A report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette highlights something that educators, clinicians, and program leaders see every year: kindergarten readiness varies widely by income, and the gap is not closing on its own. Cities and communities are increasingly stepping in to respond by expanding pre-K access, coordinating early childhood systems, and investing in development before kindergarten begins rather than waiting to remediate gaps after the fact. The findings are not surprising to anyone...

Ask a school-based occupational therapist which population they love working with and kindergarteners are likely to come up more often than you might expect. There's a reason for that. Kindergarten is one of the most developmentally rich stages of childhood. Everything is emerging at once. Fine motor skills are developing rapidly. Social and emotional skills are being practiced in real time, often for the first time in a structured setting. Executive function — the ability to plan, shift...

Healthcare professionals broadly are vulnerable to burnout. But occupational therapy professionals face an additional layer of risk factors specific to the nature of the work itself. Understanding what those factors are , and what actually helps, is where this post begins. A 2025 study published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy examined burnout among OT professionals in depth, identifying the strongest predictors and the most effective interventions. What it found is worth...