https://www.ottoolkit.com/
blog/low-vision-the-best-of-ot-toolkit-resources/.
Moerch, M. (2016). Alerts must be actionable [Digital Image}. Retrieved November
13, 2019, from https://njvaccinechoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/
06/TakeAction.jpg.
New York Vision Rehabilitation Association. (n.d). NYVRA calls to action!. Retrieved
November 4, 2019, from https://www.nyvra.org/calltoaction
Vision Impairment Specialists, A.B. 6875, 2019-2020 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2019)
Vision Impairment Specialists S.B. 4695, 2019-2020 Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2019)
Warren, M., & Nobles, L. B. (2016). Occupational therapy services for persons with
visual impairment. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from https://www.aota.org/
~/media/Corporate/Files/AboutOT/Professionals/WhatIsOT/PA/Facts/
Low%20Vision%20fact%20sheet.pdf
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