[smbtoolbar]

The 1st SeekFreaks: City Freak Meets Country Freak

Once upon a time in the big city, a lithe PT administrator sought an expert school-based PT to present practical information to his team. One lazy afternoon, he stumbled across the website of an uber-gregarious PT administrator from the small-town south. He was taken with the content of the website; however, the first face-to-face meeting was a bit awkward.

Once the conversation started and ideas flowed, they each recognized the kindred freak in the other. Visually, it was a funhouse mirror reflection for sure! But, mentally, the connection was clear — both sought best practices and how to advance physical therapy in the educational setting.

Thanks to the internet, Laurie aka ‘country freak’ and Carlo aka ‘city freak’ have now banded together to seek and share information with other freaks in the US and beyond!

Carlo Vialu, PT, MBA, serves children and youth with medical complexity. From January 2008 to January 2017, he served as Director of PT for the NYC Department of Education, where he oversaw a program with over 700 PTs working in more than 1,500 schools. Carlo is the project manager of research on normative data for five mobility tests for school-aged children. He is also a co-researcher on collaboration between school-based and medical-based pediatric physical therapists. Click here for Carlo’s select presentation topics.

Laurie Ray, MPT, PhD, has 17 years of experience in school-based practice and is a state-level PT consultant for public schools. She also consults for Medicaid and Adapted Physical Education for her state and is an Associate Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. Click here for Laurie’s select presentation topics.

Both SeekFreaks are dedicated to seeking and sharing information with other SeekFreaks in the United States and beyond. Now it’s your turn to be a SeekFreak…curious, informed and engaged. Join in the conversations!

Contributing SeekFreaks

Peggy Morris, OTD OTR/L BCP has 30 years of experience in school-based practice and has presented nationally on collaboration and evidence-based practice in schools. She is currently a lecturer in pediatrics, school practice, and clinical reasoning in the Occupational Therapy Department at Tufts University, Medford, MA.