AOTA establishes the Roster of Fellows, which recognizes OTs who have made a significant contribution to the continuing education and professional development of members of the Association.

Puerto Rico becomes the first of any U.S. state or jurisdiction to require licensure for OT practice.

AOTA’s Headquarters moves to 6000 Executive Boulevard in Rockville, Maryland, to be closer to Congress for lobbying and to NIH for federal research funding.  AOTA creates the Government and Legal Affairs Division (GLAD) to address issues related to occupational therapy practice in Congressional legislation. COTAs begin to receive AJOT as a member benefit. 

The first members are inducted into the Roster of Fellows, with the inaugural group including many of “The 100.”  The COTA Career Mobility Program is established to permit “career laddering,” or upward mobility in the profession. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-112) includes major civil rights protections for people with disabilities. The first PhD program in occupational therapy is approved at New York University. 

AOTA approves a position in favor of state licensure. The first Model Practice Act is created. The Black Occupational Therapy Caucus (BOTC) is founded. 

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L.  94-142) specifically identifies occupational therapy as a related service in schools for students with disabilities. Florida and New York become the first states to pass state OT licensure laws. The COTA Award of Excellence is established, and eligibility for the Award of Merit and the Slagle Lectureship is extended to COTAs. AOTA delineates the roles of OTs and COTAs. AOTA adopts a mission and goals statement for the Association.

AOTA is reorganized under new bylaws, changing the Delegate Assembly to a membership-driven legislative body renamed the Representative Assembly (RA). The RA gives COTAs full AOTA voting rights and enables a COTA to be elected to AOTA’s Executive Board.  The Association establishes the American Student Committee of the Occupational Therapy Association (ASCOTA) as a named committee under the RA. The American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee (AOTPAC) is established and officially launches in 1978. One of AOTPAC’s purposes is “to encourage the candidacy and election of qualified national office holders, regardless of party affiliation, in order to promote decision-making responsive to public need for health care and services, especially as pertaining to occupational therapy services.”

AOTA adopts the first stand-alone Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics; therapists are required to abide by the Code or be censured. The 1926 Pledge and Creed was only aspirational and voluntary. AOTA creates 5 Special Interest Sections—Developmental Disabilities, Gerontology, Mental Health, Physical Disabilities, and Sensory Integration. 77% of the membership signs up for one of these sections. The Association begins a project examining the philosophical base of occupational therapy. 

AOTA establishes the COTA Roster of Honor to recognize OTAs who have made a significant contribution to the continuing education and professional development of Association members. Several Association groups develop definitions of occupational therapy; the Task Panel on the Role of the Arts in Therapy and Environment of the President’s Commission on Mental Health mentions “habilitation” in its definition.

AOTA adopts the “Product Output Reporting System” and Uniform Terminology for Occupational Therapy.  AOTA and AOTF partner to fund 16 small projects and establish regional research consultants to study the effectiveness and evidence basis for occupational therapy. AOTA approves the “Philosophical Base of Occupational Therapy” and “Occupation as the Common Core of Occupational Therapy,” which is revised in 2012.