‘Unsung heroes’
UFT occupational and physical therapists play vital role in lives of students

By DOROTHYCALLACI

At PS 160 in the Bronx: To improve balance, Patricia Gelardi works with Raymond on the therapy ball.

 At a school in the Bronx, an occupational therapist pushes into a classroom and immediately transfers a 7-year-old girl with cerebral palsy out of her wheelchair and into her adaptive chair positioned next to her classmates.

The class is involved in a journal-writing activity. The therapist helps the young girl in utilizing assistive technology to complete the assignment and continues to modify the child’s environment so that she is able to complete the activity as independently and efficiently as possible.

In the same school, a physical therapist is seen working with a student on a therapy ball to improve balance and postural stability. The therapist explains how the child has difficulty sitting upright in the classroom due to poor trunk and muscle weakness.

Nearby, a child using a walker practices using the device in a crowded hallway - all under the watchful eye of his physical therapist.

In both special education and general educational settings, mundane but life-changing scenes like these are being played out all over the city as UFT therapists patiently, lovingly and professionally help students.

"I know it is an overused phrase, but these occupational and physical therapists are the unsung heroes of the school system," says Carmen Alvarez, UFT vice president for special education.

"Therapists support the work teachers and paraprofessionals do in the classroom. Everything from developing fine motor skills so that a child can hold a pencil to sitting up straight in a chair, it is their goal to get their students to achieve the highest level of independent functioning they can possibly reach."

Arline Schwezhter (right) explains to Chapter Leader Ellen Archer how the splint on Melissa’s hand helps her manipulate the pencil.

Therapists, Alvarez explained, work to achieve the goals of the IEP for students in both District 75 classes and those with special needs in mainstream general education.

To provide a voice for the special needs and concerns of the therapists, the UFT has formed a new functional chapter for occupational and physical therapists, headed up by Chapter Leader Stephanie Lubalin.

The new chapter boasts more than 700 members.

Lubalin, a therapist at PS 160 in the Bronx, applauded the compassion and determination she sees in the work of her colleagues. She pledged to support their passion and work to resolve the challenges they face.

"We need to advocate for what we do. We need to be recognized and seen. We need to voice our concerns so that the needs of the children we treat are clearly understood and recognized and the quality and delivery of our services are not jeopardized," Lubalin said.

OTs and PTs are under the provision of related services under IDEA federal legislation. When a child is mandated to receive occupational or physical therapy, the focus is to provide the necessary support to keep children in the least restrictive environment and help them to access the curriculum.

Therapists are a very important part of the continuum of services adopted by the Department of Education, Lubalin said. "The populations we treat include children with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, children with neurological disorders, children with Down Syndrome, as well as many other diagnoses."

At PS 721 in Brooklyn, for example, 420 autistic and multiply handicapped students, aged 14 to 21, receive training to prepare them for work or independent living in group homes.

At PS 160 in the Bronx: Lubalin encourages Takia at the computer.

Occupational therapist Jackie Turbert proudly notes that of 44 graduates last year only one didn’t go to work. She describes "getting goose bumps" as she watches her students struggle toward some degree of independence.

Mark, a 32-year-old graduate of the Hungerford School, is custodian at a Staten Island church. He is one of the many youngsters who have been helped by therapists.

Thirteen years after his graduation, the mildly autistic young man still remembers his therapists. "Warren Gruber and Susan Marinelli were my therapists. They were great. They helped me a lot," says Mark.

The chapter is building a Web site at www.uft.org - click on chapters.