HARRY HUGHES, Governor

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an occupational therapy assistant who is licensed
by the Board, the more narrow term "licensed
occupational therapy assistant" is used. This
revision is called to the attention of the
General Assembly.

The supervision requirement for a licensed
occupational therapy assistant now appears in §

9-310 of this title.

(H) PRACTICE LIMITED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY.

"PRACTICE LIMITED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY" MEANS TO CARRY
OUT A TREATMENT PROGRAM THAT APPLIES THE PRINCIPLES AND
PROCEDURES OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY.

REVISOR'S NOTE: This subsection is new language added
to clarify what an occupational therapy assistant
does in practice.

The definition is stated in the infinitive form
to permit minor verb variations of the defined
phrase, without taking these variations out of
the scope of the definition.

The present law is ambiguous as to what
occupational therapy assistants may practice.
Present Art. 43, § 926, "Scope of license"
indicates that occupational therapy assistants
"assist in the practice of occupational therapy".
Yet the definition section, present Art. 43, §
911(i), states that an occupational therapy
assistant "provides occupational therapy
treatment" (emphasis added) — implying that
providing occupational therapy treatment may
differ from assisting in the practice of
occupational therapy. In Ch. 909, Acts of 1978,
the Maryland Occupational Therapy Practice Act,
the more limiting language in present Art. 43, §
911(i) was substituted by amendment for language
that was essentially identical to the broader
language of present Art. 43, § 926. The more
limiting language was the result of a compromise.
It suggests that some limitation on the
activities of an occupational therapy assistant
is intended by the General Assembly, but the
extent of that limitation is not clear. However,
the Maryland Occupational Therapy Association and
the Board believe that the intent of the General
Assembly in passing Ch. 909, Acts of 1978 was
merely to insure supervision of the occupational
therapy assistant and not to limit the scope of
activities permitted to the occupational therapy
assistant.

Because this title contains criminal penalties
for "practicing occupational therapy" unless