Dear Parents,
The IEP (Individualized Educational Program) process, along with many Special Education services your child may receive can be VERY overwhelming to any parent. With that in mind, we have included some information for you on Adapted Physical Education and the rights you have as Adapted Physical Education is a federally mandated Special Education service.
“What is Adapted Physical Education?”
Adapted Physical Education (APE) is the art and science of developing appropriate Physical Education for children with disabilities. Essentially, APE is individualized Physical Education that is designed to build off of the strengths and unique needs of the child.
Many children with disabilities can safely and successfully participate in Gen Ed Physical Education (GPE). However, they may require support from an Adapted PE teacher “pushing in” to GPE to support the child by:
Provide coaching to the child’s PE teacher(s) to implement and ensure strategies, accommodations and modifications are being made to activities, games and skills to ensure the child’s success and safety in GPE.
Provide coaching to the child’s Paraprofessional(s) to ensure they are properly supporting the child in GPE.
Alternately, if GPE isn’t the Least Restrictive Environment for the child, or the parent feels the child’s needs are not being me in GPE, the child may qualify for Direct Adapted Physical Education services.
“how are direct adapted physical education services provided?”
This changes school to school and district to district and is dependent on the School or District’s philosophy of Physical Education.
With that said, below are the most common ways that Adaptability provides Direct Adapted Physical Education services are provided:
Reverse Inclusion Adapted PE classes-
If a school has multiple students with diverse abilities that are unable to be safely and successfully mainstreamed into the general Physical Education curriculum, Adaptability will implement a highly structured Adapted PE program that promotes peer-to-peer socialization among typical developing peers from the school.
In these classes, typically developing peers will attend the classes as Peer Support. This model creates Peer to Peer Socialization in a structured environment, which enables friendships to build. It allows for Peer Modeling of skills, games and activities. The classes help to build an Inclusive Culture not only in the school, but the community as well!
Similar to Special Education classrooms, these classes are highly structured and in smaller settings in order to increase student success. The activities, games and skills taught in class are developmentally appropriate to the students and will mirror GPE whenever feasible.
Self-contained Adapted PE classes-
If a student attends a Therapeutic Day school or Private school setting that does not have typically developing peers on campus, or the student(s) are not ready for a inclusive class with typically developing peers, the classes will be taught in a highly structured self contained model.
One to One Adapted PE services-
The Adapted Physical Education teacher will work directly one to one to with the student to address a variety of needs that may include: Gross motor skills, locomotor skills, ball skills and flexibility.
“Is my child Eligible for Adapted Physical Education?”
As mentioned above, Adapted Physical Education is a direct Special Education service that is federally mandated via IDEA. In order to see if your child is eligible for APE services, an Adapted Physical Education evaluation is completed by an Adapted PE teacher in order to determine if the student qualifies for services. An evaluation can be requested by a parent at any time. Eligibility for Adapted PE services is determined by the school or district.
“I believe my child needs adapted physical education services, how do i go about this?”
You can request an Adapted PE Evaluation be done for your child. The request can be made during an IEP meeting or by contacting an administrator in Special Education at your child’s school. Some schools in Illinois already have an Adapted Physical Education teacher that can complete the evaluation. If they do not, the school can contact Adaptability or you can make the recommendation to contact Adaptability. There are many schools that do not provide or have access to Adapted Physical Education services. Adaptability was opened in order to ensure students receive appropriate and quality Physical Education!