Getting a job and keeping a job are different problems. Occupational therapy is usually more useful for the second one.
Pre-vocational skill building. The things that sit underneath a job: a sleep pattern that supports getting there, the stamina for a four-hour shift, transport that works, and a routine that survives a bad week.
Workplace assessments. Looking at the actual job — the tasks, the physical setup, the noise, the pace, the social demands — and identifying what is creating difficulty and what would change it.
Reasonable adjustments. Identifying and documenting adjustments in a way an employer can act on: equipment, task modification, scheduling changes, environmental changes, communication changes. Written clearly, without jargon, and framed around what the employer needs to know.
Routines and stamina. Building up work tolerance in graded steps rather than starting at full hours and burning out in three weeks.
Interview and workplace communication. Practical preparation, including how and whether to disclose a disability — a decision that belongs to the person, with information rather than pressure.
Working alongside DES and SLES providers. Employment providers do the job matching and placement; OT does the functional assessment and the adjustments. It works best when both are talking, and we're happy to be the one who calls.
Under the NDIS this sits in Capacity Building — Finding and Keeping a Job, and for school leavers within School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES).
Disability Employment Services (DES) is a separate, federally funded program — you can be with a DES provider and see an OT at the same time, and the two roles complement rather than duplicate each other.
A functional workplace or work-readiness report: what the person can do, what the job demands, where the gap is, and what specific adjustments or supports would close it.
Written for the person who has to act on it — usually an employer or an employment consultant — not for a clinical file.
School Leaver Employment Supports: NDIS funding for young people in their first two years after finishing school, aimed at building the skills and confidence for work.
Yes. DES does job matching and placement; OT does the functional assessment and adjustments. With your consent we'll coordinate directly with your consultant.
Yes, with the employer's agreement. A workplace assessment looks at the tasks, the environment and the demands, and produces a written set of recommended adjustments.
That's a common starting point. The work begins further back — routine, stamina, transport, confidence — and builds toward a first placement rather than assuming one.
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