Occupational Therapy and Early Childhood Special Education Student Training at Through the Looking Glass

Through the Looking Glass (TLG) offers training opportunities for occupational therapy and early childhood special education students.

Occupational Therapy Training Opportunities
  • Level I Fieldwork (pediatrics) – Level I students are provided with opportunities to observe and participate in in-person and virtual (teletherapy) early intervention (0-3yrs) infant development and occupational therapy services; and developmental consultation services to Oakland Head Start and Early Head Start programs and TLG’s Early Head Start center program.
  • Level II Fieldwork (psychosocial or pediatrics; 2nd placement only) – Level II students gain entry-level competencies serving children ages 0-5 and their families. TLG’s early intervention service is grounded in a relationship-based approach, using parent coaching and routines-based models to support families’ abilities to foster their children’s development. TLG provides unique opportunities to work with families in which parents have physical, vision, and intellectual disabilities and to learn about direct individual and group services and consultation models. Level II fieldwork students are able to collaborate with staff in our home- and center-based Early Head Start programs and to partner with family clinicians and clinical students providing early childhood mental health services. TLG provides rich opportunities for trainings, including weekly agency-wide inservices and didactic trainings with clinical intern and practicum students. Level II students complete a project related to an area of interest and present at an agency-wide staff meeting.
  • Entry-level OTD doctoral capstone experience and post-professional OTD residency – TLG accepts OT entry-level and post-professional doctoral students who have interests in working with parents with intellectual disabilities, training in TLG’s adaptive babycare intervention approach for parents with physical or vision disabilities, or gaining expertise in early childhood mental health approaches.
Early Childhood Special Education Student Teaching

TLG accepts ECSE students for the early intervention (0-3 years) student teaching rotation. The TLG placement is unique in offering both classroom and individual home-based opportunities. Students gain experience teaching in one of our inclusive Early Head Start toddler classrooms and are also able to partner with an infant development specialist providing direct early intervention services. TLG’s early intervention service is grounded in a relationship-based approach, using parent coaching and routines-based models to support families’ abilities to foster their children’s development. Students will have opportunities to collect observation data for the DRDP and to administer developmental assessments, in addition to creating classroom lesson plans and individual treatment plans. Student teachers may be involved in creating resources for teaching staff or families, co-leading groups focused on language development, or other special projects. Student teachers must be available for a 3 month rotation.