The purpose of this study was to examine the social and affective concomitants of clumsiness in children. The results suggest that children who are clumsy are more introverted than children without movement problems, judge themselves to be less competent both physically and socially, and are significantly more anxious. However, when the relationship between severity of clumsiness and social or affective problems was investigated, only socially negative behavior was shown to be less common in the children who were most severely clumsy. No other aspect of social or affective functioning was related to the degree of clumsiness. Although some patterns were detected among social and affective problems, the overall picture was rather heterogeneous. The implications of the results for development and intervention are discussed.
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Social and Affective Problems of Children Who Are Clumsy: How Early Do They Begin?
Marina M. Schoemaker and Alex F. Kalverboer
Validating a Special Olympics Volleyball Skills Assessment Test
Steve B. Downs and Terry M. Wood
This study examined the validity and reliability of a Volleyball Skills Assessment Test (VSAT) as a measure of volleyball skill and as a predictor of team success in Special Olympics International (SOI) volleyball competition. Test-retest reliability data from 130 SOI volleyball players with mental retardation (101 males and 29 females) in the sixth week of an SOI volleyball training program yielded intraclass reliability coefficients (R) above .80 for all VSAT subtests (forearm pass, spike, set, serve) across gender with the exception of the set test for females (R = .75). Multivariate test battery test–retest reliability, examined using canonical correlation analysis, yielded moderate total redundancy estimates ranging between 62.5 and 66.1%. A high degree of concurrent validity was evidenced when correlating VSAT scores with judges’ ratings of performance on the four skills: r = .93 (r 2 = .86) serve, r = .94 (r 2 = .88) pass, r = .98 (r2 = .96) spike, and r = .86 (r2 = .74) set. Contingency table analysis, multiple regression, and discriminant function analysis revealed that the predictive validity of the VSAT as the primary determinant for allocating teams to pools of equal ability is questionable.
Collective Stories of Exercise: Making Sense of Gym Experiences With Disabled Peers
Emma V. Richardson, Brett Smith, and Anthony Papathomas
Using a dialogical narrative approach, we explored how disabled people made sense of their gym experiences as part of a peer group. Interviews were conducted with 18 disabled people (10 men and 8 women, aged 23–60) who had experience exercising in the gym as part of a group. Data were rigorously analyzed using a dialogical narrative analysis. Within their peer group, participants crafted a collective story that they used to resist disablism in the gym. The dialogical components of the collective story functioned to (a) validate participants’ experiences of oppression in the gym, (b) forge an unspoken understanding with peers, (c) craft a more affirmative identity, and (d) instill a sense of empowerment in participants so that they can tell their own story. This study extends knowledge in the field of exercise and disability by showing that despite the oppression disabled people experienced in the gym, they can create a collective story, which is useful for helping to promote and sustain exercise in this space.
Energy Cost of Locomotion in Blind Adolescents
Gisela Kobberling, Louis W. Jankowski, and Luc Leger
The oxygen consumption (VO2) of 30 (10 females, 20 males) legally blind adolescents and their sighted controls were compared for treadmill walking (3 mph, 4.8 km/h) and running (6 mph, 9.6 km/h). The VO2 of the visually impaired subjects averaged 24.4% and 10.8% higher than those of their same-sex age-matched controls, and 42.8% and 11.2% higher than the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) norms for walking (p<.01) and running (p<.05), respectively. The normal association between aerobic capacity and locomotor energy costs was evident among the sighted controls (r= .44, p<.05) but insignificant (r=.35, p>.05) for the visually impaired subjects. The energy costs of both walking and running were highest among the totally blind subjects, and decreased toward normal as a function of residual vision among the legally blind subjects. The energy costs of walking and running for blind adolescents are higher than both those of sighted controls and the ACSM norm values.
Utilizing Goals in Adapted Physical Education
Walter E. Davis
Establishing goals for adapted physical education is of paramount importance. However, establishing goals is more than writing behavioral objectives and completing an IEP. Understanding and using goals is essential for effective teaching behaviors and ultimately for learning. For this purpose three important aspects of goals are introduced: intention, purpose, and meaning. A distinction is also made between primary and concomitant goals. The primary goals are the improvement of physical and motor fitness and the development and acquisition of motor skills. Concomitant means being achieved along with, and these goals include language, social, and cognitive skills. Also, a distinction is made between abstract concepts and concrete actions or tasks. Finally, providing information about the goal of each task is a major function of the instructor. Three modes of presentation are described. Goals may be specified symbolically (verbally), iconically (by demonstrations), or actively (by having the students move in a structured environment). Adherence to and further development of these concepts is important to the improvement of the teaching/learning process in adapted physical education.
