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Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Edited by Michelle Grenier and Lauren J. Lieberman
184 Pages
For students with moderate to severe disabilities, instruction in physical education can be a challenge. Many teachers struggle with understanding these students’ complex needs, selecting appropriate content, and finding ways to motivate these students. While many educators consider the social aspects of inclusion a priority, the authors in this text stress active engagement with the curriculum and the use of grade-level outcomes to adapt learning for students with a range of abilities. One thing is certain: The keys to making physical education a positive learning experience are the physical education teachers and adapted physical education teachers who work with these students. This text is for you!
Edited by experienced educators with expertise in general and adapted physical education programming, Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities will serve as a valuable resource:
• Offers comprehensive strategies for instruction, assessment, communication, collaborative practices, peer supports, and effective use of paraeducators
• Describes unique equipment modifications and alternative programming suggestions
• Includes sample lesson plans and assessments that you can use as is or use as models to create your own
• Is applicable for children with moderate to severe disabilities in general physical education classes and self-contained PE environments
Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities was written by a team of higher education professionals, practicing physical educators, and adapted PE teachers. These contributors combine to bring a rich diversity and a variety of perspectives that ensure the content is relevant to all teachers. Through this comprehensive text, you will be able to make sure you are complying with the legal requirements associated with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act, which require that children with disabilities be given the same opportunities for meaningful physical education as other children.
The text is organized into three parts. Part I provides foundational information on key adapted physical education issues, including Universal Design for Learning, collaborative processes, assessment strategies, communication practices, and how to use peer tutors and paraeducators in physical education.
Part II helps you acquire the skills you need to teach students with disabilities. The five chapters in this section will help you understand sensory integration theory, develop foundational skills, put your plan into action, and understand your role and the paraeducator’s role in disability sport. You’ll also learn how to establish and assess disability sport, how to program for and assess students in aquatics, and how to help students transition to recreational opportunities in the community.
In Part III, you receive a blueprint for implementing successful activities at all levels. Included are team sports and target games (track and field, basketball, golf, bowling, and more) as well as lifetime activities (bicycling, tennis, personal fitness planning, and more).
The result is a resource that provides all the information and guidance you need to deliver appropriate physical education to children wiith moderate to severe disabilities. The book will inspire you to consider the unlimited avenues for participation in sport and physical activity for all your students—even those with the most severe disabilities.
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I: Best Practices for Engaging All Students
Chapter 1: Understanding Severe Disabilities and Universal Design for Learning
Severe Disabilities
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Universal Design for Learning
Summary
Chapter 2: Collaborative Processes in Physical Education
The Practice of Collaboration
Becoming Part of the Education Team
Developing Adapted Physical Education Goals Through Shared Goals
Steps in the Collaborative Process
Summary
Chapter 3: Assessment Strategies
Functional Assessment of Students With Severe Disabilities
Rubrics
Task Analysis Assessment
Ecological Task Analysis
Basic Skills Assessment
Summary
Chapter 4: Communication Practices That Enhance Participation
Considerations for Communication Practices in Physical Education
Types of Communication Practices
Summary
Chapter 5: Peer Tutoring
Selecting Peer Tutors
Training Peer Tutors
Evaluating the Tutoring Experience
Summary
Chapter 6: Paraeducators in Physical Education
Understanding the Paraeducator’s Role
Training for Paraeducators
Ideas for Acknowledging Paraeducators’ Contributions
Summary
Chapter 7: Creating Accessible Equipment
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Six Ss for Adapting Equipment
Summary
Part II: Participation for All in Sport Activities
Chapter 8: Foundational Skills and Sensory Integration
Understanding Sensory Integration Theory
Developing Foundational Skills
Putting Your Plan Into Action
Summary
Chapter 9: Disability Sport in Physical Education
Sport Opportunities for Children With Severe Disabilities
Role of the Teacher and Coach in Disability Sport
Summary
Chapter 10: Modified Programming in Physical Education
Establishing Disability Sports Within the Physical Education Curriculum
Assessment in Disability Sport
