2025 ILOTA Annual Conference

* In-Person, Two-Day Conference on Friday and Saturday, November 21-22, 2025, at the NIU Naperville Conference Center

Please bookmark this page and return often for updates. This page will remain the clearinghouse for all conference-related news and links over the next few months.

Keynote Speaker Announced!

1:00 pm - Friday, November 21, 2025

Occupational therapy stands at a watershed moment. Artificial intelligence and data-rich ecosystems can amplify our distinct occupational lens—if we approach them with purpose and heart. This keynote reframes AI not as a sci-fi gadget but as a tool for amplifying client dignity, clinician creativity, and societal impact. Through compelling stories, future-casting visuals, and interactive reflection, attendees will:

1. See the macro forces redefining health, work, and participation over the next decade.
2. Hear uplifting case vignettes of AI-augmented practice that preserved the therapeutic relationship rather than replaced it.
3. Explore an ethical, equity-first framework that keeps OT values at the center of tech adoption.
4. Craft a personal commitment to champion innovation—no coding background required.

Participants will leave energized and ready to move from curiosity to confident, values-driven action.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify three societal or technological trends most likely to shape OT practice over the next 5–10 years.
2. Describe two inspiring, real-world examples where AI enhanced occupational outcomes without sacrificing human connection.
3. Describe one concrete, ethically grounded step they can take within six months to advocate for or integrate AI in their setting.

Dr. Patel is a Chicago-based occupational therapist, entrepreneur, author, and AI educator who helps clinicians and family caregivers navigate aging, technology, and health-care systems. With nearly a decade of experience, she started and runs Aging Together, a podcast and care consultancy that blends evidence-based OT with emerging technologies to support proactive aging. She is also the founder of GenAI4Rehab, a learning community for rehabilitation professionals exploring the ethical and practical use of generative AI in clinical practice, education, and research. Dr. Patel teaches university courses on mental health, older adults, leadership, and AI ethics, leads a national support group network for family caregivers of older adults, and provides strategic guidance to agetech organizations from an OT lens. She has spoken at AOTA INSPIRE, state conferences, and OT academic programs, and her work has been featured on multiple podcasts and in articles on Care.com, Spotlyts Magazine, Authority Magazine, The Story Exchange, and more

 Plenary Panel Presentation Announced!

 

1:00 pm - Saturday, November 22, 2025

This plenary session will highlight the lived experience of a former pediatric OT client and his mother as they reflect on their journey through occupational therapy. They will share key moments that fostered trust, advocacy, and a sense of partnership in care. Their story will offer attendees insight into what meaningful engagement looked like for their family and how the therapeutic relationship with an OTP played a vital role in supporting the child’s progress across settings.

Dr. Gifty Abraham will offer the practitioner and educator perspective, emphasizing the intentional use of a strength-based lens and coaching as an interactive style to foster and empower family engagement. Drawing on this experience, she will discuss how these relational approaches helped affirm the family’s voice, build confidence, and sustain collaborative care. The session will encourage attendees to reflect on how OTPs can create safe, responsive, and empowering environments that center the lived experiences of the individuals and families they serve.

(Check out last year's sponsors and exhibitors!)

right across the street from the NIU Naperville Conference Center.)

ILOTA staff members, as well as official photographers/videographers, will photograph and record events and educational sessions throughout the Conference and will be identified by Conference name badges. The photographers and audio/video recordings taken at Conference are used exclusively by ILOTA for promotional purposes and continuing education offerings. Photographs and recordings may be used in the Association’s publications, social media, or on its website, and they may appear in programs or other ILOTA promotional materials. If you are at an event or session at which our ILOTA photographer is present and you do not wish to be photographed, please identify yourself to the photographer and your request will be honored.