The Connection. Inside this issue:

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1 The Connection Inside this issue: President s Pen 1 Membership Report Changes to the KOTA Membership Year 2012 KOTA Legislative Day RA Update 4 KOTA Awards 4 OT/OTA of the Year Nomination Form Clinical Excellence Award Nomination Form Volunteer of the Year Award Nomination Form Kansas City District Update Southern District Update Capital District Update KOTA Membership Application KOTA Leadership 11 Volume 5, Issue 1 PRESIDENT S PEN by Roy J. Fowler, OTR/L Did you know? This is one of many questions you will be asked over the next 12 to 18 months. They will be the ones you may have heard when younger or in school last Who, What, Where, When, Why, How? How many of you knew that the physical therapists submitted their bill for Direct Access to the Kansas Legislature? They submitted this in January This was not the first time. They submitted the proposal last year as well and have a very well managed educational and grassroots campaign to put this in place. KOTA was, and is, in favor of Direct Access. We just wanted more inclusive language recognizing all the health professionals occupational and physical therapists as well as the speech language pathologists. How many of you knew that they may be called Doctor? This bill was passed by the Legislature in a previous session. How many of you know that the massage therapists have submitted a bill for licensure to take effect in 2013? This is a good thing for them and will not infringe upon on our practice act. At present, anyone can advertise as a massage therapist. In fact, when I biked across Kansas one of the massage therapists was a janitor from Florida. He came up to Kansas to make extra money while he Spring 2012 was on vacation. The massage therapists are a prime example of why there is should licensure and why we protect our scope of practice. How many of you know that the recreational therapists are at a national level looking for increased recognition and ability to provide therapy services to the public? Their language could easily affect and challenge our right to practice. This is being carefully watched by AOTA as it is addressed in other states. The questions stated above should be asked by every one of us during the week. We should all be asking ourselves and our co-workers. These same questions are asked by the KOTA Board regularly at meetings. We look for answers, suggestions and inspiration from every member of you practicing in the state of Kansas. Best wishes to all of you as the end of the school year draws near and you prepare for summer vacations.

2 Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 2 MEMBERSHIP REPORT by Theresa Chop, MS, OTR/L Membership Type COTAs OTs Students Count 140, up 15 members 379, up 15 members 51, up 24 members Membership numbers in all categories are up as compared to December Membership renewals have changed as of April 1 and will be based on a continuous calendar cycle vs membership expiring on March 31 of each year. (Please see KOTA Executive Director Christina Driggs article below for more information). Membership applications have been sent to OT/OTA schools to encourage student membership. I continue to urge you to support KOTA membership by joining with a nonmember who will pay ½ price for the first year. Consider giving a KOTA membership for department staff gifts (ask if one KOTA membership could be sponsored by the OT department & have a drawing during April, OT month). I am always interested in your ideas to enhance membership so please let me know. CHANGES TO THE KOTA MEMBERSHIP YEAR by Christina Driggs, KOTA Executive Director In conjunction with a new AOTA membership recruitment opportunity, KOTA is changing its membership year to a rolling year. What does this really mean? Well, for those of you who renew now, it will not mean a change at all. Your membership year will remain April 1 March 31. However, for those of you who renew your membership, when you send in your annual conference registration, your membership year will change to July June or August September. Whenever your membership renewal (or application for new members) is received, your membership year will begin and it will end the last day of the month 12 months later. So if we receive your renewal on May 15, your membership will end the following year on May 31. The change in year means a bit of a different process for us here at the Central Office. Postcard reminders will be sent out at the beginning of each month along with an initial reminder and several more reminders thereafter. So please pay particular attention to those s coming from KOTA! If you have any questions, please or give us a call. Central Office is always here to help in any way we can! Interested in Advertising with KOTA? Visit to advertise your organization through our online employment ads or quarterly newsletters.

