Paramedical Professionals
Speech and Language Pathologists
The goal of the speech-language pathologist (SLP) at Ilanot is to promote each student’s independent communication and to maximize the students’ opportunities to communicate throughout the day. The SLP staff work in collaboration with the student’s family, classroom staff, and other Ilanot therapists to create, adapt, or improve the student’s mode of communication while also considering his or her motor, cognitive, visual, and auditory abilities. Members of the Ilanot SLP staff have vast and varied experience in multiple modes of AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) including iPads, communication computers, printed communication boards, sign language, eye gaze communication systems and more. Students receive individual and group therapy with personalized communication goals in comprehension, expression, speech and social skills. The SLP team also provides training to the classroom staff regarding students’ eating, drinking, and swallowing needs.
Occupational Therapy
The occupational therapy (OT) staff at Ilanot targets functional goals by providing rehabilitation therapy, adapting the environment, teaching strategies, and more. OTs consult with the student, family, and classroom staff in choosing goals meaningful to each student. Therapy is based on formal and informal assessment to identify the student’s strengths and weaknesses in the areas of motor, cognitive, and self-management skills. The Ot staff analyze the desired action and identify strategies for improvement together with creating functional adaptations.
Physiotherapy
Ilanot students receive both individual and group physiotherapy with the physiotherapy staff. Treatment sessions take place throughout the school environment, including the gym and sports hall, but also in everyday spaces like the classrooms, hallways, playground, and school yard. Therapy is varied and adapted and personalized to each student’s needs, covering areas such as mobility, stability, breathing, and physical fitness, while also including the fitting of rehabilitation equipment and assistive technology. Annual goals are set in collaboration with the student’s family, taking into account the safeguarding of the student’s health and improving quality of life.
Gardening
Therapeutic gardening teaches social values and skills, promotes problem solving, teaches mathematical terms and encourages appropriate hygiene. Lessons incorporate concepts such as seasons and plant life cycles, while also instructing the students in using adapted tools. Practical gardening work teaches following sequences, from sowing seeds to packaging bags with aromatic and medicinal plants. Lessons in the Ilanot garden are often scheduled as part of the inclusion program with the Gonenim elementary school, leading to friendships between students across both schools.
Hydrotherapy
Ilanot boasts its own specialized therapeutic pool with a trained staff of hydrotherapists, offering each Ilanot student at least one weekly therapy session in the pool. Hydrotherapy combines physical activity and adaptive swimming instruction and, most importantly, allows freedom of movement without the support of wheelchairs, splints, or other assistive devices. Therapy sessions in the pool focus on improving heart-lung function, stretching, and maintaining existing movement abilities. Group sessions provide opportunities to work on communication goals and social skills. Ilanot is also proud to be home to an adaptive student swim team, in which eligible students practice on improving their swimming technique and maintaining fitness to prepare for competitions.
Physical Education
Physical education, sport, and fitness are an integral part of an Ilanot student’s school experience. Phys ed lessons take place in class groups or competitive groups and combine work on motor, social, emotional, and cognitive goals. The Ilanot fitness room includes a variety of adaptive equipment designed to improve general fitness and strengthen muscles. Ilanot is proud to have its own competitive boccia team which competes in the Israeli national school league of special education sports teams. Boccia is a relatively new Paralympic sport requiring precision and strategic thinking and is rapidly gaining popularity around the world. Ilanot’s boccia team receives professional training and has won awards in past competitions.
