Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T19:44:11.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Developing a screening instrument for teacher referral of students with special needs to therapy services

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Gwynnyth Llewellyn*
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
David McConnell
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Mike Bailey
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
*
Address for correspondence: Gwynnyth Llewellyn, Senior Lecturer in Developmental Disabilities, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, PO Box 170, Lidcombe NSW 2141 Australia. Phone 61 2 93519370, Fax 61 2 93519166, E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract

Development of a screening instrument (the SRT) for teacher referral of students with special needs to therapy services is reported in this paper. Stage 1 was reported in Llewellyn & Maher (1993). In Stages 2 and 3, the instrument was trialed and subsequently refined with over 200 teachers and 60 therapists in NSW Schools for Specific Purposes and Support Classes. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to determine those items relevant to referral to therapy. The final version of the instrument contains 19 items. The instrument is suitable for determining individual student need for referral to occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology for students with intellectual and/ or physical disability. The instrument can also be used for determining the extent and distribution of student need for therapy at classroom, school, regional or State levels.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Butcher, J. , Meixner, L. & Ridoutt, L. (1989). The therapy services in schools programme. Report to the Joint Health/ Education Committee examining therapy services in schools. Sydney: NSW Department of Health.Google Scholar
Campbell, P. (1987). The integrated programming team: An approach for coordinating professionals of various disciplines in programs for students with severe handicaps. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 21,107116.Google Scholar
Dunn, W. (1990). A comparison of service provision models in school-based occupational therapy services: A pilot study. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 10, 301–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farley, S.K., Sarracino, T., & Howard, P.M. (1990). Development of a treatment rating in school systems: Service determination through objective measurement. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 45, 898–906.Google Scholar
Haley, S.M., Hallenborg, S.C., & Gans, B.M. (1989). Functional assessment in young children with neurological impairments. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 9, 106126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickling, K., & Korner, H. (1989). Therapy services in NSW Department of Education schools. Report to the Joint Health/Education Committee examining therapy services in schools. Sydney: NSW Department of Education.Google Scholar
Huberty, C.J. (1984). Issues in the use and interpretation of discriminant analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 156171.Google Scholar
Kaufert, J.M. (1983). Functional ability indices: Measurement problems in assessing their validity. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 64, 260267.Google ScholarPubMed
Llewellyn, G. (1994). Teachers and therapists as collaborators. Special Education Perspectives, 3, 97101.Google Scholar
Llewellyn, G., & Maher, L. (1993). Assessment of school students’ needs for therapy services. Australian Journal of Physiotherapy, 39,181185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magill-Evans, J., & Madill, H. (1990). Occupational therapy in schools: Identifying items for a referral instrument. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57, 33–140.Google Scholar
McGlinn, J., & Hawke, J. (1988). The early childhood sensory motor developmental screen. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 13, 39–43.Google Scholar
NSW Department of School Education (1993). Special education policy. Sydney: Author.Google Scholar
Norusis, M.J. (1993). SPSS for Windows. Professional Statistics 6.0. Chicago: SPSS.Google Scholar
Rainforth, B., York, J., & McDonald, C. (1992). Collaborative teams for students with severe disabilities. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, R., & Rosenow, R.L. (1991). Essentials of behavioral research: methods and data analysis. (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Woosley, T., Sands, D.I., & Dunlap, W. (1987). An instrument to screen sensory-impaired persons for referral to physical and occupational therapy. Journal of Rehabilitation, Oct/Nov/Dec, 6669.Google Scholar