Physical therapy services are related services provided children with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Physical Therapy service providers in the Houston ISD are licensed by the Texas Executive Council of Physical Therapy Examiners (http://ptot.texas.gov/page/physicaltherapy)

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) 20 USC 1401§602.26

RELATED SERVICES.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘related services’ means transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services (including speech-language pathology and audiology services, interpreting services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, social work services, school nurse services designed to enable a child with a disability to receive a free appropriate public education as described in the individualized education program of the child, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and medical services, except that such medical services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes the early identification and assessment of disabling conditions in children.

Texas Education Code (TEC)§29.002. Definition.

(2) related services, which are developmental, corrective, supportive, or evaluative services, not instructional in nature, that may be required for the student to benefit from special education instruction and for implementation of a student’s individualized education program.

Senior Manager for Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Assistive Technology Services.

The request for Physical Therapy screening is responded to within 10 school days and is completed within 30 school days.

The Physical Therapy evaluation is completed within 45 school days.

Physical therapy services in the Houston ISD assist students with disabilities to participate in and benefit from the special education program provided them at school.

Physical therapy personnel:

• Identify barriers related to positioning, mobility, and locomotion skills that limit a child/adult student’s participation in classroom and school related activities
• Assist school teams to universally design programs and systems to facilitate inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities
• Provide school administrators and teachers with strategies to adapt classroom environments and/or activities to address identified barriers and support the implementation of the child/adult student’s individualized education program (IEP),
• Support classroom personnel in implementing assistive technology to support student success, and
• Support campus teams in designing learning environments accessible for all learners.
• Provide classroom-based support services for Preschoolers Achieving Learning Skills (PALS), Skills for Learning and Living (SLL), Structured Learning Classroom (SLC), and Preparing Students for Independence (PSI) classrooms. With the classroom-based support service, PT practitioners and teachers work collaboratively to incorporate developmentally appropriate gross motor, mobility, and locomotion skills as a natural component of the classroom routine. In general, PT services support the teacher to incorporate the appropriate gross motor, mobility, and locomotion skills as a universal component of the instructional program.
• Provide student specific services to facilitate the implementation of the individualized educational program (IEP)in the natural classroom setting. Student specific PT services are available for all students receiving special education services if an educationally related need is identified through PT evaluation that requires PT services to address the need. This service is provided to facilitate the student’s functional participation in his or her individualized educational program (IEP). These services are provided as an integrated support in the classroom where the PT practitioner may work directly with the student within the classroom setting and/or support the student’s participation in the instructional program by working with classroom personnel to implement strategies designed specifically for that student. These services typically focus on providing environmental adaptations including the provision and monitoring of assistive technology. The process of identifying an educationally related need for a student specific PT service begins with requesting a screening by PT services.

Referral Process

The screening for instructional purposes provided by Physical Therapy (PT) services is the procedure anyone in the Houston ISD uses to initiate a request for PT services. The screening process provides a means for anyone from a school, field, or district office to readily access the input of an PT service provider to facilitate the instructional program provided to a student with disability. This screening is not evaluation but may lead to an evaluation if:

• a student specific need is identified by the PT service provider, or
• a parent of a student with disability, in the process of contributing to the screening, requests the therapist to move from a screening to an evaluation process.
  

Request a Screening for Instructional Purposes

A request for PT screening is typically initiated for one of the following reasons:

• Educational Concern – A member of a student’s individualized education program (IEP) team, 504 committee, or IAT committee identifies a concern for a student’s progress in the goals and/or objectives that have been developed for the student and requests the input of an PT service provider.
• Transfer Student - A student transfers into the Houston ISD from another school district or other instructional setting with PT services documented in the students individualized education program (IEP) developed in the previous instructional setting.

To request a screening for instructional purposes by PT services, the school, field office, or district office personnel complete an “Additional Service Request” in Easy IEP.

Evaluation

Requesting/Initiating an Evaluation
The evaluation of a student to determine the student’s need for PT services at school may be requested or initiated by one of the following means:

• In completing a screening for instructional purposes, the PT practitioner refers the student for a PT evaluation
• An ARD/IEP Committee with the input of the PT practitioner determines an educational concern necessitating the PT evaluation
• A student moves into the district with documentation identifying the student as having received PT services at school as a part of their previousIEPand no current PT evaluation report is provided by the previous school district within 30 calendar days
• A student currently receives school PT services and the formal PT evaluation is approaching three years old
• A student currently receives school PT services and has a change in medical status necessitating new PT evaluation

Requesting Consent for Evaluation
Once the need for PT evaluation is determined, the PT practitioner will request consent to proceed with the evaluation by providing the Houston ISD approved consent form. This form is provided in one of the following ways:

• in the process of an ARD/IEP committee meeting where the PT practitioner is in attendance,
• via the normal channels by which the classroom teacher communicates with the student’s parent, or
• other communication method established by the campus.

Referral Processing by the Campus
Upon receipt of signed parent consent, the campus team member who received the form, dates the form by the date the form was received and initials the date. This is the date the district received consent to proceed into evaluation. The campus team member who received the form notifies the PT practitioner supporting the campus via email that the form has been received. The signed original of the Houston ISD approved parent consent form is placed in the student’s special education eligibility folder and a copy of the signed original is provided to the PT practitioner supporting the campus.

If assistance is needed to successfully process the consent form, it can be requested by contacting the Senior Manager for Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Assistive Technology Services.

Evaluating the Student
The Physical Therapy (PT) evaluation process consists of three phases: data gathering, formulating recommendations, and evaluation report preparation. These steps have been adapted from Polichino, J. (2001)
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Service Delivery Models

• In collaboration with classroom teachers, PT practitioners in Houston ISD schools provide an array of PT services including:
• Classroom based support services in the Preschoolers Achieving Learning Skills (PALS), Skills for Learning and Living (SLL), Structured Learning Classroom (SLC), and Preparing Students for Independence (PSI) classrooms. With the classroom-based support service, PT practitioners and teachers work collaboratively to incorporate developmentally appropriate sensory and motor skills as a natural component of the classroom routine. In general, PT services support the teacher to incorporate mobility, positioning, and transitional movement skills as a universal component of the instructional program.
• Student specific services to facilitate the implementation of the individualized educational program (IEP) in the natural classroom setting. Student specific PT services are available for all children receiving special education services if an educationally related need is identified through a PT evaluation that requires PT services to address the need. This service is provided to facilitate the student’s functional participation in his or her individualized educational program (IEP).These services are provided as an integrated support in the classroom where the PT practitioner may work directly with the student within the classroom setting, or support the student’s participation in the instructional program by working with classroom personnel to implement strategies designed specifically for that student. The process of identifying an educationally related need for a student specific PT service begins with requesting a screening by PT services.
• Environmental adaptations which may include the provision and monitoring of adaptive equipment

Physical therapy services in the Houston ISD assist students with disabilities to participate in and benefit from the special education program provided them at school.