BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Physical therapists (PTs) have been involved in the public school system since the passage of PL 94-1421 in 1975. This federal law mandated a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for all eligible students with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21. As a result, PTs became part of the health team, as related service providers, to assist educators in working with school-aged children with disabilities in their classrooms. In 1986, PL 99-4572 was passed by Congress as an amendment to PL 94-1421 that significantly impacted infants and young children with disabilities by specifically outlining service provisions for this population. It recognized the need to enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities by reducing their potential for developmental delays and increasing family functioning. Once again, PTs were recognized as an important part of the team to assist educators and families in enhancing developmental outcomes for children with disabilities. In 1990, PL 99-4572 was reauthorized and amended as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)3 The amendments incorporated Part C which addressed special education for children from birth to 2 years of age. PTs were again included as integral members of the team to assist educators and families in promoting the development of children from birth through 2 years of age. Since 1990, IDEA has been reauthorized twice, once in 1997 and most recently in 2004. These two reauthorizations maintain the focus on the continuing need for educators and related service providers, like PTs, to collaborate and work together as members of the same interdisciplinary team with the ultimate goal of working with the child and the family to improve overall development and functioning. In order for successful professional collaboration to occur, educators and PTs must demonstrate a knowledge base and a set of skills and rapport in consultation and communication. We believe this type of collaboration can be taught to both graduate-level school educators and graduate-level PTs. When this collaboration works well, educators and PTs work collectively with children and their families to establish and implement mutual and functional goals that benefit the child and the family as a whole. Interprofessional collaboration has been recommended by professionals in health and education. This interprofessional collaboration has been emphasized in the field of ECSE along with the family-centered approach to service delivery. ECSE is commonly viewed as a dynamic and complex system of coordination and services to young children with disabilities and their families.4 Due to this approach and the amount of individuals, agencies, and services involved, coordination works best when delivery of services occurs within the context of collaborative partnerships between families, educators, and service providers, thereby ensuring that optimal and effective services are provided to young children with disabilities and their families. Collaboration is a complex, multidimensional, and ongoing process often defined as “cooperation among two or more people concerning a particular undertaking,”5 “a style of interaction,”6 “the exchange of different forms of expertise,”7 and a “means of finding ways to work through the barriers that define our daily work and keep us from working together effectively.”8 Specifically within ECSE, collaboration is evident when 2 or more individuals of different disciplines share information and expertise across traditional discipline boundaries to assist children with disabilities to attain intervention goals.9