While physical education may have many definitions, the definition as it applies specifically to students who have disabilities, appears in the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) and later within the Individuals with Disabilities Act (PL 101-476). Here, physical education is defined as follows:
The term physical education means development of: (A) physical and motor fitness; (B) fundamental motor Skills and patterns; and (C) skills in aquatics, dance, individual and group games and sports (including intramural and lifetime sports). (Federal Register 1977, 42480)