Occupational Therapists help people to improve their ability to perform a variety of daily tasks. This is especially useful for people who have disabilities that are mental, physical, emotional or developmental. Thus, Occupational Therapists help disabled people to overcome their disabilities - whether in their daily life or in their work environment.

The basic function of Occupational Therapists is to enable their clients to have productive, fulfilling and independent lives - despite their disabilities. The Occupational Therapist also helps their clients to improve their basic motor functions, reasoning abilities, and also to compensate for a permanent loss of any function. In this way, people with disabilities can benefit from the help offered by Occupational Therapists and become functional individuals and overcome their disabilities.

Typically, as an Occupational Therapist, you will be involved in assisting your clients with the performing of a number of activities like dressing, cooking, eating, and even using the computer. You will be involved in using a number of physical exercises to increase the strength and dexterity of your clients, and even a number of activities to improve vision, and so forth - depending on the disability of the client.

As an Occupational Therapist, you would also be able to help the elderly by helping them to be more productive and active via a number of methods. You can also help in assessing an individual’s ability to drive using a combination of clinical and on-the-road tests.

As an Occupational Therapist in a mental health setting, you will be able to treat patients who are mentally ill, emotionally disturbed or mentally retarded. You will use a number of activities to treat such patients. These activities include helping your patients with shopping, home making, and the use of public transportation. You may also work with patients suffering from depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders or stress related disorders.

In order to create your Occupational Therapy career, you would have to obtain a Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy and then pass a national certification exam to get become a Registered Occupational Therapist. You can also advance your career by specializing in a particular ailment or a particular type of patient and even engage in teaching classes.

As an Occupational Therapist your earnings will largely depend on the kind of patients you care for and the place where you work. The annual salary can therefore range from anywhere between $45,000 to $67,000.

Thus with your career as a Occupational Therapist, you can be in the unique position of helping people with disabilities achieve independence and lead fuller, more satisfying lives.