It was provided by: Lisa Mische Lawson, Ph.D., CTRS (of Kansas City area), Kathy Coyle, Ph.D., CTRS, and by one practitioner: Thea Kavanaugh, CTRS (New Mexico).
Note: Thea claimed that she found her position via the RecreationTherpay.Com job page. That web-site is operated by my good friend and fellow West Virginian Charlie Dixon. Here is the link: http://www.recreationtherapy.com/jobs
Okay, let me get back to the session. Sometimes I get off on tangents when I’m writing.
The purpose of this session was the take a look at the current status of Recreational Therapy in the school systems. There are Recreational Therapists in a number of schools throughout the United States. Several states were shared aloud. My state “West Virginia” was not one of them. I already knew this.
Recreational Therapists could work in three different positions for schools
These could include:
- Full-time staff
- Consultant
- Contractual employee. I think any real go-getter could create businesses and start providing services as a contractual employee.
Overall it will take strong advocacy! A Rec. Therapist could attend a local Board of Education meeting!
A Recreational Therapist can’t just go in and do anything in the school setting.
There are regulations.
- Recreational Therapists in community settings must follow the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Recreational Therapists in behavioral health and rehabilitation must follow Medicare.
- Recreational Therapists in Schools must follow the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and No School Left Behind.
The good news is that “Recreation and Therapeutic Recreation” is a covered service under IDEA. A child with special needs has the right to these services when they can help a child to function more independently in a school setting.
IDEA mandates: zero rejection, non-discriminatory evaluation, appropriate education, and least restrictive environment.
The services must be listed on the child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP). It might not specify for a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) to provide the services. The rules vary from state to state. Most states will claim the highest qualified person. Naturally, a person with CTRS credentials would be the most qualified to provide Therapeutic Recreation (TR) a.k.a. Rec. Therapy services. This would be an easy argument to make if interpretation of the best qualified was an issue.
It is important that the IEP is written in a way that demonstrates the child will function more independently in the educational setting.
Thea had shown several examples of her IEP goals, quarterly progress reports, and annual progress reports for students. I think she is very through and she is setting a good example for recreational therapists in all settings. I felt very inspired by the picture slideshow of the things she is doing to help the children in her school district! It looked awesome! I’m so glad the students there have her.
There are four things that a Recreational Therapist in a school setting can do:
- Assessments
- Planned Therapeutic Recreation (TR) interventions
- Social skills training/ Activity skills training, Leisure Education
- Recreation opportunities/ Community
It is important that Recreational Therapists are using interventions that are based on research. Evidenced-based practice is important. It shows that interventions have been proven to be effective. The school system calls this Scientific Evidence Practice.
There are several laws that RTs should know about:
- Clarion-Goldberg, Comm. School Dist. (1994) showed that leisure goals can be on an IEP
- Re Child with Disabilities (1993) showed that social skills can be on an IEP
- Franklin # 5 School Dist. (1985): a child with autism had been banned from afterschool program due to disruptive behaviors (which is typical for a child with his diagnosis). This law showed that a child can’t be denied services due to his (or her) disability.
Two more to look up and know about are:
Montgomery Co. Public Schools (1998) and Silsbee Independent School District (1997).
Information can also be found at:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/
I work in a residential behavioral health treatment setting. We have an on-campus school. Sometimes a child will arrive to our facility with an IEP. I’ve never seen one that identified a Recreational Therapist as a “Service Provider.” I think that would be awesome!
There are many things that I provide at the facility that could be on an IEP for a child with special needs. Some of the interventions that I provide include: assertiveness training, social skills training, conflict resolution skills, community re-integration, opportunities for physical fitness, leisure education, and recreation/ activity task skills.
I don’t do much with fine-motor skills or transition skills. There have been a limited amount of children with these needs.
You can get in touch with Thea Kavanaughat the ATRA site here. Note: you must be a member of ATRA to access this forum:
http://atra-online.com/forumviewmessage.cfm?forumnbr=6775&topicnbr=13582&discussionnbr=786585
ATRA also offers a good book Therapeutic Recreation in Special Education. Here is a link for that book:
http://atra-online.com/storelistitem.cfm?itemnumber=85
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