The Need: Students with Multiple Disabilities Cannot Access Their Education
One of PTS’s co-founders, Pamela Hackett, traveled to India several times to meet and work with teachers and students at BGSS. When we initially connected with them, they had 20 students with multiple disabilities or autism. Despite the overwhelming need, there were no therapists available to address these mounting challenges.
PTS sought ways to provide the necessary therapeutic services and interventions to support every student, while working with very little resources.
The Solution: “Therapy without the Therapist”
Though most pediatric therapists spend years studying in their field, therapy isn’t magic. In fact, many teachers, paraprofessionals, aides, and parents can implement basic therapeutic strategies at the classroom level to ensure that students receive the support they need in the least restrictive environment.
To help the students at GBSS develop vital handwriting skills without therapists, we began by incorporating a variety of effective hand-strengthening activities into classroom instruction.
The Capable Classroom™ Suite of Classroom-Based Activities
Our experience and success working with BGSS led us to develop The Capable Classroom™ suite of classroom-wide, short-term, and small-group activities. These accessible, clinician-created interventions enable teachers at our partnering districts to easily incorporate therapeutic strategies directly into their classrooms.
These activities address skill deficits in fun and effective ways by promoting learning through play with mixed groups of both typical and non-typical students. The Capable Classroom™ effectively provides support to students who need it, without a referral to related services.
Instead, referrals can be reserved for students who truly need therapist support in a small group or one-on-one.
Think Globally Alongside PTS
We are constantly creating more innovative resources for teachers and families to serve more students, while simultaneously containing costs. Through our partnerships across the globe, we have seen firsthand the way our proprietary toolkits can help students succeed and access their education in resource-scarce areas.
Today, our training approach continues to help teachers in our partnering districts and abroad implement therapeutic strategies even when there are no pediatric therapists available. Contact us to learn more about our global initiatives and how we can help you better serve the students in your district today!