The purpose of this study was to explore pre-service physical education teacher perceptions of teaching students with disabilities and professional preparation in a self-contained environment during a student teaching practicum. Data collection included formal interviews, informal interviews, direct observation with field notes, and critical incident reports; and took place during a seven week student teaching practicum at a school which only serves students with severe and profound disabilities. Qualitative techniques were used to analyze the results. The results indicated a pre-service teacher's perception that a PETE program provided him with adequate preparation for teaching students with disabilities, but also suggested a need of presenting more realistic settings for teaching students with disabilities prior to practicum. In addition, the pre-service teacher, while focused on his own teaching, identified the pedagogical content knowledge for teaching students with disabilities as fundamental in successful teaching. (Contains 1 figure.)