Therapists focus on outcomes reflected in the student's Individual Support Plans and use their professional skills to help the student’s team set the priority goals. Therefore, therapists working in an educational setting do not focus on the disability but rather on other areas such as the tasks the student is involved in at school, the school setting itself, and the impact of the student’s disability on their school day.
The type of service will vary according to the needs of the student and his or her educational program. It may include liaison with other services, teachers, families, informal and formal assessment, staff training, equipment prescription and/or programming.
Occupational Therapist
The Occupational Therapist assists students to develop functional skills for everyday life including:
Student/work skills (e.g. organisation of self, handwriting and computer skills)
Activities of daily living (e.g. eating, dressing, toileting, using community facilities)
Play, leisure and recreation (e.g. playground activities).
Physiotherapist
Physiotherapists contribute to a student’s education programs by:
Advising on seating and posture
Advising on mobility in the classroom and school grounds
Recommending changes to the school environment to allow maximum student participation in school activities
Preventing or reducing disability through specialist techniques and support such as provision of specialised equipment
Providing training and consultation on risk management
Maximising students’ independence in the school setting to enhance their confidence
Adaptation of the student’s program or classroom setup.
Speech Language Pathologist
The Speech Language Pathologist provides a service to identified students within a transdisciplinary team by:
Direct services to students (diagnostic and review assessments, therapy with students, training in alternative and augmentative communication systems and aids)
Non-contact activities (therapy program planning, training and inservice for program implementation, resource development, parent interviews and ISP planning
Service management activities (networking, strategic planning, negotiating services)
The key student outcomes for speech-language therapy services are language, speech, voice, fluency and oromotor functioning.