Adaptive Physical Education class

The formal definition of adaptive physical education from the Adaptive Physical Education National Standards is “Adapted Physical Education is physical education which has been adapted or modified, so that it is as appropriate for the person with a disability as it is for a person without a disability.” The purpose of an adaptive physical education class is to work on the development of physical skills, fundamental motor skills and patterns, throwing, catching, walking, running, etc, skills in aquatics, dance, and individual and group games and sports and to include intramural and lifetime sports. I also believe that it is important for physical education teachers to realize that these students should be treated just like average students but they should know that modifications will need to be made to help these students succeed.

Also, found on the Adaptive Physical Education National Standards website they state how the “The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990) uses the term disability as a diagnostic category that qualifies students for special services. These categories include: Autism, Deaf – Blindness, Deafness, Hearing impairment, Mental retardation, Multiple disabilities, Orthopedic impairment, Other health impairment, Serious emotional disturbance, Specific learning disability, Speech or language impairment, Traumatic brain injury, and Visual impairment including blindness.” So for any student who has one of these disabilities there will need to be adaptations made to the games so that these students can participate also. With these disabilities, it is essential for the teacher to asses the student to see what their skills are and to see what they are capable of preforming.

As I am learning to be...

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... are essential in todays school systems and as a future physical education teacher these are things that I will need to know in my teaching career. I think that it is important for all future educators to be aware of students disabilities and to learn the best techniques on how to teach them and to make them successful. I believe that adaptive physical education courses should be taught at all schools and the teachers should be highly trained in these areas to benefit the students as much as possible.

Bibliography:

"Welcome." Adapted Physical Education National Standards. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

"PE Central: Adapted Physical Education." PE Central: Adapted Physical Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.

Winnick, Joseph P. "1-3." Adapted Physical Education and Sport. Leeds: Human Kinetics, 2011. N. pag. Print.