Audience

This online course is intended for physical therapists who provide or intend to provide related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

To register for additional individual sessions in this series - or to register for the full Innovations in School-based Therapy course – visit the On-Demand Courses page.

Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will:

1. Understand foundational federal laws and regulations for ensuring a free and appropriate public education (FAPE), including provision of required related services for students with disabilities under IDEA and Section 504.
2. Apply evidence and data to individualize and make appropriate decisions regarding evaluation, outcome measures, models of service delivery, individualization, advocacy, and evidence-informed interventions.
3. Apply knowledge gained to influence and advocate for appropriate services, staffing, physical activity and fitness, collaboration across practice settings, adequate supports and self-determination for students with disabilities.
4. Incorporate evidenced-informed evaluation and intervention for students with complex disability.
5. Describe the role of school-based physical therapy in provision of assistive technology, individualized transportation services, and to prepare students and their families for adulthood through post-school transition.

On-demand session

• Ecological & Authentic School-based Assessment - Sue Cecere

Session Descriptions & Speakers

Ecological & Authentic School-based Assessment

This presentation will describe an evidence-based assessment strategy for students with disabilities in public schools. The session will identify the advantages of using an ecological approach to identify student strengths and needs to support educationally relevant programming. Participants will use video to discuss this approach and its usefulness in the IEP process, including developing a present level of academic achievement and functional performance, goals, objectives, and supplementary aids and services. Contribution to the physical therapy plan of care and dosing from this approach will be reviewed.  

Susan (Sue) Cecere, PT, MHS is a graduate of the University of Delaware physical therapy program and has a Master of Health Science degree from Towson University. She also holds an Administrative Certificate in Educational Leadership from McDaniel College. During her lengthy school-based career, Sue worked both as a service provider and program administrator for two large, culturally diverse LEAs in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Since retiring from full-time work, she began Sequoia School-based Therapy Solutions, a consulting and professional development company that provides individual support for school-based therapists and professional development for agencies, districts, and continuing education companies. She has served as the co-chair of the Maryland State Steering Committee for Occupational and Physical Therapy School-Based Programs, a Maryland State Department of Education subcommittee. She is a co-author of Occupational and Physical Therapy Early Intervention and School-Based Services in Maryland: A Guide to Practice, a contributing author to Guide to Pediatric Physical Therapy, and several APTA Pediatrics fact sheets. She has lectured for a number of APTA Pediatrics conferences on school-based practice topics. Together with ASHA and AOTA, she co-wrote a joint document on workload. Sue is the former Vice President of APTA Pediatrics and remains active in the School SIG.