Exercise autism therapy is a newer form of therapy, so as personal trainers we must look to other more traditional forms of autism therapy for reference. One of the first practices that needed to be adopted was data collection and analysis. Data is critical in proving effectiveness of the treatment, tracking progress (or lack of) and determining the most appropriate exercise interventions. Through experience working with different clients, I have found it to be most accurate when this data is collected over the course of each and every exercise session. Personal trainers should collect data on a number of different things pertaining to safety, accuracy, behavior and what was performed in each session.
Data collection begins during the assessment period when the personal trainer collects baseline data. Baseline data provides the trainer with a starting point of information for a client’s movement through an exercise, or current levels of physical fitness. Baseline data is extremely important in exercise therapy, because we must know a client’s ability to see if they’re progressing or regressing. Collecting this starting point data can also bring issues that may impact the client’s exercise programming to light. Autism is a spectrum disorder, so it presents differently in everyone. For individuals on the more severe end of the autism spectrum, behavioral challenges may become apparent while collecting baseline data. It is important to record any maladaptive behaviors that may arise. In these situations it may be applicable to write down what was happening when these behaviors occurred. Is commonly collected in other forms of autism therapy, such as Applied Behavior Analysis. Collecting Data on maladaptive behaviors does not apply for each client, but for those who engage in these types of behaviors, the data can be quite meaningful.
Traditional forms of autism therapy, like Applied Behavior Analysis monitor all treatment through data analysis. We use this same approach in adaptive personal training. At Adaptive Exercise we use video record exercises as one form of data collection, in our programming. Video can often show more information than just paper data alone. Video can bring deviations or inaccuracies in exercise form to light. Often, over the course of an exercise session the personal trainer is supporting the client and cannot get the best views, and could potentially miss clues that indicate poor form. Video recording allows us to go back and see if a client is displaying good form. Video recording from multiple perspective angels, will yield the most accurate information to determine if a client is performing movements safely or with good form. Another great aspect of video recording is that it is most objective method when monitoring form, behavior or progress. When a trainer, parent or another therapist/teacher look at video from earlier sessions compared to later sessions, you can objectively see progress (or lack of).
While video recording serves as one reliable and objective form of data collection, personal trainers should collect more data to ensure the effectiveness of the autism therapy. Because exercise presents inherent risks and many of the clients we work with may be more susceptible to injuring themselves, we must gather data that address safety. Performing exercises with good form drastically reduces the chances of injury occurring so collecting data on exercise form is a good starting point. Personal trainers must have a clear definition that describes exactly what constitutes good form. An example of a clear definition for an overhead press is, start standing in an upright position, feet shoulder width apart and hands in front of chest, palms out. Push upward with palms towards the ceiling in a straight line until arms are fully extended. Slowly bend arms at the elbows and lower the arms downward in a vertical line to the starting position. This definition describes exactly what the trainer should be looking for and makes it easier to collect data indicating whether the client was able to perform the exercise with good form or not. Sometimes it can be just as helpful to write criteria for what would constitute bad form as well. Many exercises have common deviations that might be important when writing out the exercise definition. By clearly defining some common deviations it is easier for the personal trainer to know what to look for. This can help make the data more reliable.
While collecting data on exercise form is important, we need more information to see if a client is progressing or regressing through their exercise program. We collect data on a number of relevant areas in our training sessions. Things like behavior, compliance, ability and current level of performance. Behavior data is collected in other autism therapy fields such as, Applied Behavior Analysis. Knowing what types of behaviors are arising within exercise sessions can allow trainers to create the safest and most appropriate environment conducive for success. When taking data on behavior, our focus is on maladaptive behaviors that may interfere with a client’s ability to participate in the session safely and productively. There are a wide range of potential behaviors that would interfere with a session. These are the behaviors we like to focus on because our focus is on each client being able to safely and effectively participate in an exercise session.
There are many other aspects of personal training that can utilize data collection and analysis. Monitoring sets, reps, current weight levels, frequency of exercises, and many other performance-based measures can be imperative to help a client progress. Personal training is not always a linear process however. This data can be just as important when considering when it is appropriate to decrease the demands of exercises. These are just a few forms of data that have helped our clients stay safe and excel in their exercise. It is important to be as honest and objective when collecting data. If the data is not accurate or collected irregularly it can be detrimental to your personal training. It may be relevant to perform data checks to assess the validity of the data collected.