At Yeled v’Yalda, we know that some children take it slow and steady while others may sprint, jog, walk, or even crawl to make it to the finish line! What matters to us is that we can proudly help each child declare “I did it!” Through our school-age physical therapy program, Yeled v’Yalda seeks to help each child draw the immense satisfaction that comes from accomplishing the goals they set out to achieve. Together with students, families, and schools, Yeled v’Yalda’s physical therapists establish and address essential goals designed to build skills that affect the student’s performance and inclusion within their daily environment.
The main goals of physical therapy related-services at Yeled v’Yalda are to address the impairments in strength, balance, coordination, and mobility which affect the student’s functional task performance. Physical therapy goals relate to a range of functional outcomes, such as performing tasks in the classroom, participating in activities in the gym, or successfully engaging in any school-related task or play.
Our physical therapists use interviews, observation, evaluations, and may consult the gym curriculum to help establish benchmarks when assessing a child’s motor abilities. Physical therapy services help students in many important basic activities such as using handrails to access stairs within the school building, carrying school-related items such as artwork, lunch bags, or books and folders without losing balance, and overcoming other difficulties that cause students to be consistently slower than their peers.
The goal of Yeled v’Yalda’s physical therapy services is to help children overcome their functional limitations in order to foster independence, and limit their need for external assistance. Yeled v’Yalda’s physical therapists identify issues such as inadequate strength, poor proprioception, and lack of sufficient balance, which cause functional impairments in student ability.
Yeled v’Yalda’s physical therapists set functional goals for easy progress monitoring, identify functional limitations, and employ the most proficient and current methods to create child-friendly approaches to overcome developmental and medical hurdles. Each goal is carefully crafted as a well-defined task which is objectively measureable within the academic setting.
As specialists in movement, Yeled v’Yalda’s physical therapists aim to assist and develop students’ physical participation in a variety of settings throughout the school day. The primary role of the school-based physical therapist is to help students maximally benefit from their educational program within the educational environment.
Physical therapy is provided at schools only for issues related to educational needs. Intervention and goals in the school setting address the child’s functional needs in accessing and participating in all areas of the school curriculum. Physical therapy interventions are designed to enable the student to navigate their school environment and participate in classroom activities. School-based therapy is not intended to meet all of the therapeutic needs of a student; rather, it is intended to ensure that a child can have physical access to his or her education.
The role of the physical therapist as a related-service provider in the school setting is not to meet the total medical needs of the student; students may have a medical diagnosis or motor impairment that does not interfere with their educational performance. Each area of need is closely scrutinized to determine its impact upon the student’s educational environment. The therapist will identify the performance problems in terms of functional criteria within the educational setting, relating to the student’s educational goals and needs. Yeled v’Yalda’s school-based physical therapy services address quality of movement as well as function. The primary objective is to maximize the child’s skill level and quality, in contrast with medically-based service models which are typically focused on physical impairments and on clinical deficits.
While the therapist is the child’s primary service provider, at Yeled v’Yalda we strongly believe in the importance of involving parents and teachers. Physical therapy can be held in a variety of environments, at times in a quiet setting due to the need to limit distractions and/or the use of specialized equipment, and at times within the student’s natural environment.
Students may have difficulties with:
Physical therapy sessions can include: