Ron, State OT practice act address the use of titles/credentials/initials. Some states authorize the use of "OT" "OT/L" or other initials to indicate that someone is a licensed occupational therapist. Depending on the state, therapists have more or less flexibility in the initials they can use.
For example this is the language from the FL OT practice act: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/occupational/info_laws.pdf 468.215 Issuance of license.- (1)The board shall issue a license to any person who meets the requirements of this act upon payment of the license fee prescribed. (2)Any person who is issued a license as an occupational therapist under the terms of this act may use the words "occupational therapist," "licensed occupational therapist," or "occupational therapist registered," or he or she may use the letters "O.T.," "L.O.T.," or "O.T.R.," in connection with his or her name or place of business to denote his or her registration hereunder. (3)Any person who is issued a license as an occupational therapy assistant under the terms of this act may use the words "occupational therapy assistant," "licensed occupational therapy assistant," or "certified occupational therapy assistant," or he or she may use the letters, "O.T.A.," "L.O.T.A.," or "C.O.T.A.," in connection with his or her name or place of business to denote his or her registration hereunder. In terms of "why," I think as state OT laws were enacted, language was included to highlight the licensure status of OTs. Chuck Willmarth Director, State Affairs AOTA -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ron Carson Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 1:47 PM To: Audra Ray Subject: Re: [OTlist] Discontinuing The "R/L" in "OTR/L" Hello All: Thanks for everyone's reply. I think there is some confusion about my original inquiry. I'm not questioning if OT should be a licensed profession, I'm questioning the use of "L" in our credential. Other licensed professions don't include an "L", so why does OT? Thanks, Ron -- Ron Carson MHS, OT ----- Original Message ----- From: Audra Ray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subj: [OTlist] Discontinuing The "R/L" in "OTR/L" AR> We don't have the option here whether or not to use L. If we want to AR> practice as an OT, we have to have a license. AR> AR> Audra Ray AR> --- On Sat, 10/25/08, Ron Carson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: AR> From: Ron Carson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> AR> Subject: [OTlist] Discontinuing The "R/L" in "OTR/L" AR> To: [email protected] AR> Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008, 3:12 AM AR> When I decided to not renenw my NBCOT registration I lost the "R" AR> in my credential. For professional reasons I also stopped using the AR> "L". AR> Now, I just sign "Ron Carson MHS, OT". While not all states AR> require licensure, I still don't understand the need or even the AR> desire to put the "L" in our signature. Maybe years ago when AR> the profession was first getting licensed, but surely there is no AR> good reason today. To me, it's confusing and detracts from our AR> title of "OT". So, why does our profession put "R/L", "R", or "L" AR> in our credential? Does anyone else not use the "L"? AR> Ron -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
