Supervision of assistants
Physical therapist assistants and speech-language pathology assistants work under the supervision of a licensed therapist or SLP. APTA and ASHA publish national positions and guidance on that supervision. State law sets the binding rules, and ASHA says its requirements do not supersede state licensure laws.
Quoted from official pages checked November 10, 2026. Confirm current requirements, fees, and dates on those sites. This page is not legal advice and does not guarantee eligibility, certification, or licensure.
Supervising physical therapist assistants
APTA’s position on direction and supervision of the PTA, quoted.
Supervising speech-language pathology assistants
ASHA’s SLPA Scope of Practice and Practice Portal on supervising SLPs, quoted.
Occupational therapy assistants
There is no separate OTA supervision page here. On November 10, 2026, AOTA’s public pages returned an empty response to a plain read, and the NBCOT, ACOTE, and BLS pages checked describe supervision only in passing. NBCOT’s What is an OTR or COTA professional? page states: “The OTR professional also provides clinical supervision of the COTA professional.” BLS’s occupational therapists page states: “Occupational therapists also oversee the work of occupational therapy assistants and aides.” For OTA supervision rules, check the state board in the directory.
What these pages do not do
They do not list state supervision ratios, visit frequencies, or co-signature rules, and they give no legal advice. Association positions and guidance are not state law. Check the state board and the practice act.