Some special residential schools for students with physical disabilities were developed in Europe and the United States in the 19th century, but most of these schools had closed by the 1970s. At that time, many children with physical disabilities in the United States attended classes at special education centers in their community school system. These schools were specially designed to eliminate stairs, narrow doorways, and other barriers to students in wheelchairs, and to provide a concentration of specialists in one building. Today, however, a higher number of conventional school buildings are designed to be "barrier-free." Many students with physical disabilities attend their regular neighborhood schools where they receive the same social and academic benefits as students without disabilities. Specialists travel to those schools to provide whatever special services and equipment the students may need.

Some children with physical disabilities have serious health problems. In many cases, these can be managed in the children’s neighborhood schools. However, other children must attend a school where a nurse is on duty. Still others are educated by a visiting teacher at home or in a hospital.

In most cases, specialists from different medical and educational fields work as a team to design educational programs for students with physical disabilities, and to provide special services and equipment. Some of these specialists, such as occupational and physical therapists, may work with the children either in the classrooms or in specially designed physical therapy rooms in the school. Often, their goal is to help children use their hands better or move about more independently.

Most adaptive aids for students with physical disabilities are custom-designed to fit their physical size, abilities, and needs. The aids many children use are not very noticeable or unusual, such as pencils with specially designed handles for children with impaired motor skills or short leg braces that may be hidden under clothing. Other children, however, may need elaborate aids to perform any activity. These include aids to allow for greater mobility, such as electric or manually operated wheelchairs, braces, or crutches; seats specially designed to facilitate movement and posture; adaptive aids for turning pages, reaching, and eating; and communication aids. Aids to assist in communication include materials and equipment ranging from simple books of pictures to sophisticated computer-based devices. The children use this equipment to interact with others in ways that take advantage of their individual abilities. For example, one child might communicate by pointing to letters or pictures on a specially designed communication board. By pointing to carefully chosen letters or pictures in a specific order, the child can construct meanings to communicate with others in the classroom. A child with more severe disabilities might use eye-gaze to point with her eyes to pictures on a vest the teacher is wearing. Another child might use switches that are controlled by breaths of air, eye blinks, or small muscle movements to manipulate a computer display. Some even use computers that can be controlled by looking at different parts of the computer screen. These computers are equipped with an infrared camera that determines where the student�s eyes are looking and activates the computer accordingly.

While many students with physical disabilities have the same ability to learn as other students, some of them also have learning disorders, mental retardation, or other conditions that require special services. In these cases, specialists work together with the child’s family to design a program for the child’s unique situation. Often, education for children with such multiple disabilities emphasizes the development of language and communication, and personal, social, and vocational skills, rather than academic learning.