For autistic college students, these guidelines can be instrumental in minimizing stress at the grocery store.
In a traditional gym class, how will the concept of jumping rope look for an autistic child? Considering that 79–83 percent of the autistic population does not display the appropriate motor skills for their age group, their needs will likely not be met. Until now…
Somewhere between a child eloping, having a meltdown, or worse, associating everything miserable toward training, circle back to play with these exercises.
Where does a child go when their physical world is too loud or quiet, bright or dim, uses jargon that makes no sense? Somewhere worth visiting.
As an Outside Submission Author, climb the writing ranks for a chance to become a Featured Writer or Columnist. Write for elitefts today.
The Power of a Note is an outreach tool for parents, educators, and personal trainers to help a child with autism reach his highest potential through movement and health.
Now at home, this is a great opportunity to get the family involved by creating new healthy habits using indoor and outdoor space.
Slowly each week, I was getting bigger and bigger — and not the good kind. I exploded from a 130-pound fitness chick to a 200-pound walrus. After a solid three years of impeccable blood lab results, it’s time to dabble in my sob story and ultimately share the phases I undertook to regain my health and life.
Marge Tate could have allowed labels, sickness, and loss to paralyze her legacy. Instead, through passion, tradition, and communication, her commitment to human connection and service is alive — and she passed it on to Dave.
In preparation for our next training session, I knew I needed the help of my coworkers. The next morning they all received the following email blast…
Begin the motion to expand upon the public’s perception of autism with an educational application. How? Try filling in the blanks by using the movie “Rain Man” as your springboard.
It would’ve been easy to create another brand-new workout with different recreational equipment. But a more powerful lesson rather than starting at ground level in terms of skill, was for the students to observe their strengths and weaknesses and then create a plan to reach a new level of skill mastery.
The cool thing about this setup is we had a high possibility of creating new benchmarks and brand-new levels of mastery, which were more valuable than throwing a ball in a hoop or hitting a ball over a net (two activities by which these students have experienced failure through participation).
Rather than attending another highly acclaimed conference centered on helping individuals with autism, it was time to present at one.
This was more than a 10-week prep geared to beat our previously recorded race time of 52 minutes and 32 seconds while flying past a self-proclaimed mashed-up meathead.
This program provides a monthly social outlet for teens and young adults with high functioning autism. As we approach year one, I want to share how I’ve made this program my own.
Bridging the gap between immobility and action, this lesson served as another opportunity to reshape the students’ negative associations with exercise and revamp their workout creativity in OSU’s backyard.
The goal is to get an inactive child on the spectrum socially and physically strong through movement. This initial type of training, the first in a progression of eight, takes place in the gym.
With more than 50 presentations to attend within a 10-hour time frame, here are the presentations from which I found great applicability to my work in both the private and college settings.
Moving from theory to practice, this lesson took us from the classroom to Lucky’s Market on High Street in Columbus, Ohio.
Listening to a group of college students with high-functioning autism, I learned there was a consensus among many of how they felt in a typical college gym setting — something they didn’t want to feel again.
At 3.1 miles, we cross the finish line in 52 minutes and 32 seconds — four minutes quicker than our 2016-competition time. A success! Beating our previous time was exactly what we came to do.
You’ll meet Sean, Wesley, and Blaine (three boys on the spectrum) and consider their needs, find a starting place, and create a program schedule using a singular, linear, or overlapping approach.
Make this your chance to verify how training (all our hard work) gives us lots of opportunities to enjoy life.
Why plan? What can food do for me? When should I eat for a workout? — A group of students with Asperger’s asks questions to fulfill big aspirations to look and feel good.
With the option to pick and choose over 40 presentations to attend within a 10-hour day, here’s how I plan on implementing what I learned within the private and college setting.
Erasing the zoo schedule from the dry-erase board that served us for a 14-week prep was unsettling. Where our training has gone, is miraculous.
As we relocate a group of connected individuals outside of the gym, the mindset attached to training evolves.
In this type of training, we’re taking things one step further — we share the entire training experience with at least one partner at the gym.
In this type of training, we’re taking things one step further — we share the training experience with a partner.
Two faces in a crowded zoo, here’s our story: a 14-week play-by-play that prepared us for the rigors of race day.
½ Gym, ½ Off-Site Training leads us here: a full session away from gym grounds. Fit your programming needs within these structures to differentiate skill, meet new people, and have fun.
The goal is to get an inactive child on the spectrum socially and physically strong through movement. You’re ready to leave the comforts of the gym and move off-site to extend the learning curve.
If you’re looking to explore a gym-training, flying-through-space alternative, make sure you’re aware of these less-advertised details we learned on our trips to Sky Zone and Get Air.
These training types are rooted in movement that naturally progress the child from private training to play dates with a friend.
A trip to the zoo provides the trainer and child a great opportunity to accomplish new challenges and exercise gym lessons. Consider these tips for the planning process.
By rewriting negative associations at the track and field, Blaine and I were able to overcome previous limitations and create new opportunities for growth.
Make each training session sensory-rich, personal, and dynamic for the child with special needs. Tweak your approach by considering these six exercises.
This 12-week training progression is tailor-made to strengthen the mind and body of a child who fears this playground implement.
Avoiding hostility and disinterest by following these communication tips will result in greater engagement and child development.
If done incorrectly, leaving the comfort of the traditional training environment can become chaotic. These basic guidelines will make it a positive experience.
Change can manifest disaster for a child with autism. Here are three steps to follow when presenting something NEW in the training schedule.
These areas will significantly increase how a child is progressing in the gym.
Blaine needs this training to help address the stress and frustrations he will have all his life.
Using some basic equipment from elitefts, here are four easy and inexpensive ways to make typical exercises child friendly.
All fell victim to this except for Matt Goodwin, who has become so accustomed to such wet bugle blasts as to not notice.
“I like training athletes, but when you can help a child walk or save someone’s life, that’s a big deal.”
Athletes and coaches within the sport, living, learning, and passing on.
Dave and I planned that Tuesdays would be a good day that Blaine and I could routinely work together.
Dave wants the best for his son; he wants the world for his son; a world that also balances movement, strength, exertion, all with a self-motivating willingness to be active.