HCC alumna lives her dream of helping others
Mar 6, 2018
When Carie Crabb graduated from Houston Community College in 1988, she knew that she had landed in the right career path of physical therapy.
Today, she is an HCC success story who is living her dream of helping others as senior director of School-Based Therapy Services at Harris County Department of Education. HCDE provides services to 25 Harris County school districts as well as many neighboring area districts.
The school-based therapy career path “has provided me with a job that is not only fun but meaningful in that I have been able to make a difference in the lives of many children in a way that is not possible in any other therapy setting,” she said.
To be sure, Crabb’s success did not come on a silver platter. It took years of planning, hard work and the unwavering support from HCC to reach the top.
“When I was looking at going to college, I was interested in physical therapy but I couldn’t afford a four-year college,” she said. “HCC had a two-year physical therapy program and it seemed like something that I could finally do. I went through the program and had probably some of the best instructors I’ve ever had.”
After graduating from HCC in 1988, Crabb began working at HCDE as a physical therapist assistant (PTA) and was assigned to the Houston Independent School District. She later obtained her master’s degree in physical therapy at Texas Woman’s University and returned to HCDE as a physical therapist.
Crabb joined the management team at HCDE in 2004, where she has partnered with various school districts, the Gulf Coast Co-op and the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Early Childhood Intervention program.
Her expertise in physical therapy led her to serve as the HCDE coordinator for clinical education for professional physical therapy, as well as physical therapist assistant students who attend local colleges and universities.
“Carie proved herself quickly and became the first PTA to become a lead therapist with PTs (physical therapists), OTs (occupational therapists), COTAs (certified occupational therapist assistants), and other PTAs within her scope of Leadership,” said Debbie Blalock, retired senior director of Special Education Related Services at HCDE.
“What an amazing career path – and woman – moving from the bottom to the top and leading a variety of professionals in the wonderful pursuit of ‘Best Practices in the Public School and Birth to Three’ settings,” she said.
Crabb has also served on the advisory boards for the HCC and Wharton County Junior College Physical Therapist Assistant Programs, and has been a guest lecturer for the Texas Woman’s University doctoral program for physical therapy.
“This has been a life-changing job,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like work. I can’t believe that I get to do this job and get paid for it. This job allows me to make a difference in the lives of kids. It makes my life mean something.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I hadn’t started with an associate’s degree from Houston Community College,” she said.
HCDE’s programs cover the gamut from adult education, after-school programs and school-based therapy services, to professional development for educators, alternative certification for principals and teachers, and Head Start programs.
HCDE’s team of physical, occupational and music therapists provide on-campus support for more than 7,000 students with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities and other challenges in greater Harris County.
The goal of therapy in the schools is to help children with disabilities to achieve and participate in the school setting alongside their non-disabled peers – an aspect of physical therapy which Crabb is especially passionate about.
For more information about the HCC Physical Therapist Assistant Program, visit hccs.edu/pta. For more details about HCC Health Sciences programs, visit hccs.edu/health.