People with autism spectrum disorder have been underserved as a whole for many years. It can be very difficult for autism families to find the same amount of leisure or recreational opportunities. Over the past two decades there is increased in the amount of the autism therapy services available, but it can still be difficult define other services that are appropriate. Exercise can be viewed as an autism therapy or a recreational activity. Because exercise offers such a wide range of both physical and mental health benefits, we refer to our adaptive personal training as autism therapy. For many people exercise is viewed as more of a recreational activity that people engage in when they have free time. While some people consider different forms of exercise fun, it is more than just leisure. People have not evolved to be sedentary creatures, we all need to move to keep up our physical and mental health. Unfortunately, too many children and adolescents on autism spectrum are living sedentary lives. This is especially worrisome for a population of people who struggle with low muscle tone, poor motor planning and higher rates of obesity in over weightiness.
Adaptive Exercise personal training, autism therapy is specialized for people on the spectrum. Many of the strategies we use in our personal training have been proven to be successful in applied behavioral analysis, speech language pathology and special education classrooms. Strategies such as graduate guidance, physical prompt hierarchies, modified language and visual supports. These are just some of the strategies we use to support our athletes at autism and learning new exercises improving form. The strategies have been refined over the course of working with different individuals on the autism spectrum. Typical personal trainers you would find at your local gym maybe capable of working with some individuals on the autism spectrum, but may not be equipped to work with individuals with more significant support needs. Adaptive Exercise is appropriate for any individual on the autism spectrum regardless of physical ability or cognitive functioning level. While the exercise training may look very different from case to case, our trainers are trained to provide the most appropriate and safe personal training possible.
Adaptive Exercise opened its doors in July 2017, and has been providing both in-home personal training and group exercise classes to the Worcester County area. Well we may have opened our doors in 2017, founder, David Crowley was working to develop exercise programming appropriate for children with autism long before. David got started working with people with autism when he was a senior in high school it went on to become a licensed speech language pathologist assistant. He worked in ABA programs as an ABA technician and licensed SLPA in the state of Massachusetts for over seven years. This experience along with his experience as a personal trainer we’re critical in developing the most appropriate exercise programming possible.
Because our personal training autism therapy is provided in-home, some people may perceive this is a limitation to our training. Providing in-home personal training, can provide comfort to beginner athletes who do not have a prior history of engaging in exercise. Traditional gyms can be loud, crowded, and may not be the most appropriate for individuals with autism. There is a lot of sensory information coming in from all directions and this can make focusing on the task at hand more difficult. Gyms are also filled with equipment that is not used properly or under supervision can result in serious injury. All of the equipment used in our personal training was carefully selected with safety and functionality in mind. Much of the equipment used in her training is sand based, so serious injury is less likely. And because all of our equipment is provided by her personal trainers, there’s no need to have a home gym. The only requirement it’s a small space that can be arranged to provide our exercise autism therapy.
Adaptive Exercise is a personal training company, specializing in working with children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. We are not solely limited to working with children on the spectrum, and have provided services to both adolescents and adults on the spectrum. The training is tracked by data as well as video, to monitor quality of movements and track progression. This is done to the use of our Personalize Exercise Plan or PEP. A PEP is similar to an Individualized Education Plan, it is a collection of benchmark objectives based off assessments to ensure your child’s progression. The plans are individualized, timed bound, appropriate and measurable. This tool allows trainers to see if your child is progressing to their program and if not make the necessary changes so that they can progress to their program. It also serves as a history of all the accomplishments your child has achieved the course of their personal training.
If your wondering If adaptive exercise personal training it Is appropriate for your child, ask yourself if your child is regularly reaching the 60 minutes of physical activity each day recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. If they are not engaging in the recommended levels of physical activity each day, then enrolling your child and exercise program can benefit their physical and mental health. If your child is engaging in 60 minutes of physical activity each day, they still may benefit from our personal training. The focus of our personal training is on functional movement training. These are movements that translate outside the realm of exercise benefit people in their activities of daily living. A child who is not engaging in movements properly maybe increasing their chances of injury or causing bad stress on the body. How we move can be just as important as how often we move. Exercise has also been shown to offer unique benefits for people with autism spectrum disorder. Some studies suggest that engaging in exercise can benefit children socially and behaviorally. So enrolling your child exercise program may not only benefit their physical health, but can help them progress in other areas as well.