Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Autistic Individuals Experience in Physical Education & Inclusion: An interview with Anthony Maher

Hello dedicated What's New in APE podcast listeners! I am very happy to release a new episode of the podcast, as I have been on somewhat of a hiatus for the last month or so as I have recently moved my family to New Hampshire. In the beginning of the podcast, I recorded a short update on the changes going on in my life. For the rest of the episode, I had a conversation with Dr. Anthony Maher (@ajmaher5) about inclusion and how autistic individuals experience physical education. Part of this conversation was guided by a paper Dr. Maher and friend of the podcast Dr. Justin Haegele published in the journal Autism called "Male autistic youth experiences of belonging in integrated physical education". Dr. Maher is a Professor of Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion at Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom. Within his recently published article, Dr. Maher interviewed a 8 autistic male youth about their experiences in an integrated physical education, and found that many sought relationships with their peers but also experienced bullying as well as a variety of other experiences. Within this discussion we also confer about the meaning of inclusion, how adapted physical education looks in the United Kingdom, and how to create more inclusive physical education environments for children with disabilities.