Christopher Alterio Headshot

Christopher Alterio

Clinical Professor and Program Director, Occupational Therapy

Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition
College of Health Sciences and Technology
cjachst@rit.edu
585-475-4695

Christopher Alterio

Clinical Professor and Program Director, Occupational Therapy

Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition
College of Health Sciences and Technology

Bio

Dr. Alterio is the founding Program Director of RIT’s Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program. He brings four decades of experience in clinical practice, higher education, and professional leadership to the program as it welcomes its inaugural cohort and progresses toward full accreditation.

Previously, he served as Founding Dean of the School of Health and Human Services at Keuka College. His national work with the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) has included certification exam item writing, continuing competency product development, and service as Chair of its Board of Directors.

Dr. Alterio also owned ABC Therapeutics, an occupational and physical therapy practice that served Western New York for more than 25 years. His current scholarly interests focus on the intersections of technology, design, and ethics in occupational therapy and health professions education.

cjachst@rit.edu
585-475-4695
Personal Links
Curriculum Vitae

Select Scholarship

Recent Publications

  • Alterio, C. (2025). The SoulCraft Rebellion. In Occupational Punk Vol. 3 – Everyday Odyssey. HealthPunk (UK).
     
  • 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.
     
  • 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

OCTH-603
Occupational Sciences and Occupational Therapy
3 Credits
This course overviews occupational science and occupational therapy. Students will acquire a thorough understanding of the core concept of occupation and the profession of occupational therapy. The history and philosophical base of the profession, the domains and process of occupational therapy, current state and future trends of the profession will be highlighted. Organizations of the profession such as American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) and World Health Organization (WHO) and official occupational therapy documents will be presented and discussed.
OCTH-663
Applied Kinesiology and Movement Analysis
3 Credits
In this course students will be introduced to the fundamental biomechanical and kinesiological principles for assessing and intervening movement to maximize occupational performance and engagement in occupation. Students are expected to acquire and apply knowledge and skills in performing and interpreting assessments for clients with various health conditions and designing therapeutic interventions. This course includes a laboratory component.
WSHN-604
Clinical Human Anatomy
4 Credits
This course provides an overview of clinical human gross anatomy with a focus on the function and impact of anatomical structure on rehabilitative performance. Through a thorough understanding of the anatomy of the human body, students are expected to apply such an understanding to aid assessing rehabilitative performance and designing effective interventions to enhance rehabilitative engagement of clients with rehabilitation service needs. This course includes a laboratory component in which students apply didactic learning to human cadavers.

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