Teaching people how to exercise presents many challenges, as an autism exercise specialist there are often other challenges to account for. There are different training modalities to consider, assessment of the client’s ability level, rapport to establish, and ensuring safe practice for both the client and the trainer. The trainer must practice patience, diligence and empathy. But, clearly teaching certain exercises are more challenging than others. Rotational movements are one of the most challenging types of movements to affective teach. As autism exercise specialists we must first focus on safety and accuracy before we can consider progression. Rotational movements require the use of multiple muscle groups working together, as well as movement across the midline. This type of movement presents a number of challenges. Rotational movements are one of the five categories of functional movement training. It is important to teach individuals how to perform these types of movements correctly, because they will be moving this way in life. Exercise is important, but we must remember that we need to move outside of just exercise and that learning how to move correctly can benefit us in our activities of daily living. It is the role of the personal trainer to understand what constitutes good form to ensure safety, how to affectively teach an exercise, how to support their client, and how to progress or regress.
Exercise form refers to the proper way to perform a movement. The criteria for proper form are different for each exercise. In the case of rotational movements there are many different body parts to take into consideration. At Adaptive Exercise the most introductory level rotational exercise we teach is the standing twist. This requires an individual to stand in an upright position, with their feet about shoulder width apart. Keeping their feet flat on the floor the torso is rotated to one side and then the other. Since safety is the number one priority the trainer must first monitor to see if the client is displaying proper form. This requires the trainer to move around the client so they can observe from different perspectives and note how the body is moving. The trainer should start by observing the torso to see if it is rotating over the hips. Often times individuals will attempt to twist their shoulders rather than their torso. The trainer should then look down and observe the lower body throughout the movement. Are the client’s legs and feet remaining in place throughout the movement? Analysis of the movement doesn’t stop there the trainer must observe the upper body to make sure the individual isn’t twisting their neck or arching their back throughout the movement. Deviations to proper form should be corrected, but it is the professional judgement of the trainer to deem when the improper is unsafe and that the exercise should be terminated. Remember as autism exercise specialist our first priority is safety.
How does an autism exercise specialist teach a rotational movement? Regardless of what exercise we are introducing the trainer should follow the safe approach. When introducing a new movement, the trainer should clearly state the name of the exercise and physically model the movement. This provides the client with a visual of what they will be attempting to do. Verbal instruction is another important strategy, but as autism exercise specialist verbal instruction may sound a bit different. At Adaptive Exercise we use modified language, to account for receptive language difficulties and auditory processing challenges. Modified language is utterances of 5 words or less, consisting of only essential language. A typical personal trainer may use complex language to explain how to properly perform a standing twist, similar to the language used in the paragraph above. An autism exercise specialist using modified language would state “feet under shoulders”, “turn side”, “turn other side”. While each of these mands are less than three words, they clearly state what the expectation is. When these verbals are paired with the trainer physically modeling the exercise, the client will have a more clear idea of what is expected.
We now know how to teach a new exercise in the context of adaptive personal training for people with special needs, but what if the client cannot perform the exercise accurately. There are a number of supportive strategies or adaptations an autism exercise specialist can utilize. There are kinesthetic cues, visual supports, and physical supports. Kinesthetic cues are hints the trainer can provide their client with that provide them with kinesthetic feedback. This could be an object, a body part or the trainer themselves. For a standing twist the trainer could position their hands to points the client should turn to. The trainer could then say turn to hands. Other objects such as a wall could serve as a kinesthetic cue. The trainer may position the individual so that they turn to the wall, indicating the point to where they should rotate to. Visuals are another adaptation the trainer can provide to the client. The trainer is already providing one visual when physical modeling, but they may need to model the movement simultaneously with their client. Mirrors or video could be used for the client to see how they are performing the movement. Hand, foot, and arrow markers are another great tool that a trainer can use to further support a movement. Physical supports are another adaption that can be used in the form of physical prompting. This is when the trainer physically manipulates the client’s body to be able to perform the exercise appropriately. This should be done in a hierarchical system so that the trainer can use less intrusive or more intrusive physical prompts over time.
Understanding what to look for, how to teach and how to support are all important, but what about once the client shows they can perform the exercise independently and accurately? This means it is time to progress! A trainer can progress through adding resistance or weight, increasing the frequency of reps or sets, or progressing to a more challenging rotational exercise. In some cases, a trainer may need to regress an exercise due to inaccuracy. In these situations, a trainer could move to an easier rotational exercise (if any) or utilize the supportive strategies. Remember we first must focus on safety and accuracy, before we worry about fitness.