In home fitness options have been growing in popularity for many years. New technologies like Facetime and video streaming services have allowed trainers to provide the public with more options to exercise at their own homes. These options are generally more affordable and convenient for people with busy schedules. Autism families often fall into this category of families with busy schedules, so we have worked to create affordable options for these families who may not be able to access an adaptive personal trainer or to get to a gym. We started by offering our personal training autism exercise services in home. While this service is very beneficial for our clients, a number of families were reaching out to get our services that lived outside of our service region or simply could not afford this one on one service. This led to the development of autism exercise videos with built in supports and to make following along easier for our clients. These videos are affordable for practically any budget and we offer many that require no equipment at all. The newest autism exercise option we have made available are our virtual sessions. Using web cam technology our trainers can provide visual and verbal instruction to clients, so they can follow along at home. All of these services allow us to help people with special needs improve their health and fitness without having to go to a gym.
Whether you are looking at big box fitness centers, or smaller gyms, your most likely going into loud, crowded spaces. This environment may not be appropriate for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other developmental disabilities. Especially for people with sensory issues. This environment could even be seen as unsafe for someone with little to no experience with exercise. Unfortunately, a large percentage of people with special needs do not have a lengthy history engaging in exercise. Usually people in these positions would turn to personal trainers, but many personal trainers are not educated on how to work with people with special needs. Sure, not every person with special needs requires extra support or alternative teaching strategies, but there are a large percentage of individuals who do. These individuals are left with less appropriate options to improve their health and fitness. Adaptive Exercise was created to help this underserved population have an appropriate means to improve their health and fitness.
Beginning a fitness program can be scary for anyone. People who do not have a history of adhering to a fitness program often have an added layer of anxiety towards starting. Adaptive Exercise offers in-home autism exercise services, so people with special needs can learn and improve their fitness at home. Our one to one in-home training, is individualized and doesn’t require families to own any exercise equipment. We offer this service to autism families in the Worcester County area of Massachusetts. Our clients work one on one with our trainers to learn exercises via our specialized instruction. This includes physical prompting, visual supports, modified language and kinesthetic cueing. Many of these strategies are utilized in other forms of autism therapy fields like Applied Behavior Analysis. These proven methods of instruction allow us to offer an autism exercise service that is appropriate and effective.
Exercise videos have been a popular fitness choice for years. However, over the past decade with streaming services there are more options than ever before. You no longer even need to leave your home to find an exercise video. This is great, but for people with special needs following a typical fitness video can be a real challenge. Our Adaptive Exercise Videos cover exercise routines focused on functional movements. These videos are set to go at a slower pace, so viewers can follow along easier. We use added visual supports like hand markers, foot markers and arrows to clearly explain exercises. Our trainers use modified language to support people with language processing challenges. This means using shorter phrases of 2-5 words to explain movements. Another way we support people with special needs is through kinesthetic cues. An example of this would be “bend knees, elbows to knees” when covering squats. This provides viewers with concrete instructions that will provide them with feedback if they are exercising accurately.
Our virtual training is similar to our Adaptive Exercise Videos in approach, but because it is live and interactive it allows for personal trainers to create a more individualized exercise program. Similarly, to our in-home personal training we can develop a fitness program catered to the ability level of the individual. Using our modified language and kinesthetic cues trainers can provide a more appropriate level of autism exercise instruction.
All of these services aim to help people with special needs improve their health and fitness. What is the most appropriate option for you? That depends on each family’s current situation. Does your child or whom you are seeking services for struggle to follow visual or verbal instruction? In this case our in-home personal training would probably be best. We understand each individual present with their own strengths and weaknesses. This individual may require a more hands on approach to be able to safely and effectively learn how to exercise. What about for higher functioning individuals who may not want to go to the gym? In this case our Adaptive Exercise Videos or virtual training options might be more appropriate. Let’s say your child hasn’t participated in any type of exercise outside of gym at school and you are just starting to consider options to get them more active. All these services were designed to help autism families in different situations have an appropriate fitness option.
With more exercise options than ever before in history, people are still living sedentary lifestyles. We know that this is unhealthy and for most people living a sedentary life is a choice. For people with autism and other special needs this has not always been a choice. A lack of appropriate services is one contributing factor to higher rates of sedentary behavior in people with special needs. We hope that by offering these more appropriate options we can help combat these alarming statistics.