PREPaRE: Preparing Related Services Personnel for Rural Employment

PREPaRE: Preparing RElated Services Personnel for Rural Employment is an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, inter-instituthnal project that would be offered by the Divisions of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) and Physical Therapy (PT) in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health Sciences (CHS) at the University of Kentucky (U~, and the Department of Occupational Therapy (OT) at our partner institution Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). The goal of the project is to: Improve the quality of related services for infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities in early intervention (El) and schools in rural areas so they might achieve the purpose of IDEA Section 601 (d)(1)(A) "to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living" To accomplish this overall goal the related service professionals working in early intervention (El) and schools must be appropriately highly qualified and capable of not only providing services but They must also be effective team members, able to consult, and teach others to provide services. Consultation requires competence and skill in one's profession. This is especially cñtical in rural service delivery areas where there are limited numbers of professionals, limited supervision and mentoring of new therapists, and lack of knowledge in accessing evidenced based practice (EBP) in the related services. This project will address a defined need for OT, PT and SLP service providers throughout Kentucky (KY) and the surrounding states.