Michael Horvat

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Physical Education for Individuals with
Disabilities

• Michael Horvat
• University of Georgia

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Placement 1

• If you are a physical education teacher, keep in
  mind that children with disabilities are first
  and foremost children who happen to be disabled.
  Their success is dependent upon your teaching,
  which is contingent on applying what is known
  about teaching to individuals with disabilities.

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Table 14.12
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Table 14.1continued
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Placement3

• Placement options are available for all children
  and should be based on the childs background,
  motor ability, cognitive ability, self-concept,
  behavior, and specific needs. The term least
  restrictive (LRE) environment is associated with
  the primary intent for placing children in the
  most appropriate environments. The purpose of
  placement in the LRE was to educate children
  with disabilities with their peers to the maximum
  extent possible.

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Placement4

• The appropriate placement should be based on the
  childs functional capabilities and ability to
  meet program goals.

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Placement5

• For example, if you were teaching a
  weight- training class, every person in the class
  may perform at different levels depending on
  their size, experience, strength, etc. As
  teachers, we would not expect anyone to lift the
  same weight, do the same number of sets or
  repetitions for a particular exercise. We would
  determine each individuals level of functioning
  with an appropriate assessment and determine
  their starting weight, repetitions, etc. and then
  continually re-evaluate their progress.

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Placement6

• Good teaching reflects the ability to teach at
  the learners level of functioning, readiness,
  and motivation for learning. These parameters
  should also be followed for children with
  disabilities. If a child is capable of
  performing all functions without modifications,
  the disability is not relevant. If performance is
  restricted, we need to determine what the child
  needs to be successful. This is not much
  different from the variability we see in
  development or experience that each child brings
  to the physical education experience.

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Placement 7

• Effective teachers determine how to involve all
  children and facilitate learning experiences to
  encompass all levels of development. Therefore,
  placement recommendations should focus on the
  following (Horvat, Eichstaedt, Kalakian, Croce,
  2011)
• Regular physical education with the ability to
  meet program goals
• Regular physical education with supports to meet
  program goals
• Specially designed or adapted physical education

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Learning Activity 14.28

• Have students in the class compile a list of
  skills that they believe teachers need to
  successfully teach physical education to children
  with disabilities.

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Selecting the Curriculum9

• The teacher needs to identify the curricular
  goals and expectations for the academic year
  using appropriate available school, county,
  and/or state curriculum guides, as well as the
  NASPE guidelines discussed earlier for K-12th
  grade to provide a developmentally appropriate
  hierarchy of physical education skills.

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Selecting the Curriculum10

• This curriculum should be considered as a
  foundation for developing an adapted curriculum
  and consistent with age appropriate expectations.
  Regardless of the curriculum selected, the goal
  is to provide the child with the most appropriate
  learning opportunities in the LRE.

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Selecting the Curriculum11

• After the curriculum is selected or developed, it
  is essential to determine the prerequisite skills
  required for successful participation. For
  example, if the first unit is locomotion skills,
  the basic components of walking, running,
  hopping, skipping, galloping, leaping, jumping,
  and sliding should be taught.

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Selecting the Curriculum12

• It is also important to use appropriate
  assessment information based on the critical
  elements of a mature motor patter (see Horvat,
  Block, Kelly, 2007). In this manner, the
  teacher can identify which components of the
  skill require improvement as well as when the
  child has mastered the task. The assessment
  instrument should provide information for the
  teacher about skill levels of the children in
  different positions and ability levels.

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Selecting the Curriculum13

• Teachers can readily use this information to
  determine current levels of function for all
  children, and specific needs or problem areas
  that need to be developed. This allows the
  teacher to modify the curriculum to meet a
  childs specific needs including (a) allowing
  more repetitions, (b) small group instruction,
  (c) teaching stations, (d) peer tutoring, or (e)
  home-based activities for practice.

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Selecting the Curriculum14

• After the teacher has completed the assessment,
  lesson plans can be developed to introduce and
  monitor performance toward curricular goals.

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Behavior Intervention Strategies15

• When developing physical education programs,
  teachers should be cognizant of all aspects of
  the environment, teacher-child communication, and
  specific behavior management techniques.
  Teachers need to use a variety of strategies that
  are developmentally appropriate.

