Lauren J. Lieberman

Perceived Barriers to Including Students With Visual Impairments in General Physical Education

The purpose of this study was to examine barriers perceived by teachers when including students with visual impairments in general physical education. Teachers (52 males, 96 females) who had children with visual impairments in their physical education classes were surveyed prior to in-service workshop participation. The most prevalent barriers were professional preparation, equipment, programming, and time. A logistic regression analysis, regressing gender, in-service training, number of students with visual impairments taught, masters degree attained, masters hours spent on visual impairments (yes or no), undergraduate hours spent on visual impairments (yes or no), and years of experience failed to indicate significant predictors of professional preparation as a barrier, Model χ2 (6, n = 148) = 4.48, p > .05.

VI-Tennis: a vibrotactile/audio exergame for players who are visually impaired

Lack of physical activity is a serious health concern for individuals who are visually impaired as they have fewer opportunities and incentives to engage in physical activities that provide the amounts and kinds of stimulation sufficient to maintain adequate fitness and to support a healthy standard of living. Exergames are video games that use physical activity as input and which have the potential to change sedentary lifestyles and associated health problems such as obesity. We identify that exergames have a number properties that could overcome the barriers to physical activity that individuals with visual impairments face. However, exergames rely upon being able to perceive visual cues that indicate to the player what input to provide. This paper presents VI Tennis, a modified version of a popular motion sensing exergame that explores the use of vibrotactile and audio cues. The effectiveness of providing multimodal (tactile/audio) versus unimodal (audio) cues was evaluated with a user study with 13 children who are blind. Children achieved moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity- the amount required to yield health benefits. No significant difference in active energy expenditure was found between both versions, though children scored significantly better with the tactile/audio version and also enjoyed playing this version more, which emphasizes the potential of tactile/audio feedback for engaging players for longer periods of time.

The Impact of Inclusion in General Physical Education for All Students

Abstract Quality inclusion produces benefits for all students, but inclusion can also produce negative effects if mishandled. The difference depends to a great extent on the environment the teacher creates.

Getting it Right from the start: Employing the Universal Design for Learning Approach to Your Curriculum

JOPERD • Volume 79 No. 2 • February 2008 F ernando is in sixth grade and has Down syndrome. He is in a class with Angelica who has a visual impairment, Justin who has exercise-induced asthma, and Valinda and Valerie who recently moved to the United States from Russia. Valinda and Valerie speak little English and have limited experience with most games and activities that are played in the United States. Their teacher, Mrs. Schedlin, developed her lesson plans for the hockey lead-up unit that included the lesson warm-up, the lesson focus, a game, and then closure. This year, she had these fi ve students with unique needs, as well as others with various abilities. She added modifi cations at the end of her lesson plan, such as using a Frisbee instead of a puck for Fernando, having a trained peer-tutor and a beeping ball for Angelica, using stations with specifi c task analysis for Valinda, Valerie, and Fernando (and supporting these students with two paraeducators). The fi rst lesson of the unit looked like chaos. All the students were involved in activity, and Mrs. Schedlin ran around between instruction to give out additional equipment to other students who also wanted to use the Frisbee or beeping ball for hockey. She only had enough of the “alternative equipment” for the students who “needed” it. Mrs. Schedlin then realized that some students did not even have previous experience with hockey, and she had to re-think her lesson. By the end of lesson six, several students had created their own game in a corner of the gymnasium; two students were having a sword fi ght with the hockey sticks; Valinda and Valerie were batting a ball back and forth like baseball; Justin and three others were throwing and catching the Frisbee; and Fernando and Angelica were on the fl oor with a paraeducator rolling the beeping ball to each other. Mrs. Schedlin was beside herself. Where did she go wrong? Mrs. Schedlin called the adapted physical education consultant for the district, Ms. Collier, who came to observe Mrs. Schedlin’s class. Ms. Collier commented that Mrs. Schedlin had the right ideas, but delivered the lesson in a reactionary way. Ms. Collier said that many teachers are taught to include individuals with differences as an afterthought. She encouraged Mrs. Schedlin to think of all the needs of the students and identify the objectives of the lesson before planning it to include all students. Getting it Right from the Start: Employing the Universal Design for Learning Approach to Your Curriculum

Strategies for Teaching Students with Autism in Physical Education

A shley is a 10-year-old third grader at Liberty Elementary School. She enjoysswimming, basketball, and dancing to Britney Spears. Ashley is much like any child her age, exceptshe has autism. Her physical education teacher, Mr. Stutz, has been working with Ashley in his inclusive physical education. class for the past three years. She came to him with a variety of behavioral, communication, and attention problems, yet with high motor skills. Ashley spokevery little, preferred playing alone, and had a short attention span. l-Vhen the activity was something she did not want to do, she was aggressiveand sometimes ran away. It took a lot oftrial and errorbefore Mr. Stutz was able tofigure out how to accommodate Ashley, becausehe had never taught a child with autism. He soon learned new strategies and began participating in special education planning meetings with Ashleys parents, teachers, and special education consultants. Ashley can now participate in most activities. Mr. Stutz trained several peer tutorsto assist her, and they are able to understand Ashleys needs very well. The class routines are consistent, and when the routine does change she is given plenty of warning ahead of time. Time-outs are a last resort, and he has not had to use a time-out in over a year. Mr. Stutz createda reward program in which Ashley receives checks for appropriate behavior and participation during class. l-Vhen she accumulates 20 checks, she is rewarded with oneon-onebasketballtime with Mr.Stutz, which Ashley really enjoys. Getting to this point

How to Develop Disability Awareness Using the Sport Education Model.

