Solutions for Schools

Therapists work closely with teachers to demonstrate techniques that can be incorporated into the regular classroom routine.

Matheny views public school districts as partners, and we offer services that districts may not be able to provide on their own. Under a program called Matheny Solutions for Schools, we provide:

• Specialized Evaluations, for students with mild, moderate or severe disabilities who may require augmentative communication devices, assistive technology, therapy evaluations and non-standard psychological or educational evaluations.

• Therapy Services, coordinated with regular classroom activities. Our occupational, physical and speech therapists work closely with teachers to demonstrate techniques that can be incorporated into the normal classroom routine.

• Home-Based Services, for students who are unable to attend school due to medical issues. Our experienced, fully certified special education teachers provide the instruction, and therapy services are also available in the home.

• Adaptive Equipment and Assistive Technology, based on a thorough evaluation of students’ needs. We adapt wheelchairs, supply adaptive physical education tools and set up new classrooms to ensure access for students with physical disabilities.

Information about all of these services will be available at The Matheny School’s Open House, which will be held on Wednesday, October 9, from  10 a.m.- noon, at 65 Highland Ave. in Peapack, NJ. For more information or to R.S.V.P., call (908) 234-0011, ext. 234, or email mathenyschool@matheny.org. For more information about Solutions for Schools, call (908) 229-7342 or email mathenysolutions@matheny.org.

PT Marda Herz consults with Matheny rehab technician Jon DaSilva about a Belmont Runyan student’s seating needs.

Matheny has dozens of highly skilled professionals with unparalleled depth and breadth of experience, who are available to work with special needs students at all levels of ability in public school districts. In a program we call “Matheny Solutions for Schools,” we can provide specialized evaluations, therapy services, home-based  services and adaptive equipment and technologies.

Matheny has been working closely for some time with the Newark Public Schools District, specifically at the Belmont Runyan School, which has a program for medically fragile students. According to Marda Herz, a physical therapist for the district, Matheny’s rehab technicians consult with school therapists to determine equipment needs for the students. “Then,” she says, “the Matheny technicians make recommendations. The one thing that Matheny offers that no one else does is the service upon delivery. They install, they set up, they instruct. It is a pleasurable working experience, not only for me, but the teaching staff, too.”

Among the services Matheny’s rehab technicians can provide to school districts are:

• Adapting equipment to provide students access to classrooms through the use of environmental controls in the classroom.

• Supplying adaptive physical education products.

• Setting up new classrooms to ensure access for students with physical disabilities.

Free assembly and inservice is available for all equipment purchased by schools. For more information about any of our services, email Linda Newsome, Director of Matheny Solutions for Schools, at mathenysolutions@matheny.org or call her at (908) 229-7342.