Parents,

The IEP (Individualized Educational Program) process, along with many Special Education services your child may receive can be VERY overwhelming. With that in mind, we have included some information below for you on Adapted Physical Education and the rights you have as Adapted Physical Education is a federally mandated Special Education service.

 

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“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.

 

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“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. Below are the most common Direct Adapted Physical Education services that Adaptability provides.

 

Reverse Inclusion Adapted PE classes-

If a school has multiple students with diverse abilities who are unable to safely and successfully participate in the general Physical Education curriculum, Adaptability will implement a highly structured Adapted PE program that promotes peer-to-peer socialization among typically developing peers from the school.

In these classes, typically developing peers attend as Peer Support, creating structured opportunities for peer modeling of skills, games, and activities. This model fosters friendships and helps build an inclusive culture within both the school and the wider community.

Similar to Special Education classrooms, these classes are highly structured and held in smaller settings to maximize student success. Activities, games, and skills are developmentally appropriate and will mirror the general PE curriculum whenever feasible.

 Self-contained Adapted PE classes-

If Reverse Inclusion is not the Least Restrictive Environment, or does not work with scheduling, our APE teacher will teach highly structured classes in small group setting. Our lessons are built off of our students strengths!

One to One Adapted PE services-

The Adapted PE teacher works one-to-one with the student to address a variety of needs, including:

• Gross motor skills

• Locomotor skills

• Ball skills

• Flexibility

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“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 licensed 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.

 

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“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!