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Happy New Year. Hopefully your holiday season was joyful. As a
new year begins, may all of you continue working to keep your New
Year's resolutions. In an effort to provide information that
has been requested on the adapted listserve, this section will focus
on the topics of:
- Physical education for individuals with disabilities. How
is it defined, where does the mandate for a least restrictive
environment play into the picture, how does assessment and instruction
become the rule for providing the appropriate physical education
programs for students with disabilities.
- Spina Bifida - some basic information that is needed when providing
physical education services and offering physical activities for
individuals with this condition.
- Basic information through a Did You Know section covering a
multitude of issues in APE.
Cindy Piletic
Adapted Section Editor
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| Physical Education for Children
with Disabilities |
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Physical Education includes:
- physical and motor fitness; fundamental motor skills and patterns;
- health related physical fitness; motor fitness; and
- skills in aquatics, dance, and individual/group/lifetime games
& sports
Adapted Physical Education...(APE) is physical education
which may be adapted or modified to address the individualized needs
of children & youth who have gross motor developmental delays.
This service should include the following:
- Assessment and instruction by qualified personnel...means that
professionals are prepared to gather assessment data and provide
physical education instruction for children & youth with disabilities
and developmental delays. The National Consortium for Physical
Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities has
detailed APE National Standards which describe what a qualified
APE teacher must know. Teachers who have met these criteria are
described as Certified Adapted Physical Educators (CAPE's)
- Accurate assessment data...including diagnostic and curriculum-based
data collected by qualified personnel.
- Individualized Education Program (IEP) Goals and Objectives/
Benchmarks... are measurable and objective statements written
by the physical education instructor. The goals and objectives
are reflective of the physical education instructional content
and monitored/evaluated according to district policy, to ensure
that goals and objectives are being met in a timely manner.
Instruction in a Least Restrictive Environment
(LRE)...refers to adapting or modifying the physical educati on curriculum
and/or instruction to address the individualized abilities of each
child. Adaptations are made to ensure that each student will experience
success in a safe environment. Placement is outlined in the IEP and
may include one or more of the following options:
- The general physical education setting;
- The general physical education setting; The gen eral physical
education setting with a teaching assistant or peers;
- The general physical education setting; A separate class setting
with peers;
- The general physical education setting; A separate class setting
with assistants; and
- The general physical education setting; A one-to-one setting
between students and instructor.
Source:
National Consortium
on Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities
(NCPERID) website, 2001.
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Public
Law 105-17 (1997), mandates physical education as a required service
for children & youth between the ages of 3-21 who qualify for
special education services because of a specific disability or developmental
delay. According to the federal mandate: The term 'special education'
means specially designed instruction at no cost to parents or guardians,
to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including-
- Instruction conducted in the classroom
- Instruction in physical education
IDEA 1401 (16), (1997)
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2002 Winter Paralympics
7 - 16 March 2002
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
The VIII Paralympic Winter Games Salt Lake City 2002 will feature
three sports to be contested by some 500 elite athletes with a disability
from 35 countries. This Games Section of the IPC website provides
basic information about the Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympics.
For more information check out the Paralympic website.
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Inclusion is not required by law, instead LRE
is!!
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Some states have developed or are beginning to develop student
entry and exist criteria for adapted physical education.
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Fourteen states required teacher s to be certified as Adapted
Physical Educators.
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There is a national certification for adapted physical educators.
See APENS http://www.twu.edu/o/apens/
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Graduate assistantships are available at Western Illinois University
fo r those wanting to study Adapted Physical Education. http://www.wiu.edu/grad/pe.htm or Contact: Cindy
Piletic
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Movies including individuals with disabilities have been around
since the early 1900. Consider using film to increase
disability awareness. Especially such films as:&nbs p;
At First Sight, Simon Birch, The Other Sister, Room with a View, and Bone Collector. These films address
technological advancements, family expectations, individual
abilities.
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Questions to Ask, or
Thoughts to Share?
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| If you have ideas, comments, letters
to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of
the following Adapted PE Section Editors: |
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| Understanding Spina Bifida |
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Spina Bifida - considered to be the most common congenital spinal
malformation that leads to a physical disability. Evidence supports
that 2 out of every 100 live births have some form of Spina Bifida.
The spina bifida is a condition that ranges in severity from spina
bifida occulta (the vertebral arches fail to fuse and no spinal
cord damage) to spina bifida cystica (the spinal sac is portruding
outside the vertebrae while containing either the lining of the
spinal or both the lining and the spinal cord itself).
The resulting neurological impairments ranges from mild muscle
imbalance to paralysis of the one or both of the lower limbs.
Many of the children born with the more severe condition of Spina
bifida also have hydrocephalus, and will require shunts to
be in place to drain the extra fluid around the brain
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Safety Considerations for Students with Spina Bifida
- Awareness of whether a student has a shunt. If so, activities
that may cause displacement of the shunt must be avoided.
- Awareness of activities that may place pressure on the sensitive
area of the spine where the protrusion exists.
- Awareness of possible allergic reactions to latex. Be
aware of materials used to make different pieces are equipment.
Many equipment manufactures are now making equipment free of latex.
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Teaching Suggestions for Students with Spina Bifida
- Students should be integrated into the regular physical education
setting when it is the least restrictive environment.
They should also be working toward goals similar to the able-bodied
student.
- Physical fitness should be a primary goal because students
with spina bifida have a tendency toward obesity.
- Emphasis should be placed upon upper limb development.
- Modifications should be made to accommodate the different
modes of locomotion.
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