Ellen Rader Smith Information

Ellen Rader Smith is a Licensed Occupational Therapist (NY & NJ), Certified Vocational Evaluator and Certified Professional Ergonomist, with over 30 years of rehabilitation expertise. Ellen has a Bachelor of Science In Occupational Therapy from the University of Pennsylvania (1976) and Master of Arts in Occupational Biomechanics & Ergonomics from New York University (1982). Ellen is a member of: She is published and has spoken at conferences on various aspects of occupational therapy, functional capacity evaluation in the vocational process, and ergonomics. ERS assesses the impact of an injury on a persons ability to perform meaningful activities. ERS provides Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE) that assess and document injured or disabled persons current functional capacities and limitations with respect to the performance of activities of daily living and work. ERS works with plaintiff and defense attorneys who handle personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice and automobile cases in helping to illustrate the damages component of a case; with Long Term and Social Security Disability attorneys to assess whether various impairments are associated with disability; and employment lawyers to assess work capacities and workplace accommodations. The FCE bridges the gap between medical evidence pertaining to the impairment, and vocational findings related to employability, e.g. is the person capable of returning to his/her prior work and in what capacity, if alternate work need be considered, or if the person is unemployable. Vocational Evaluation findings also set the foundation for an economists earning capacity report. ERS also provides focused evaluations that address a persons needs such as Hand Function and Activities of Daily Living/Quality of Life. In addition to the FCE report providing evaluation results in clearly stated functional terms, ERS usually includes photographs and/or video footage to help the reader better appreciate the injured/disabled persons current functional performance ...