Summary
Chapter 11: Transitioning to Recreational Opportunities Beyond School
Transition Services and Individuals’ Rights
Initiating the Transition Plan
Transition Processes in Physical Education
Training Personnel for Community-Based Programs
Summary
Chapter 12: Aquatics for Children With Disabilities
Benefits of Aquatics
Medical Issues, Precautions, and Safety Issues
Assessment in Aquatics
Planning Goals and Objectives
Teaching and Safety Strategies
Transitioning to Aquatics in the Community
Summary
Part III: Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Chapter 13: Team Sports and Target Games
Soccer: Passing
Basketball: Spot Remover
Hockey: Rip Off
Track and Field: Hurdling
Golf: Putting
Golf: Stations
Golf: Alien Invasion
Throlf (Throwing Golf)
Bowling for Junk
Bowling: Battleships
Bowling for Bucks
Archery: Safety First
Archery: Add It Up
Chapter 14: Lifetime and Health-Related Activities
Hand Function Challenges
Hand Functions for Sports
Scooter Train
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Horseshoes
Bicycling: Rules of the Road
Tennis: Forehand Stroke
Tabletop Shuffleboard
Personal Fitness Plan
Appendix: Resources
Michelle Grenier, PhD, is an associate professor and coordinator of the health and physical education program and adapted physical education program at the University of New Hampshire. She has substantial experience working in the field of physical education and utilizing inclusive strategies for students with disabilities. She is an accomplished researcher and is editor of the text Physical Education for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Dr. Grenier is internationally recognized for her work on inclusion and has presented throughout the United States. She enjoys running, cycling, swimming, and traveling the world to meet others who share her professional and personal interests.
Lauren J. Lieberman, PhD, is a distinguished service professor at The College at Brockport, State University of New York. She has taught higher education since 1995 and previously taught in the Deafblind Program at Perkins School for the Blind. She is fluent in sign language and used sign as her language in earning her PhD. She infuses sign language throughout her courses.
Lieberman has written 18 books on adapted physical education and more than 118 peer-reviewed articles. She started Camp Abilities, an overnight educational sports camp for children with visual impairments. This camp is now replicated in 18 states and eight countries.
Lieberman is past chair of the Adapted Physical Activity Council (APAC). She is currently on the board of the division of recreation and sport for the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER), and she serves on the board of the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA). She acts as a consultant for the New York Deaf-Blind Collaborative. In her leisure time, she enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee, biking, running, kayaking, hiking, reading, and playing the guitar.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Climbing Wall: Periwinkle Rescue
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets.
Applicable Units
- Fitness
- Gymnastics
Age Group
Elementary school students. This can easily be adapted for middle and high school students.
Objectives
Students use balance, weight transferring, movement concepts, upper-body and lower-body strength, and endurance to traverse the climbing wall while stretching, bending, and twisting to remove objects from the wall and drop or throw them into buckets. Peers can also drop objects into the hula hoops or buckets.
National Standards Met
- Standard 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
- Standard 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
- Standard 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
Grade-Level Outcomes
- S1.E7: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Balance
- S1.E8: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Weight transfer
- S1.E10: Nonlocomotor (stability) - Curling & stretching; twisting & bending
- S2.E1: Movement concepts - Space
- S2.E2: Movement concepts - Pathways, shapes, levels
- S3.E2: Engages in physical activity
Acceptable Outcome Variations
Students with disabilities reach, grasp, pull, and manipulate the sensory-engaging equipment that protrudes from the wall. They may use their vision to track, reach, or grasp, when choosing equipment on the wall. The paraeducator uses visual, verbal, and manual cues to engage these students.
Equipment
A variety of sensory-engaging objects that stick out from the wall, yarn balls, deck rings, hula hoops (see figure 14.3)
Climbing wall set up with a variety of sensory-engaging objects.
©Nancy Miller
Description
This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or as a group. Typically developing students start in a home space at the wall and traverse the wall, climbing on various pathways and levels to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp periwinkles (objects) on the wall to throw or drop into tidal pools (hoops or buckets). Students with disabilities, working independently or with a paraeducator or peer tutor, travel alongside the wall to stretch, bend, reach, and grasp sensory-engaging objects (periwinkles) on the wall and hold them, place them on lap trays, or drop them into tidal pools (hula hoops or buckets).
