Christopher Alterio
Director, Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program
Christopher Alterio
Director, Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program
Bio
Dr. Alterio serves as Program Director for RIT’s Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program, which he founded and leads as it launches its inaugural cohort and advances through accreditation review. He brings more than three decades of experience in clinical practice, higher education, and professional leadership.
His prior roles include serving as Founding Dean of the School of Health and Human Services at Keuka College and as Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT), where he held a national volunteer leadership role.
In addition to his academic leadership, Dr. Alterio is the owner of ABC Therapeutics, a private occupational and physical therapy practice serving Western New York. His current scholarly interests explore the intersections of technology, design, and ethics in health professions education, advancing RIT’s innovation-focused mission.
Select Scholarship
Recent Publications
- Alterio, C. (2025). The SoulCraft Rebellion. In Occupational Punk Vol. 3 – Everyday Odyssey. HealthPunk (UK). https://healthpunk.co/project/occupational-punk-vol-3/
- Alterio, C. (2024). Review of Play to Progress: Lead Your Child to Success Using the Power of Sensory Play by A. Ticktin. American Journal of Play, 16(1), 127–128.
- Stillman, M.M., Sullivan, A., & Alterio, C. (2022). The value of a collaborative approach to addressing executive functioning weakness in school-based intervention: An occupational therapy perspective. Special Education Research, Policy & Practice, 154–170.
- Winstead, S.R., & Alterio, C.J. (2021). The use of online data sources in a qualitative analysis learning project. The Qualitative Report, 26(3), 764–775. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4695
- Alterio, C.J. (2019). Clinically Oriented Theory for Occupational Therapy. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
Peer-Reviewed Presentations
- Teaching Occupational Therapy Ethics Through Speculative Fiction, AOTA Education Summit, Salt Lake City, UT, 2025.
- Crafting Change: Revitalizing Occupational Therapy Education Through Art, Design, and Innovation, a2ru National Conference, Rochester, NY, 2024.
- Exploring Pediatric Models of Anxiety, Resilience, and Regulation: Empowering Children Through Occupational Therapy, NYSOTA Annual Conference, Albany, NY, 2023.
- When Occupational Therapy and Public Health Collide: An Autoethnographic Analysis of Leadership During the COVID-19 Pandemic, NYSOTA Annual Conference, 2021.
- Promoting Viewpoint Diversity and Experiential Learning in an Occupational Therapy Policy and Advocacy Course, NYSOTA Annual Conference, 2020.
- Online Data Sources for Narrative Analysis: An Innovative Use of Technology in a Graduate Project, The Qualitative Report Annual Conference, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2020.
- How Consolation House’s Spirituality Model Influenced Occupational Therapy Practice, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, Niagara Falls, ON, 2019.
- Use of a Case Study Method to Explore Sensory Processing Characteristics of Children with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (poster), AOTA Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, 2018.
- George Barton: How One Man’s Loss and Redemption Influenced the OT Profession (poster), AOTA Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2017.
Currently Teaching
In the News
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August 6, 2025
RIT offers occupational therapy clinical doctorate degree in 2026
An entry-level clinical doctorate in occupational therapy will launch in June 2026. The program, which will focus on innovative interventions and adaptive devices that extend patients’ functional skills, represents the university’s first clinical doctorate degree.