One of the most common causes for hesitation when considering exercise autism therapy is safety. Because this is a relatively new field of autism therapy it can be difficult to find information on whether it is safe for your child with special needs to be exercising. To answer this question, there is an inherent risk when beginning exercise program for any individual. Starting an exercise program increases the risk of injury, however when you weigh this against the risk associated with a sedentary lifestyle, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Living a sedentary lifestyle increases your chances of becoming obese, overweight, developing type II diabetes, as well of a number of the other diseases associated with being overweight. So if you’re considering enrolling your child with special needs an exercise program, consider all of the associated risks to make the best possible decision.
Often times parents Will ask if their child is ready to begin exercise autism therapy. There’re many factors that go into determining if your child is ready to begin a traditional exercise program. Adaptive Exercise is specialized for children on the spectrum, so we are prepared to teach exercise behavior to clients of a wide range a physical ability. This does not mean that exercise autism therapy it Is appropriate for everyone. Some children may be too young to begin structured exercise program, in these cases we suggest increasing their amount of physical activity or play rather than enrolling in an exercise program. This would be the case for many children under the age of five. In terms of level of current functioning or physical fitness, we are willing to work with any individual on the autism spectrum who has been provided clearance by their physician to exercise or does not pose a significant risk of injuring themselves or others. This does not mean that if your child engages in aggressive or self injurious behavior they would be excluded from enrolling and exercise program with Adaptive Exercise. This is determined on a case by case basis.
The exercise programming implemented by Adaptive Exercise can look very different for different children on the spectrum. Some children maybe working on beginner exercise behavior, such as standing on the spot marker and following gross motor imitation task. While other children maybe working on improving their muscle tone through resistance training exercises. Our programming approach at Adaptive Exercise is to provide the most effective and appropriate exercise autism therapy. We understand that every individual on the autism spectrum presents with their own unique challenges as well as abilities. This is the main reason wire exercise programming is individualized for each and every client. The trainers at Adaptive Exercise do this through the use of our Personalized Exercise Plans. The Personalized Exercise Plan is a collection of benchmark goals, objectives, and exercise selection based off an Initial assessments and client’s needs.
The Personalized Exercise Plan ensure safety and progression for each client. Because each session is tracked by data, and monitored through data, as well as video analysis, our trainers can progress programming safely and effectively. We document level of independence, the weights being used, and how many sets for reps are being performed for each and every exercise. A child who cannot perform and exercise properly Will not progress to a higher weight load until they’ve shown the ability to do so. This helps prevent children from causing bad stress to their body through poor exercise form or doing too much before their ready. Likewise a child who cannot perform basic exercise behavior such as standing on the spot marker, or following gross motor imitation task, would not be independently performing more complex exercises. Our goal is to improve the physical and mental health of your child through exercise autism therapy, but this can only be accomplished when they are ready. Once the child has displayed that they can perform and exercise properly, they then need to learn how to perform the exercise independently. This is accomplish through the ABA practice of shaping.
Another way we ensure safety at Adaptive Exercise is through careful equipment selection. All your equipment utilized by our personal trainers was selected with safety in mind. Much of the equipment we use in our sessions are sand based. Sand bells are small nylon sacks filled with sand. This piece of equipment mimics a dumbbell, however a metal dumbbell presents a much higher chance of injury than the sand bell. Dropping a metal dumbbell on your foot or head could cause significant injury, but dropping a sand bell on your head or foot will not. This allows our trainers to teach classic functional movements such as chest press and overhead press, in a more safe and appropriate environment. The plyometric medicine ball it’s another piece of equipment used by our trainers and exercise sessions. The plyometric medicine ball still the sand and comes in a variety of weights. Because it is so home-based we can use this piece of equipment to teach both simple and complex exercises safely. Exercises such as slams, throws and presses. And because they come to variety of weight levels, our trainers to progress level of intensity an exercises being performed at, while still ensuring safety. Elastic resistance bands are another popular tool utilize their training sessions. Like the sand bell and plyometric medicine ball, resistance bands come he different weights or levels of resistance. This piece equipment it’s easy to transport for in-home personal training sessions is extremely versatile. Resistance bands are also safe when used properly and when the trainers take precautions to ensure safety. Beginner athletes use a lower level of resistance hey more experienced athlete and do not progress to higher levels of persistence he’ll they have shown mastery of a movement. Other pieces equipment use that personal training sessions may vary from athlete to athlete, but they often include collapsible hurdles, collapsible exercise steps and sandbags. All these pieces of equipment are extremely safe when used properly and when the personal trainer follows the practice of progression after mastery. All of these precautions taken by her trainers are why Adaptive Exercise ensures the safest exercise personal training for athletes on the autism spectrum.