AOT's Legacy

In December 1980, three occupational therapy colleagues, Cindy Thomas, Hanna Gruen and Carol King-Etzel, sat down at a dining room table to brainstorm the launch of their own therapy business in Pittsburgh. All three were well known locally in the medical community and respected as occupational therapists in their own right.

Their goal was to provide OT services to a variety of medical establishments on a contractual basis. They also wanted to build a family-first company that was innovative and flexible in its hiring practices, but with a keen eye toward hiring OTs who shared their standards for professional excellence. They determined that their core values in setting up the company were professionalism, creativity, compassion, flexibility and partnership.

Those collective ideas and skills set into motion the process of incorporating Associated Occupational Therapists (AOT, Inc.) as a home-based private occupational therapy practice located in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. At the time, it was one of only three privately owned and operated therapy firms in Pennsylvania. Within 18 months, they had contracts with two hospitals, two extended care facilities and a private rehabilitation firm.

Before the end of their first decade, they had secured their first educational therapy contract. They hired their first pediatric OTs and by 1994 their first PT was onboard. AOT was rapidly moving forward into the next century as a pediatric-focused therapy practice.

Decades later, AOT has grown far beyond its origin in facility- based occupational therapy. As an educational therapy company, we now include occupational and physical and speech therapy in our repertoire of services designed to enable a child to succeed in school. We are headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, and manage a growing service area that encompasses ten counties. As recognized experts in our field, we provide consulting services to third party payers and businesses. Our staffing flexibility allows us to offer temporary coverage services to school districts and agencies.

One of our foremost founding principles, our high standards for hiring, has ensured that our therapists are among the best in their professions. Our commitment to our employees’ job satisfaction, management support, and professional growth enables our client school districts, and their students, to enjoy reliable staff continuity with ongoing excellent therapy provision. Our dedication to customer service and professional competency standards ensures that our therapists exceed our client’s expectations.