In this episode, I had the opportunity to sit down and have an in-depth conversation with a panel of experts on teaching children with autism in a physical education setting. The panelist for this podcast are all professors and researchers within the field of adapted physical education and specialize in physical education for children with autism. The panelist were Dr. Martin Block, a professor of adapted physical education in the department of Kinesiology at Virginia University and the author of the textbook A Teacher's Guide To Adapted Physical Education: Including Students with Disabilities in Sports and Recreation; Dr. Sean Healy an assistant professor in adapted physical education in the department of Kinesiology at Humboldt University; and Melissa Bittner a past podcast guest and fellow Texas Woman's University PhD candidate who is finishing up her dissertation and will begin teaching and conducting research next fall in adapted physical education in the department of Kinesiology at California State University Long Beach.
This podcast is part one of a two part episode. Part one focuses specifically on (a) what is autism and how has the definition recently changed, (b) motor delays in children with autism, and (c) evidence based practices to use with children with autism.
As the panelist on this episode are all accomplished researchers in the field of adapted physical education and autism they gave recommendations on recent research and literature to inform viewers about research in the field. Below are some of their recommendations.
Melissa
Bittner and colleagues (2017) recently published a research article on the
topic of using technology (i.e., ExerciseBuddy
application), which uses video modeling and visual supports, when teaching
children with autism motor skills. They compared a group of students when using
the technology to being taught using a more traditional practice teaching
style. An Actiheart accelerometer was used to measure their energy expenditure and
heart rate. The findings were when students were taught using the application,
they had significantly higher peak energy expenditure and peak heart
rate response when performing the locomotor skills from the Test of Gross Motor
Development-2 (Ulrich, 2000).
Physical Education for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Comprehensive Approach (2012) is a textbook that gives strategies and tools to help physical education teachers design a curriculum that includes students with autism.
The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder is a wonderful website which promotes and informs practitioners about evidence-based practices to use when teaching children with autism.
