Physical therapy services are provided in a variety of settings within the school. The goal is to deliver the services to the student during naturally occurring routines so that the student can practice the newly acquired skills in the environment in which the skill is needed. Services are delivered in the educational environment in areas pertinent to the student’s individual needs. This could include the classroom, hallways, stairwells, bathrooms, playgrounds, music, art, cafeteria, gym, job placement, etc.
Because physical therapy supports an instructional need, physical therapists become co-implementers on goals and objectives that are developed collaboratively for the student’s IEP, therefore, there are no standalone PT goals on a student’s IEP. The goals and objectives are integrated in an effort to allow the student to generalize the skills across people and environments and develop strategies for daily task or activity performance. Services are provided in collaboration with general education teachers, special education teachers, support staff, and/or other service providers such as occupational therapists, speech therapists, or adapted PE teachers.
Eanes ISD requires a physician's referral for any student to receive physical therapy as a related service in the educational setting for the provision of individualized specially designed instructions and the direct physical modeling or hands-on demonstration of activities.