Directions
The description used for the activity is that at high tide all the periwinkles (objects on the wall) adhere to the rocks. The task for students is to traverse the wall and rescue (remove) the periwinkles and drop or throw them back into a tidal pool (hoop). Each student removes one periwinkle on each panel of the wall. At the end of the wall, each student travels back to the first panel and starts again. Once all the periwinkles are rescued, count the number of periwinkles in the hoops to determine a score. The game can be scored individually, in pairs, or as a team. Reset to play again. Student with disabilities collect larger sensory-engaging objects that they can either hold or drop into the hoops depending on their abilities.
Spatial Considerations
Each student starts at a wall panel and traverses from right to left staying on the panel until the peer in front has moved to the next panel.
Instructions for Peers
Support the student with a disability to the best of your ability. Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or using sounds or gestures. Give the student visual and verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Give positive specific and general feedback.
Instructions for Paraeducators
Recognize when the student is communicating a desire to play the game by looking at you or a peer or using sounds or gestures. Give the student verbal cues to reach, grasp, and pull objects. Facilitate interactions between student with disabilities and peers. Give positive specific and general feedback throughout the activity to students with disabilities and their peers.
Save
Save
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Training for Paraeducators
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year.
A major responsibility of physical education teachers is to provide direct instruction and guidance to all students and paraeducators under their supervision. Paraeducators should receive training and guidance throughout the school year. U.S. Public Law 94-142, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that paraeducators be adequately and appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with state law. Most schools offer paraeducators professional development programs to enhance their professional growth and, in turn, increase their contributions to the quality of instruction offered to students with disabilities.
Ongoing training provided by physical educators can be incorporated into a school's professional development program (O'Connor & French, 1998). This can include creating a lending library that provides materials such as books, journals, and CDs, as well as sharing APE websites (Lytle, Lieberman, & Aiello, 2007). Additional training tips are presented in figure 6.1.
Save
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Adapting Equipment With SENSE
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student’s learning.
Adapting equipment is a daily practice for physical educators teaching students with disabilities. Adapted equipment must contribute to the student's learning. To assess the value of an activity, ask the question, "Does it make SENSE?" This acronym stands for the following essential characteristics of a worthwhile activity:
- Safe: Does the activity and the equipment allow for safe participation? When creating or adapting equipment, consider the safety of the user and those in the vicinity.
- Educational: Is the activity contributing to the attainment of the student's goals, as noted on the student's IEP. Does it align with SHAPE America's National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 physical education? Avoid using equipment simply because it is suitable for the student. It must contribute to the attainment of the student's goals or standards.
- Number of practice trials: Does the activity and the equipment provide the student with maximal practice trials? Having a sufficient number of equipment pieces can contribute to this. Equipment can also reduce wait time, as discussed later in the chapter (e.g., reducing the time spent retrieving struck or thrown balls).
- Success: Does the equipment allow for success in the majority of the student's trials? Later in the chapter we discuss ways to adapt equipment to increase success.
- Enjoyment: Is the student enjoying using the equipment? Does the equipment result in positive interactions with fellow classmates? Enjoyment increases the likelihood of transfer of skills to settings outside of physical education.
When observing a student using equipment in a physical education class, or when planning an activity, ask yourself, "Does it make SENSE?" If it fails to meet one of the criteria in this acronym, perhaps you can improve it.
Learn more about Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities.
Basic Skills Assessment
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education.
Because adapted physical education is a service, not a placement, students such as Marin, whom we met at the beginning of this chapter, are often included in the GPE class even though they have unique needs and IEPs for physical education. For this reason, assessments that can accommodate all learners are very useful for teachers. The basic skills assessment (BSA), which was created by Kowalski, Houston-Wilson, and Daggett (in press),is ideal for use in inclusive physical education classes. The BSA was developed to assess a heterogeneous population of students - from those with severe disabilities to typically developing students - in a variety of curricular units. This curriculum-based assessment aligns with content areas taught in physical education programs.
The BSA example of softball in figure 3.4 is broken down into seven elements needed to participate in a game. Levels of performance are broken down into emerging, basic, competent, and proficient. Students are scored for each task; totals are matched to the scoring table to yield an overall picture of development. The BSA uses an Excel platformso that scores can be tallied for each level by indicating a 1 for each task completed. Then total scores are compared to the scoring table to obtain an overall picture of the student's current level of performance (emerging, basic, competent, or proficient).
