Exploring the Physical Therapy Screening Process

Why This Topic Was Chosen Historically evaluations were requested that may not have been necessary or requested for the wrong discipline. In Council Rock SD there was no standard procedure, therefore informal screens were being completed without any formal documentation. Evaluations were being requested based on a medical diagnosis rather than if their condition was interfering with their educational performance.

Role of a PT vs. OT Physical therapists provide educationally related services in the following areas: Mobility- moving through school environment safely and timely (hallways, stairwells, ramps, cafeteria, outdoors) with or without an assistive device. Accessing the playground equipment. Overall gross motor skills as most commonly seen in PE class – example jumping, skipping, ball skills, hopping. These are just some of the things PT’s and OT’s do, we focused the list on aspects that the teacher can look for in determining which service the student may need to be screened for.

Role of a PT vs. OT Occupational Therapists bring expertise to some of the following areas in relation to the school environment: Issues related to fine motor skills- tying shoes, fasteners (zippers, buttons), handwriting. Ways to promote independence in self feeding. Pre vocational skills. Self help skills – managing clothing and belongings in the school setting. Sensory Integration and Self Regulation Handwriting difficulties that may arise in class.

Request for Screening The process for a request for screening is determined by the individual district, but typically the IST or guidance counselor requests a quick screening with the purpose of determining if there seems to be enough concern to warrant a full evaluation.

Screening Form Because each district does things differently, we decided to develop a standard screening form that can be used by any district. Michelle – I began in 4 different districts and all of them seemed to have a system in place. I was finding the screen form in my mailbox and performing the screen – therefore I needed to learn the process of who was allowed to request the screen, fill it out etc. Tina – In Council Rock there was no screening procedure, often a verbal request. I would perform the screen and no documentation was provided to the teacher, or any other school personnel. I kept the information in my own notebook. This was then not available to other team members and no record was kept.

Screening Form REQUEST FOR A PHYSICAL THERAPY SCREENING   Student Name: _____________________________Date Of Birth: ________________Grade: _________ School: ________________________________________ Teacher: ____________________________________ Name & Role of Person Requesting the Physical Therapy Screening: __________________ Date of Request: ________________________ Signature: ________________________________________ Former Requests: Y/N (Circle) Does the Student have a Speech/Educational IEP or 504 plan? Y/N (Circle) If so, which and what services are they currently receiving? On the form it is not written who to return it to because in different districts, different people are in charge. For example we have seen that guidance counselors and IST teachers are typically the ones in charge.

How Our Project is Being Implemented The schools in Council Rock and Pennsbury are currently utilizing the form that was created. They are keeping the completed PT screens in the Physical Therapy folder so that other team members can have access to it.