engaging classrooms
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safe environments
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informed decisions
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- Goal: Participation in ongoing continuing education, particularly in the area of pediatrics, in an effort to increase knowledge and understanding within our scope of practice; earn continuing education hours as mandated by New York State for registration renewal; promote best practices within the physical therapy department; and provide innovative and qualitative care to the students of the Malone Central School District.
- Goal: To ensure that the children of the Malone Central School District with disabilities or developmental difficulties are functioning adequately in the least restrictive environment.
- Goal: To diminish impairments and functional limitations to prevent or decrease disability.
- Goal: To provide treatment, individualized to meet the needs of the student, which may be focused on improving developmental tasks, motor planning, manipulation skills, balance, coordination, ambulation, positioning, communication, attention, cognition, and/or motor function, as they can result in the inability to keep up with peers or perform work at school.
- Goal: Creating and implementing individualized goals for children with physical development needs so that the specific needs of the children may be met; promoting their ability to learn, move freely and safely within the educational setting, and increased interaction among their peers.
- Goal: To determine a child's need for physical therapy through the use of both qualitative and quantitative measures, such as observation in natural settings, personal and family history, subjective information from teachers and caregivers, systems review, goniometric measurements, manual muscle testing, gross observation of equilibrium, righting reactions, posture, gait, and assessment of gross motor proficiency using standardized testing.
- Goal: To formulate a physical therapy treatment diagnosis upon evaluation of the examination findings, as the physical therapy diagnosis focuses not on the pathology (e.g., Medical Diagnosis), but rather on the dysfunction(s) toward which the therapist will direct intervention (e.g., decreased balance, coordination, strength).
- Goal: To formulate a prognosis for each child that qualifies for physical therapy services, encompassing a prediction of the level of function realistically attainable and the time period in which it will be accomplished, including the plan of care (treatment procedures and frequency) in addition to specifying goals related to school function.
- Goal: To routinely communicate with the families or caregivers of students and other paraprofessionals as needed, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, social workers, physical education teachers, administrators, and fellow colleagues.
- Goal: To recognize the need to refer a child back to a physician and/or recommend the services of other professionals as necessary.
- Goal: To play a key role in making recommendations and/or participating in obtaining orthoses, walking aids, wheelchairs, and other appropriate adaptive equipment for use in the classroom and/or home.
- Goal: In the case of students with non-progressive disorders, to assist with long-term retention of learned skills and the ability to transfer skills to different environments and situations.
- Goal: In the case of students with progressive disorders, to assist with the maintenance of capabilities and/or slowing of functional losses.
- Goal: To assist colleagues in determining whether or not physical therapy services are required for a specific student and, in addition, perform activities such as assessing an environment or program for accessibility; providing opinions or recommendations on adaptations in the classroom, home, or recreational area; and making recommendations for compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Goal: To educate students and their families or caregivers about things such as disease and course of physical therapy treatment; teaching of home exercises and adaptations; instruction on the prevention of secondary impairments; and suggestions for long-term wellness.
- Goal: To further our education, mentor future physical therapists and physical therapist assistants, and increase public awareness of areas in which physical therapists have expertise.