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Table 14.2 Behavior Management Strategies16
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Table 14.2 Behavior Management
StrategiesContinued
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Physical Fitness Teaching Strategies17

• For children with or without disabilities, it is
  important to develop fitness skills related to
  overall function, independent movement, and
  ability to perform activities of daily living.

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Motor Skills Teaching Strategies18

• Children will develop from clumsiness to mastery
  in a variety of stability, locomotors, and object
  control skills that ultimately should translate
  to play skills, movement patterns and sport
  skills.

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Motor Skills Teaching Strategies19

• All children will require instruction,
  repetition, and practice to develop motor skills
  and skill acquisition.

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Table 14.3 Teaching Physical Fitness20
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Table 14.3 Teaching Physical FitnessContinued
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Table 14.3 Teaching Physical Fitnesscontinued
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Table 14.3 Teaching Physical Fitnesscontinued
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Table 14.3 Teaching Physical Fitnesscontinued
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Table 14.3 Teaching Physical Fitnesscontinued
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Table 14.3 Teaching Physical FitnessEnd
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Teaching Physical Fitness20

• 1. Emphasize the childs abilities, not his/her
  disabilities.
• 2. Select skills based on the childs
  developmental level.
• 3. Develop movement concepts such as up and
  down as a basis for pattern and skill
  development.

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Teaching Physical Fitness20

• 4. Develop and emphasize concepts and patterns
  before requiring skill or precision from the
  child.
• 5. Select skills that are functional for the
  child, such as developing balance, by walking up
  and down steps or curbs as opposed to balking
  only a balance beam.
• Emphasize functional skill development that
  allows children to participate in playground,
  neighborhood, and/or recreational activities.

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Teaching Physical Fitness20

• 7. Once the pattern is learned, provide children
  with opportunities to practice in order to retain
  their level of proficiency.
• 8. Development of physical fitness should occur
  concurrently to assist in the development of
  movement patterns.
• Children should develop closed tasks before open
  tasks and/or environmental or temporal influences
  are introduced.

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Teaching Physical Fitness20

• 10. Encourage distributed practice and provide
  additional opportunities outside the school to
  promote learning and retention. Distributed
  practice contains rest components between
  attempts. This is in contrast to massed practice,
  which involves little or no rest between attempts
  and may be influenced by the childs level of
  fatigue. If a child tires easily, performance is
  restricted physiological fatigue tends to hamper
  speed, while cognitive or central processing
  fatigue tends to hamper accuracy.

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Teaching Physical Fitness20

• 11. Prompting and reinforcement should accompany
  initial efforts at learning a task. Behavior
  intervention and goal setting should also be
  incorporated to develop movement skills.

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Table 14.4 Teaching Motor, Sport, and Play
Skills21
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Table 14.4 Teaching Motor, Sport, Play
Skillscontinued
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Modifications and Adaptations22

• Scott Rigsby is a world-class athlete. He is
  also a double amputee who has completed
  triathlons, marathons and a variety of other
  races, including the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.

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Modifications for Children with Limited Strength
/Endurance 23

• Decrease or increase the size of the goal or
  lower the goal or target as in basketball.
• Change or reduce the highest distance of the
  playing area such as shortening distances in
  soccer or lowering the net in volleyball.
• Reduce the weight or size of the striking
  implement such as using a lighter bat or using a
  Nerf or Wiffle ball to throw/catch.

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Modifications for Children with Limited Strength
/Endurance 23

• Change the tempo by allowing substitutions or
  using other modes of locomotion.
• Substitute skills for children who can strike an
  object but need a runner.

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Modifications for Children with Coordination
Balance Difficulties 24

• Use larger balls or Nerf balls that are easier to
  grasp and throw
• Strike an object from a batting tee or stationary
  ball before using a moving object.
• Vary the size and distance of the target and
  speed at which the ball is thrown.

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Modifications for Children with Coordination
Balance Difficulties 24

• Lower the center of gravity and widen the base of
  the support.
• Use the arms for balance or use assistance such
  as a wall to aid stability.
• Work on the floor or surface before moving to a
  beam or board.