Treatment includes therapeutic exercise and training in activities of daily living. Generally, physical therapy in the school setting focuses on the student's gross motor functioning. The American Occupational Therapy Association defines occupational therapy as the therapeutic use of purposeful activity to help people live as fully and as normally as possible within their own environment. Both occupational therapists and physical therapists practice in a variety of settings. These include hospitals, private clinics, home health agencies, rehabilitation centers and nursing homes.
School systems are another setting for practice.
Such related services include physical and occupational therapies and may be required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education. However, it is important to remember that such services are not provided simply because a student has a particular disability, but that they are IEP driven. Using a combination of clinical observations, standardized tests, and information gathered from IEP team members, the therapist will evaluate the student and make a recommendation regarding need for service. From that point, provision of services becomes an IEP committee decision. The focus and scope of the school-based therapist is limited to the student's functioning within the educational environment and the performance of those tasks and activities required of him in his educational environment.