JOPERD • Volume 78 No. 9 • November/December 2007 M rs. Rodriquez has been a physical education teacher at Betsy Ross Middle School for 17 years. She is always looking for ways to update her curriculum for the benefi t of her students, so she went to a workshop on the sport education model (SEM) sponsored by her state association. She loved the idea and could not wait to implement it in the fall. Not long after the workshop, Mrs. Rodriquez noticed that two of her students, Jessica and Fernando, were not interacting with their peers during recess. Jessica is a cheerful student with Down syndrome and Fernando is a quiet student with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair independently. Mrs. Rodriquez and other faculty at the school had often talked about how benefi cial a disability awareness day would be for the student body, but had never actually organized one. Mrs. Rodriquez thought back to the workshop and decided to embed disability awareness into SEM for the entire physical education curriculum in the fall term. Mrs. Rodriquez utilized the SEM during her second unit of the fall, in which she taught fl oor hockey in all her classes. During this time she also incorporated a disability awareness component to increase student knowledge and awareness of children with disabilities. In her class with Jessica and Fernando, students had made the decision to use large Frisbee disks as pucks. Another game modifi cation implemented by the students was the delayed defense rule, in which players could choose three, fi ve, or 10 seconds of delay before a defender could approach them in a game and to have one person in a wheelchair on the team opposite Fernando to equal out the playing fi eld. Everyone shared the responsibility of making fl oor hockey a fair and fun unit. Jessica loved being both the announcer and a referee. Fernando loved being on offense and being in charge of updating league standings and statistics after the day’s game play had concluded. Overall, the SEM was a huge hit in all the classes and the students succeeded in becoming more aware of ways to include their peers with disabilities. The above scenario is a success story that demonstrates how the SEM can be used properly. Everyone wins when the SEM is appropriately implemented to introduce disability awareness and to facilitate inclusion. One of the goals of Healthy People 2010 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2000) is to decrease the disparity in physical activity among individuals with disabilities. Currently it is estimated that 13 percent of students in the United States have individualized education programs, or IEPs (National Center for Education Statistics, 2006). It is the position of the Adapted Physical Activity Council (APAC) of the American Association for Physical Activity and How to Develop Disability Awareness Using the Sport Education Model

Gross motor skill performance in children with and without visual impairments—Research to practice

The aim of this study was to provide an empirical basis for teaching gross motor skills in children with visual impairments. For this purpose, gross motor skill performance of 23, 6-12 year old, boys and girls who are blind (ICD-10 H54.0) and 28 sighted controls with comparable age and gender characteristics was compared on six locomotor and six object control tasks using the Test of Gross Motor Development-Second Edition. Results indicate that children who are blind perform significantly (p<.05) worse in all assessed locomotor and object control skills, whereby running, leaping, kicking and catching are the most affected skills, and corresponding differences are related to most running, leaping, kicking and catching component. Practical implications are provided.

Adapted Bicycles for Teaching Riding Skills

Alternatives to Training Wheels Training wheels represent an established methodology, even an institution, in our culture. As a consequence, in our programs we find ourselves dealing with that fraction of children (and adults) for whom training wheels didn’t work, some of whom are individuals with disabilities. Introducing a new methodology involves a paradigm shift. The numbers of children who have participated in our program are small when compared to the total candidate riding population; however, in cases where training wheels would otherwise mean the end of the bicycling journey, our methods represent an invaluable alternative. Of course, children without disabilities can benefit considerably from our methodology, as well; but we believe the mass marketing culture that gives us training wheels isn’t about to reverse its reliance on training wheels. Those children who aren’t able to master riding using the training wheel paradigm will be candidates for our trainers and methods.

Using Online Videos for Disability Awareness

JOPERD • Volume 80 No. 8 • October 2009 T he increase of inclusive education in the United States has heightened the need for disability awareness among individuals without disabilities. As more students with and without disabilities share classrooms, teachers must help their students be aware and respectful of individual differences, including disabilities. However, many educators need to develop the skill of fostering awareness and openness toward different ability levels in the classroom. Literature that addresses best practice in teaching students about disabilities can be helpful in this regard. This article describes how teachers can develop disability awareness in their students, specifically with the use of online videos.

Promoting Leadership in Physical Education and Recreation

(2007). Promoting Leadership in Physical Education and Recreation. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance: Vol. 78, No. 3, pp. 46-50.