3 Volume 5, Issue 1 Page KOTA LEGISLATIVE DAY by LaDessa Forrest, OTD/L KOTA Day on the Hill was held on February 1, 2012 in Topeka. This event has continued to grow with this year s attendance around 130 participants, including students from Kansas University, Washburn University, Newman University, Rockhurst University and Penn Valley, faculty members, staff OTs and KOTA Board Members. The day started with everyone gathering at the Celtic Fox Restaurant for a few words from KOTA President Roy Fowler, KOTA Lobbyist Sandy Braden and myself. Roy Fowler spoke about the PT Bill introduced this session regarding direct access and how it could affect our OT profession. The KOTA Board was introduced and the agenda for the day reviewed. Instruction was provided regarding the delivery of snack bags and an informational flyer that promotes Occupational Therapy to all the Legislators at the Capitol. The attendees had the opportunity to attend a portion of the House morning session before heading back to the Celtic Fox Restaurant for lunch. During lunch, the attendees were able to hear from a few more wonderful speakers. The first was KOTA Lobbyist Ron Gaches, followed by Katy Lenahan from the Kansas Board of Healing Art and then Kari Buffett the Director of KDHE s Division of Health Care Finance. OTs and COTAs who attended received 3.5 Class I contact hours. I just want to thank everyone who attended and who helped make this day a success especially all the hard work from KOTA corporate office. (Judy, Amy, Christina and Ron - you re all amazing.) KOTA Nominations Officer, Nancy Dahlinger (far right) and a group of Newman University students pose for a picture at the Statehouse. KOTA Legislative Day attendee Sylvia Parson meets with Representative Brenda Landwehr, Chair of the House Health & Human Services Committee. KOTA President Roy Fowler welcomes attendees to the KOTA Day on the Hill. Approximately 130 participants attended KOTA Legislative Day. Students from Kansas University, Washburn University, Newman University, Rockhurst University, Penn Valley; university faculty members; staff OTs and KOTA Board members gathered at the Celtic Fox restaurant to hear KOTA President Roy Fowler, Government Relations Officer LaDessa Forrest, and Lobbyist Sandy Braden speak on issues related to occupational therapy. KOTA Lobbyist Sandy Braden speaks to attendees at the Celtic Fox.

4 Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 4 SAVE-THE THE-DATE 2012 KOTA ANNUAL CONFERENCE Trending Today In Occupational Therapy August 23-25, 2012 Hilton Garden Inn and Convention Center Manhattan, Kansas Interested in being a Sponsor or Vendor? Please Click Here for more information. Join us in Manhattan in 2012! RA UPDATE Joan Ziegler Delahunt, MS, OTR/L The AOTA Spring Face-to-Face meeting will occur April in Indianapolis, Indiana. I will be an assistant task group leader for Motion 1 and Motion 2. Seven motions in all will be discussed and voted. I presented to the Southern District on March 14 and gave an AOTA Update to the Greater Kansas City District on March 28. On April 14, I will be presenting to the Capital District. Hope to see you there! KOTA AWARDS KOTA is now accepting nomination forms for the following awards: OT/OTA of the Year, Clinical Excellence, and Volunteer of the Year. All nominations are due to the KOTA office by July 6 so candidates can be voted on at the KOTA Annual Conference in August. For more information or for a nomination form, please see pages 5-7.

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8 Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 8 KANSAS CITY DISTRICT UPDATE Amy Konrade, OTR/L and Melissa Ley, OTR/L Hello from the KC District. We hope that everyone is enjoying the mild winter. The KC District had their last meeting on January 25 with Therese Chop speaking on the COTA program. This was well attended with approximately 30 OT/COTA s present. On March 28, Joan Delahunt (KOTA RA representative) gave an AOTA Update at Shawnee Mission Medical Center. Our meetings and CEUs run from 5:30-7:30pm and are free to KOTA members and $15 for nonmember. If you have any questions please contact Amy Konrade at or amykonrade@gmail.com or Melissa Ley at or melissaley@everestkc.net

