The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

on sports for the disabled was established by the members of this Act. After the sports for disabled act of 1978, the next act was called Education for All Handicapped Children Amendment of 1986. This act was established by the 86th congress. In this act services to preschool children ages 3 to 5 were amended and expanded (Sherrill, 2004). The law makes a requirement for states that offer interdisciplinary educational services to disabled toddlers, infants, and their families to receive financial grants. These financial grants act as incentives for states to provide for children from birth to age two who have disabilities. Public Law 99-457 also stimulates the development and validation of infant development schedules and tests (PL 99-457).

This concept is emphasized often in special education. Educators are to look at the individual first, then the disability. In this act, ages birth to 21 years is emphasized (Sherrill, 2004) The last major act that was created was the spell it out IDEA amendments of 1997 (PL 105-17). The IDEA amendments were established by the 105th congress. In (PL 105-17) a developmental delay category was created for ages 3 through 9. This increased parental involvement in the assessment of the child. Least restrictive environment was interpreted as regular physical education. Services rather than placements were emphasized in the Act (Sherrill, 2004). APE specialists provide a very important service to schools K-12. APE specialists usually have a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a master’s degree in APE (Sherrill, 2004). Although each state does have different requirements, each specialist must meet a bachelor degree requirement. To better understand the role of the APE specialist, the categories of knowledge that are required of an effective specialist are described below (Sherrill,

Assessment- When a student is referred for the IEP process, the student is assessed for eligibility; writing reports concerning the results of the assessment; assist general education teachers with screening of students and other types of testing.

3. Preparation, paperwork, and meetings- Participate in IEP meetings and committees for students. The APE teacher is to interact with PE teachers, principals, parents and others involved in the IEP process.

4. Teaching, counseling, and coaching- The APE teacher is to work with students with disabilities, full and part-time, on a need basis. The APE teacher is to assist with crisis management and special problems in large physical education classes. The APE specialist is to conduct integrated home-school-community fitness and sports programs.

5. Evaluation- The APE teacher is to evaluate all aspects of adapted physical activity service delivery in general and special education settings.

6. Consulting and coordinating resources- The APE specialist is to conduct training for physical education teachers on the circumstances surrounding students with disabilities. The APE specialist is to help support fund raising and grant writing for disability