At Adaptive Exercise we focus on providing our exercise personal training in-home. Like any other autism therapy professional we understand our clients specific and unique needs. This is one of the main reasons we like to work with clients in home to provide them with a safe familiar and comfortable environment. Many of her clients do not come from a lengthy history exercise, sports or active lifestyle. We understand that beginning an exercise program can Be stressful or intimidating, which is why providing our training in-home gives our clients one less thing to worry about.
Traditional school gyms whether in college, high school, or junior high are usually occupied by athletes and other students. This means that they are probably loud, many times will have loud music playing and are filled with students exercising. Not be ideal setting for autism therapy. You wouldn’t walk into a speech therapy clinic and be placed in an environment that’s loud or crowded with people. So why would be provide our exercise autism therapy in this type environment? In addition, many school gyms do not have anyone supervising or monitoring how students are exercising. So your child could easily be engaging in unsafe exercise practices that would result in injury. Because of the age demographic exercising in school gyms, you will often see people exercising in unsafe ways. They may not be taking the proper safety precautions, using unsafe weight loads or engaging in exercises with bad form. This is not the type of setting for child with autism to be learning how to exercise.
Similar to school gyms, big box or chain gyms present many of the same problems for beginner exercises on the spectrum. Because of their affordable rates these gyms are often very crowded, they can be extremely loud, are usually filled with bright florescent lighting and maybe unsafe for someone not accustomed to exercising in the gym. People leaving weights on the floor, not racking weights after lifting, leaving the equipment sweaty or slippery and often you are stuck dealing with impatient fitness enthusiast trying to get to the piece of equipment your using. I know many people who avoid these types of gyms for these reasons. I would describe this type of environment as a sensory nightmare for child with autism.
Some the reasons these types of gyms are unsafe for beginner athletes are obvious, others are not. For starters if you have a child on the spectrum who does not have a history of exercising, sending them into this setting does not guarantee that they will exercise at all or that they were exercise was safe and proper form. Sure they will probably be a little walk on the treadmill, or use simple cardio equipment, but if they are looking to do resistance training, without supervision they’re putting themselves at risk. Prior to progressing to have your weight loads or larger sets, we first need to focus I’m teaching athletes how to warm up, how to cool down and how to do movements with proper form. Then and only then are they ready to progress through a fitness program.
Over the last few years smaller private clubs that catered to an individual or small group of clientele have been popping up in towns across the country. This type of setting is definitely better than a school or big box gym for child with autism, but the odds are their personal trainers are not trained specifically to work with people on the spectrum. This type of setting maybe appropriate for some but for children and adults with more significant needs, your standard personal trainer will probably not be able to accommodate for them. Our personal trainers are extensively trained in exercise autism therapy for people with autism spectrum disorder. People on the spectrum who do not present with maladaptive behaviors, communication disorders or difficulty staying on task may thrive in this type of setting. Every individual with autism is different and needs different levels of support or lack of support. In no way are we saying that Adaptive Exercise personal training is appropriate for everyone with autism, but for many people on the spectrum conventional fitness options are not ideal. This population has been underserved for many years, and our company is here to service those who do not have all these options available.
We provide our personal training exercise autism therapy in clients homes. We provide all equipment necessary for exercise and only require a small space to work on fitness. This in-home service is more convenient for many autism families. Many of these families are traveling to other therapist several days a week. Because we come to you this takes less stress off the family, trying to fit it into their schedules. Our sessions are 55 minutes long and consistent of a warm up, a cool down and goal focus, data tract personal training. All of the equipment is carefully selected with safety in mind. Most of our weights are sand based, things like sand bells, soft medicine balls and sandbags. The type of weights that won’t cause serious injury if dropped on a toe or thrown at somebody. These weights also are unlikely to cause mass destruction in someone’s home. Somebody other equipment we use are resistance bands, collapsible hurdles and exercise steps. All of these things are easily transported into the home for each session. Another great thing about this style of training is that as your child becomes more independent this equipment is relatively inexpensive in relation to the equipment you will find a traditional gym. So if your child is looking to exercise between sessions, you don’t need to break the bank buying them expensive fitness equipment.
Many families have asked why we choose not to operate in a traditional gym setting. I strongly feel that in-home training is both more convenient and more appropriate for many of our clients. It is important to remember that this is autism therapy through exercise. We provide our therapy in a setting that is comfortable for our clients.