9 Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT UPDATE Melissa Smith, OTR/L, CEAS I have been trying to have monthly meetings here in Wichita. We started out in January with a great CEU with guest speakers Dr. Josh Umbehr and Dr. Doug Nunamaker. They both are local concierge physicians with Atlas MD. They spoke on what concierge medicine is, how they practice, and the changes in our current healthcare system. We had a nice turnout in the lovely Alumni Center at Newman University. In March, twenty-six meeting attendees heard an update from our KOTA President Roy Fowler and our AOTA Representative Joan Delahunt. On April 19, Nancy Dahlinger will be presenting on fieldwork supervision. Be sure to join us for an informative session! My term will be ending in April so we are actively seeking and nominations or self nominations for this fun job! We have had a lot going on with legislation so I strongly encourage you to look on the KOTA and AOTA websites to continue to understand what is going on in our profession! CAPITAL DISTRICT UPDATE by Mia Caviezel, MOT, OTR/L and Mutsai Sifana-Mhere, OTR/L, CLT Hello from the Capital District! It was nice seeing those of you who attended the December 10 Capital District Meeting and CEU opportunity: Wheelchair Seating and Positioning: The Assessment Process. We hope you enjoyed the presentation and were able to take back information to use and better your practice. Please join us for our next Capital District Meeting and CEU opportunity on Saturday, April 14 from 10:00 to 12:00 at Washburn University in the Petro Allied Health Center, room 150. KOTA President, Roy Fowler, will present KOTA is Each of Us and Joan Delahunt, AOTA Representative, will give us a KOTA Spring RA Update for 2 CEUs. Mia and Mutsai s Capital District Co-Officer positions ended at the end of March, with a new two-year term beginning April 1. Mutsai is on the ballot for Officer, but would appreciate sharing the position with another interested OT. To learn more about the position, please contact one of us or Nancy Dahlinger, our nominations officer. We hope to see you on April 14! Mia Caviezel, caviezel@sbcglobal.net and Mutsai Sifana-Mhere, mutsaisifana@netscape.net KOTA Capital District Co-Officers

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11 Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 11 KOTA LEADERSHIP ELECTED VOTING MEMBERS EXECUTIVE BOARD President Roy J. Fowler Phone: (785) president@kotaonline.org Vice President Jamie McNally Phone: (785) jhawkot@netzero.com Secretary Jennifer C. Johnson Phone: (785) secretary@kotaonline.org Treasurer Cindi Carter Phone: (913) treasurer@kotaonline.org ELECTED VOTING MEMBERS Government Affairs & Reimbursement Officer LaDessa Forrest Phone: (316) govtaffairs@kotaonline.org Capital District Co-Officer Mia Caviezel Phone: (785) caviezel@sbcglobal.net Capital District Co-Officer Mutsai Sifana-Mhere Phone: (785) mutsaisifana@netscape.net Greater Kansas City District Co-Officer Amy Konrade Phone: (402) amykonrade@gmail.com Greater Kansas City District Co-Officer Melissa Ley Phone: (913) melissaley@sbcglobal.net Southern District Officer Melissa Smith Phone: (316) otonwheels@cox.net ELECTED NON-VOTING MEMBERS Past President Diane Pickel Phone: (913) dianepickel@therapyassociatesllc.com AOTA Representative Joan Delahunt Phone: (913) jdelahunt@bluevalleyk12.org AOTA Alternate Representative VACANT APPOINTED NON-VOTING MEMBERS CE Peer Review Officer & District Technology Officer Angela Petite Phone: (913) smlone3@gmail.com Education Officer Diane Pickel Phone: (913) dianepickel@therapyassociatesllc.com International Liaison (WFOT) Liz Zayat Phone: (816) liz.zayat@rockhurst.edu Membership Officer Theresa Bukaty-Chop Phone: (816) theresa.chop@mcckc.edu Nominations Officer Nancy Dahlinger Phone: (316) dahlingern@newman.edu OT/OTA-At-Large VACANT Great Plains District Officer VACANT

12 825 S. Kansas Avenue, Suite 500 Topeka, Kansas Phone: Toll Free: Fax: Website: PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Topeka, KS Permit No. 545 REMINDER KOTA memberships will expired on March 31, 2012! If you have not yet renewed your membership - we don't want you to miss out on the following benefits: Discount on KOTA Conferences OT representation for Kansas legislative issues KOTA Directory - a great NETWORKING tool KOTA s quarterly newsletter, The Connection Access to Membership Only section of the KOTA website KOTA is now on Facebook and Twitter...join today! You can renew your membership today by printing off and sending in the application on page 10.