Although some students with disabilities may never progress to competent or proficient levels of performance, they can be included in the testing protocol and helped to reach their highest potential based on the sequential aspects of the assessment.
Summary
All of the assessments presented in this chapter have one thing in common: They provide data on the motor performance and learning abilities of students who have traditionally been difficult to assess. These alternative assessments yield information on students' present level of performance that can then be used to determine their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and plan instruction. Additionally, these assessments can be used to provide formative (ongoing) as well as summative (year-end) data.
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Introduction to Physical Education for Children With Moderate to Severe Disabilities
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education.
Students with moderate to severe disabilities are often the most marginalized, stigmatized, and invisible children in the school setting, particularly within physical education. They may experience separation from their classmates because their teachers are unsure about how to fully include them and because other students may feel uncomfortable or fearful around them. However, the walls created by these perceptions are illusory and need not stand for long, once a common ground of understanding is reached. This insightful and necessary book will help instructors bring students with moderate to severe disabilities into the fold, creating greater visibility and improved educational opportunities.
The pages of this book open the discourse on fostering more inclusive physical education environments for all students. With increased awareness and practical tools and strategies for teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities in physical education, instructors can proactively and intentionally create inclusive communities for students with and without disabilities, in and out of the gym, the classroom, and the school.
The authors who contributed to this textbook are global leaders in advancing inclusion for students with disabilities in physical education, and their work has inspired numerous scholars and students worldwide. They have been at the forefront of putting inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sport into action through research and education. The UNESCO Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities come to life through the knowledge shared in the pages that follow.
This book is essential reading for all educators, including physical education and adapted physical education teachers, as well as parents and students in training to teach physical education. The authors are tearing down the walls of segregation and ignorance that have kept students with moderate to severe disabilities on the sidelines. The terms sport and moderate to severe disabilities may appear to be polar opposites at first glance. Viewing the issue of who is included in physical education through the transformational lens of this book, however, can forever change perceptions. Removing the walls of separation leads to fostering fully inclusive physical education, physical activity, and sporting environments.
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Sample Lessons Using Universal Design for Learning
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities.
Part III offers a blueprint for delivering lessons using a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) format. The lessons included in part III are divided into two categories: (1) team sports and target games and (2) lifetime and health-related activities. We encourage you to use UDL concepts to plan lessons that create flexible learning environments to accommodate students' unique learning styles and needs. When designing lessons using UDL, consider the following guidelines:
- Use multiple modalities.Because students take in information in diverse ways, consider presenting lessons visually (e.g., by modeling and demonstrating, using a video model, or using task cards), auditorily, tactilely, multilingually, and representationally (e.g., with pictures, words, symbols).
- Provide multiple means of action and expression. Provide multiple ways for each student to express what they know for assessment purposes. Students could show that they can serve for volleyball from the service line, half court, or throw the ball over the net. Students could show that they know how to rotate positions in volleyball by drawing a picture or typing the directions into a device.
- Provide multiple means of engagement. Learners differ significantly in what attracts their attention and engages their interest.
When determining what to teach students with disabilities, begin with the general physical education curriculum. Analyze the skills to determine appropriate fit. Chapters 2, 4 and 7 offer strategies to determine how to align the student's strength with the curricula. For example, if general physical education students are working on jump rope skills, consider using a task analysis to include skills such as jumping and bouncing. You might use fitness balls, fitness ramps, split ropes, or jump rope kits. Be sure to include progressions and regressions related to the skills you are focused on.
When delivering instruction, consider motivational strategies to encourage cooperation and competition between peers. In many cases, students with disabilities want to engage meaningful ways with their peers.
Be aware of the environmental conditions to ensure safe conditions for learning. You may need to decrease extraneous sounds and change lighting fixtures to reduce stimulation. Promote social responsibility through peer and teacher modeling, and above all, have high expectations for student learning. Make sure assistive devices are routinely available, and offer choices and variety of equipment (in weight, color, texture, sound) to all learners.
When assessing your students, consider multiple means of gathering information such as a physical demonstration, a verbal explanation of a concept, or an electronic assessment. See chapter 3 for assessment ideas.
Special thanks to Anne Griffin for her input on suggestions for Universally Designing Lessons section.
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