Hi everyone,

I am considering getting into this field. I worked in the autism field for 10 years-- eight of them in a home-based EI program. My background is primarily a social-emotional/developmental approach, but I have some ABA (applied behavioral analysis) training as well, of course. I worked alongside OTs for many years and found their interventions to be among the most effective, and found them to be some of my best teachers. :)

I'm an intuitive worker, but also analytical-- I enjoy data and read science articles for fun-- and I think OT would be a good fit for me for a number of reasons. Plus, it seems to make more than social work, which is another field I have considered going into.

My problem is this-- the two schools near me that offer OT degrees cost about $70,000 (MOT), and $107,000 (that school has eliminated it's MOT program and turned it into an OTD program....is that really worth the extra money???).

I am turning 39 in a few months...I'm kinda old...will I ever pay that debt off? My undergrad debt is basically paid off, but to take on this much fresh debt is daunting.

I know doing a COTA would cost less, but my friend who is a COTA has said that it is much harder to get a job working with kids without an OT degree, and kids are my passion. I've worked with kids pretty much my entire adult life. I've taken a break from the autism field for the last year and half and wouldn't mind getting back into it, but I can't do it at a BA level anymore. I have no interest in going into ABA and little interest in a master's in special ed or something releated. I toyed with the idea of going into OT for years, and now I'm kinda sorry I didn't do it while I was younger. :/

Thanks for your thoughts/comments/advice!