Reliability of the Health Related Fitness Test for Mainstreamed Educable and Trainable Mentally Handicapped Adolescents
David C. Pizarro
This study investigated the reliability and suitability of the Health Related Physical Fitness Test for mainstreamed educable mentally handicapped (EMH) and trainable mentally handicapped (TMH) adolescents. A total of 126 12- to 15-year-old male and female nonhandicapped (NH), EMH, and TMH adolescents were administered the following tests: modified sit-ups, sit and reach, 880-yard run, and skinfold fat measure (triceps only). Reliability coefficients were obtained using an interclass correlation formula. Deviations in test performance were recorded on a checklist. Modified sit-ups, sit and reach, and skinfold fat measurement were determined to be reliable and suitable for use with mainstreamed EMH/TMH adolescents. Reliability scores for the 880-yard run were fair for NH, good for EMH, and excellent for TMH subjects. Procedural deviations in the 880-yard run by TMH adolescents raised questions about the suitability of this test for these subjects. Proper orientation, an allowance for practice, and the development of an appropriate test environment appeared to be important aspects of test preparation for adolescents functioning at a below normal intellectual level.
The Spinal Injured Athlete
Christine L. Wells and Steven P. Hooker
Physiological variables identified as important factors in athletic performance are discussed in relation to the spinal cord injured (SCI) athlete. These include body composition, pulmonary function, cardiorespiratory efficiency, muscular strength and endurance, and anaerobic power. SCI athletes are less fat and have a larger lean body mass than nonathletes, and male SCI are less fat than female SCI. Static lung volumes are usually below normal values in SCI subjects, but athletic SCI subjects tend to have higher values than sedentary SCI. Sedentary SCI subjects have lower aerobic power (O2max) than the general able-bodied (AB) sedentary population on tests of arm cranking or wheelchair ergometry. Low-lesion paraplegics generally achieve O2max values comparable to AB subjects. O2max is inversely related to level of injury, that is, the higher the SCI, the lower the O2max. However, elite SCI athletes are capable of achieving very high levels of O2max during arm exercise. SCI subjects respond well to strength and muscular endurance training. Paraplegic subjects achieve higher anaerobic power scores than quadriplegic subjects. Increases in O2max occur at about the same magnitude as in AB subjects. The required intensity level appears to be about 70–80% of maximal heart rate reserve.
Advocacy and Coordination of Services
Wanda Jean Rainbolt
Adapted physical educators are spending much of their time and energy advocating for the right of all children and youth to a high quality of physical education service delivery and the elimination of attitudinal, aspirational, and architectural barriers experienced by handicapped persons. Prior to the 1960s, lawyers or legal advocates were the ones who would plead the cause for others. Since then, however, three types of advocates have evolved: citizen, professional, and consumer advocates. Adapted physical educators are professional advocates, but they must have an understanding of the other types of advocates. The purpose of this article is to acquaint adapted physical educators with the job function of advocacy, the history of advocacy, and the many roles advocates play.
The Relationship of Motor Skills and Social Communicative Skills in School-Aged Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Megan MacDonald, Catherine Lord, and Dale A. Ulrich
Motor skill deficits are present and persist in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Staples & Reid, 2010). Yet the focus of intervention is on core impairments, which are part of the diagnostic criteria for ASD, deficits in social communication skills. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the functional motor skills, of 6- to 15-year-old children with high-functioning ASD, predict success in standardized social communicative skills. It is hypothesized that children with better motor skills will have better social communicative skills. A total of 35 children with ASD between the ages of 6–15 years participated in this study. The univariate GLM (general linear model) tested the relationship of motor skills on social communicative skills holding constant age, IQ, ethnicity, gender, and clinical ASD diagnosis. Object-control motor skills significantly predicted calibrated ASD severity (p < .05). Children with weaker motor skills have greater social communicative skill deficits. How this relationship exists behaviorally, needs to be explored further.
Experience, Expertise, and Teaching Effectiveness with Mainstreamed and Nondisabled Children in Physical Education
E. William Vogler, Hans Van der Mars, Barbara E. Cusimano, and Paul Darst
Teaching effectiveness with elementary level mainstreamed and nondisabled children was analyzed from the perspective of teacher experience and expertise. There were three analyses: (a) experienced (12.6 yrs) versus less experienced (2.3 yrs) teachers, n=10 each, (b) expert (met 4 of 5 criteria) versus nonexpert (met no criteria) teachers, n=5 each, and (c) expert (met 4 of 5 criteria) versus experienced (no criteria, similar experience) teachers, n=4 each. Classes were matched on activities. Teaching effectiveness was evaluated by analysis of how the teacher allocated class time and how time was spent by the student. Specifically, motor appropriate, on- and off-task data were collected on one mainstreamed and one nondisabled student from each class. Results indicated that teacher behavior differed little as a function of either experience or expertise. Mainstreamed students were significantly less motor appropriate and more off-task than nondisabled students, and neither experience nor expertise significantly altered those differences. The results imply that greater teacher experience or expertise does not necessarily translate into improvements of teacher and student behavior, and simple placement of mainstreamed students with teachers with more experience or expertise may not necessarily be beneficial.