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Ethics, Dis/Ability And Sports
Carla Filomena Silva
Influence of Service-Learning on Kinesiology Students’ Attitudes Toward P–12 Students With Disabilities
Emily A. Roper and José A. Santiago
Employing a grounded theory approach, the purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the influence of service-learning (SL) on undergraduate kinesiology students’ attitudes toward and experiences working with P–12 students with disabilities. Fourteen (9 female, 5 male) kinesiology students enrolled in an adapted physical education class participated in one of three focus group interviews regarding their experiences of working with P–12 students with disabilities. All interview data were analyzed following procedures outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1998). The following five themes represent the participants’ experiences and attitudes toward P–12 students with disabilities after their involvement in a SL project: (a) initial reactions, (b) selection of P–12 students, (c) preconceived attitudes, (d) the benefits of SL, and (e) positive experience. All 14 of the participants who volunteered to share their experiences indicated that the SL experience positively affected their attitudes toward individuals with disabilities.
Motor Skills and Calibrated Autism Severity in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Megan MacDonald, Catherine Lord, and Dale A. Ulrich
In addition to the core characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), motor skill deficits are present, persistent, and pervasive across age. Although motor skill deficits have been indicated in young children with autism, they have not been included in the primary discussion of early intervention content. One hundred fifty-nine young children with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD (n = 110), PDD-NOS (n = 26), and non-ASD (n = 23) between the ages of 14–33 months participated in this study.1 The univariate general linear model tested the relationship of fine and gross motor skills and social communicative skills (using calibrated autism severity scores). Fine motor and gross motor skills significantly predicted calibrated autism severity (p < .05). Children with weaker motor skills have greater social communicative skill deficits. Future directions and the role of motor skills in early intervention are discussed.
Narratives of Athletic Identity After Acquiring a Permanent Physical Disability
Marie-Josée Perrier, Shaelyn M. Strachan, Brett Smith, and Amy E. Latimer-Cheung
Individuals with acquired physical disabilities report lower levels of athletic identity. The objective of this study was to further explore why athletic identity may be lost or (re)developed after acquiring a physical disability. Seven women and four men (range = 28–60 years) participated in approximately 1-hour-long semi-structured interviews; data were subjected to a narrative analysis. The structural analysis revealed three narrative types. The nonathlete narrative described physical changes in the body as reasons for diminished athletic identity. The athlete as a future self primarily focused on present sport behavior and performance goals such that behavior changes diminished athletic identity. The present self as athlete narrative type focused on the aspects of their present sport involvement, such as feedback from other athletes and skill development, which supported their athletic identity. Implications of these narrative types with respect to sport promotion among people with acquired physical disabilities are discussed.
Negotiated Meanings of Disability Simulations in an Adapted Physical Activity Course: Learning From Student Reflections
Jennifer Leo and Donna Goodwin
Disability simulations have been used as a pedagogical tool to simulate the functional and cultural experiences of disability. Despite their widespread application, disagreement about their ethical use, value, and efficacy persists. The purpose of this study was to understand how postsecondary kinesiology students experienced participation in disability simulations. An interpretative phenomenological approach guided the study’s collection of journal entries and clarifying one-on-one interviews with four female undergraduate students enrolled in a required adapted physical activity course. The data were analyzed thematically and interpreted using the conceptual framework of situated learning. Three themes transpired: unnerving visibility, negotiating environments differently, and tomorrow I’ll be fine. The students described emotional responses to the use of wheelchairs as disability artifacts, developed awareness of environmental barriers to culturally and socially normative activities, and moderated their discomfort with the knowledge they could end the simulation at any time.
Volume 31 (2014): Issue 1 (Jan 2014)
Digest
Phil Esposito, Dallas J. Jackson, Kevin M. Casebolt, and ZáNean McClain
The Effect of Auditory Pacing on Period Stability and Temporal Consistency in Children With and Without Dyslexia Co-Existing Motor Dysfunction
Nancy Getchell, Ling-Yin Liang, Daphne Golden, and Samuel W. Logan
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of auditory pacing on period stability and temporal consistency of a dual motor task in children with and without dyslexia and with varying amounts of motor deficiency. Fifty-four children were divided into groups based on dyslexia diagnosis and score on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (Movement ABC-2). Participants performed a dual motor task (clapping while walking) at a self-determined pace in a pretest block, practiced 4 blocks of 4 trials with a metronome pacing signal, and finished with a posttest block without auditory pacing. Measures of period stability (interclap/interheel strike intervals across trial blocks) and temporal consistency (coefficient of variation of period with trials) were taken. The results suggest that auditory pacing may improve period stability across groups, but does not appear to impact temporal consistency. Weak support existed for a general impairment of motor function in children diagnosed with dyslexia.