Adaptive Exercise is Worcester County’s first in-home personal training service for individuals on the autism spectrum. Our personal trainers using number of different adaptive strategies, as well as added sports to provide the highest level of specialized personal training for people with autism. Adaptive Exercise is not an ABA service provider, but we utilize a number of different ABA teaching strategies in our personal training. Cumulatively these strategies make Learning new exercises and mastering movements easier for people with autism. Every aspect of our personal training from the language we use to the equipment are carefully selected to provide the most benefit in a safe environment. Many people with autism do not have the same access to Personal training, sports or other physically active outlets. Adaptive Exercise understands this and creates individualized programming for each client, so that they can improve their health, improve the level of fitness and create a positive relationship with the exercise.
Autism families are constantly searching for the best services to support their children in development. This typically means families looking for occupational therapist, physical therapist, ABA Service providers, speech language pathologist and social skills groups. All of these services can be beneficial for people with autism, but families typically are not aware of exercise autism therapy. Adaptive Exercise is not and ABA company, but we do utilize a number of different ABA strategies to provide the highest level of adaptive personal training. Many of these strategies help individuals on the spectrum better understand the expectations of exercise and support them in mastering the skills.
David Crowley founded Adaptive Exercise in 2017. David coming from a speech language pathology background, worked in ABA programs teaching life skills, communication and special education. He borrowed a number of different strategies from other therapeutic fields and applied them personal training. Strategies like positive reinforcement, behavioral shaping, physical prompting, behavior specific praise, prompt hierarchies, graduated guidance and redirection. These are just some of the strategies we use to teach complex skills, like learning exercise routines and learning exercise movements. Behavior specific praise is utilized by our personal trainers to reinforce what the individual is doing accurately. An example of this would be a personal trainer saying “great job bending knees” when performing a squat. Behavioral shaping can help our personal trainers shape an exercise that is not being performed properly, to the point where is being performed with good form. Graduated guidance works similarly to behavioral shipping in correcting exercise form. Redirection is a great strategy to get individuals back on task when they’re distracted or not engaging in their exercises. Positive reinforcement it Is used frequently during each personal training session, not only to help establish rapport, but to praise individuals for achievements in their exercise programming. Physical prompting and prompt hierarchies are critical in correcting exercise form and teaching new exercises.
Coming from a speech language pathology background, David knew that adaptive personal training would need to account for individuals receptive and expressive language abilities. This begins during the intake interview process covered in the initial consultation. Learning about each individual’s abilities and acquiring information from other therapeutic professionals can help our personal trainers provide the most appropriate supports necessary. A child who uses an AAC will have this documented in their file. This way personal trainers are aware of how that child communicates and can plan accordingly. Other individuals may use PECS books, may have limited verbal speech, poor articulation or may present no expressive language disabilities at all.
In order to account for receptive language abilities our personal trainers use modified language during exercise sessions. This means explaining exercises using three to four word utterances. This makes processing this verbal information easier. A typical personal trainer uses language as one of their primary modes of teaching exercises and prompting their clients. These complex verbal instructions to be overwhelming or confusing people struggled with receptive language. By using modified language, only the most necessary words are used to teach exercises. An example of this would be a personal trainer saying “push overhead, back down” when teaching an overhead press. This shortened verbal instruction communicates what the exercise expectation is without unnecessary language.
While we do use several strategies from other autism therapeutic fields, our focus is on adaptive personal training. So much of our programming is based on a personal training model. This means that we do not progress any exercise that is not being performed accurately. Individual who cannot perform a proper squat, would not begin performing more squats or weighted squats until they have displayed that they can do this exercise properly. This not only ensure safety, that helps promote better motor movements. The early focus of our exercise training is on establishing rapport, determining physical ability and finding the most effective strategies to support that individual. Once the personal trainer has determined an individual’s physical and mental abilities in regards exercise they can begin to develop a personalized exercise plan that is appropriate. The rate at which each individual progresses through their program is dependent upon many factors. At Adaptive Exercise we only progress individuals once they have shown a consistent ability to be able to perform exercises properly. You wouldn’t teach someone to run before they can walk, just like you wouldn’t add weight to exercise until it can be performed safely and accurately.
All of these strategies together allow our personal trainers provide truly adapted personal training for people on the autism spectrum. It is important to remember that our programming is individualized in that the personal training for one client made look very different than does for another. We want all of our clients be able to reach their goals, but they must reach these goals through safe exercise progression. All of the strategies we use at Adaptive Exercise are meant to support our clients in reaching their goals. ABA teaching strategies, speech and language strategies and personal training strategies together can help support each athlete in reaching their goals.