Injibara University

College of Education and Behavioral

Sciences
Department of Special Needs and Inclusive
Education

Adapted Physical Education (SNIE-

3073)
For3rdyear Special Needs and Inclusive
 CHAPTER ONE
Concepts of Adapted Physical Education
Physical Education
 Is the process of education that concerns activities which develop
and maintain the human body.
 A learning process designed to foster the development of motor
skills, health related physical fitness , knowledge and attitudes
relative to physical activity through a series of carefully planned
and conducted experiences.
 Is learning experiences help students to understand how humans
moves, and perform movements safely, effectively and efficiently.
 The meaning of Adapted Physical Education
 Sport or movement for people who have different types of
disabilities.
 Adapted PE can be defined as "the art and science of
developing, implementing and monitoring a carefully
designed instructional program for learners with a disability,
based on a comprehensive(full broad) assessment, to give the
learner the skills necessary for a life time of rich leisure, and
sport experiences to enhance physical fitness and wellness .
 Adapted physical education is an educational system that
adapted or modified to meet the needs of person with a
disability.
 physical education needs to be provided to the students with a
disability as part of the child’s special education.
 Purpose and goals of adapted physical education.
Some of the reasons why adapted physical education is
necessary for persons with a disability are the following:
 To make disabilities fit (physically as well as mentally)
 To make disabilities confident
 To consider disabilities as part and parcel of the so called
“normal” children.
 To facilitate progress and achievement of disabilities
 There is a need for common understanding regarding the
nature of adapted physical education.
 There is a need for adapted physical education in schools
and colleges.
 Adapted physical education has much to offer the individual
who faces the combined problem of seeking an education
and living most effectively with a disability.
 That assist the students in gaining maximum benefit from the
program:
 To help students’ correct conditions that can be improved.
 To help student protect themselves and any physical conditions
that would be aggravated through certain physical activities.
 To provide students with an opportunity to learn and to
participate in a number of appropriate recreational leisure –time
sports and activities.
 To improve physical fitness through the maximum development
of organic and neuron - muscular systems.
 To help each student to develop a knowledge and an
appreciation of his/her physical and mental limitations
 To help students make social adjustment and to develop a
feeling of self-worth and value.
 To help each student to develop knowledge and appreciation
relative to good body mechanics.
 To help students understand and appreciate a variety of sports
that they can enjoy as a non-participant or a spectator/viewer.
In short the purpose and goals of Adapted Physical Education for
persons with a disability can be summarized as follows:-
 Social interaction and integration-Learning playing together,
Easy start for social interaction
 Physical rehabilitation - Keep them active
 Gives empowerment - More self – confidence
 Awareness-raising About rights of people with disabilities
is the process of helping an individual to achieve the highest level
of function independence and quality of life.
 GOALS OF APE
1.Cognitive domain goals -related with the acquisition of knowledge which is important
outcome of physical education
 play and game behaviors
 perceptual motor function and sensory integration
 creative expression
2. Psychomotor domain goals- related with the acquisition and reinforcement of motor skills
(physical fitness).
 motor skills and patterns
 physical fitness
 leisure time skills
3.Affective domain goals -related with the development of psychosocial, emotional and moral
reasoning.
 positive self concept
 social competency
Designing Adapted Physical Activity Services (frame work)
 To provide adapted physical activity services the following steps will
be employed. It is cyclic in its nature i.e., based on the need of your
student (his/her) abilities you need to plan differently and go
accordingly to provide him/her appropriate lessons (activities)
assessmen
planning
t

Prescri
ption
evaluation
placem
ent

Teachin
g/
counsel
ling
 Planning: arrangement of appropriate adapted physical education
programs (activities).
 Assessment: adequate and periodic health examination by a group of
medical doctors.
 Prescription (placement):- classification of physical education based
on the health examination and other pertinent tests and observations.
 Teaching (counseling): guidance of individuals needing special
consideration with respect to physical activity, general health
practices recreational pursuit, vocational planning, psychological
adjustment and social development.
 Evaluation:-evaluating and recording of progress through
observations, appropriate measurements and consultations.
Didactical Principles Applied in Physical Education

“Didactic” - means the correct way of learning PE for

disabilities.
1) Awareness-
-every activity should be clear enough (objective)
-the learners should be considered
2) Systematic -the subject matter must be presented with the
necessary methodological sequences
- Easy to difficult
- Elementary to complex activity
- Basic to variations
- Known to unknown
3. Simplicity –every activity should be suitable with age, sex, capacity,
etc….of the learners.
4) Visualization and Demonstration
-learning totally depends on our sense organs
-demonstration is necessary to identify the basic elements of the activity
5) Sound knowledge
-The knowledge’s delivered should always be durable,
lifelong(Adequate repetition + Avoiding/minimizing mistakes) and
applied in daily life.
6) Motivation is central (heart) to the process of teaching and learning
7) Learning is highly individualized
 CHAPTER TWO

2.Settings, Resources, Adaptation & Creativity

2.1 Individual differences & the IEP

What is an Individualized Education Program (IEP)?

 Is a tool that school professionals use to provide educational service to the
needs of learners with SNIE.
 Assures that the educational needs of a particular learner, rather than those
of a group of learners, are addressed.
 Refers to both the ongoing process and the associated documentation that
concerns the education of a learner with SNIE
 Consists of describing, evaluating and documenting the learner’s process
Individual Education Program or IEP
 An Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) can be defined as a
plan for each student, ages 3 to 21, who qualifies for special
education services, based on an evaluation.
 All IEP's are outcome-oriented giving assurance that the
student will benefit from special education and have real
opportunities, full participation, independent living, and
economic self-efficiency
 Why IEP is needed?
 For some learners with SNIE, in order to appropriately access
the curriculum, an individual education program (IEP) is
necessary
IEP is needed;
 For learners to assure their right to education;
 For teachers and specialists to deliver effective programs to
SNIE
 To overcome barriers to learning which cannot be overcome by
regular classroom strategies;

 IEP Formulation

 The organization of an IEP may go through some steps that

help its implementation and monitoring.

 The steps need the collaboration and efforts of the team

members involved in it.

Step 1: Identification of the learner with learning difficulties

Step 2: Team Formulation

Step 3: Setting goals and working towards them

 IEP Process
 The IEP process:
o Aims at maximizing the learner’s access to and successful
participation and achievement in school and community life;
o Values and respects the diversity of learners and their families
within a supportive school community;
o Acknowledges the right of families to participate and make
decisions about the nature of their involvement;
o Is part of good teaching and learning practice;
o Acknowledges areas of individual educational needs and the
 Physical Therapy enhances general gross motor development,
posture, balance, and functional mobility. Physical therapy is a
related service.
 Occupational Therapy promotes participation in school
activities by removing barriers and developing skills including
fine motor, sensory processing, social-emotional and perceptual
skills. The outcome of therapy is increased independence in the
school environment.
 Therapeutic Recreation increases access to and participation in
community based recreational programs. Therapeutic recreation is
 CHAPTER THREE

3.Goal setting & age-appropriate programming

3.1 Motor learning, sensorimotor integration & reflexes

 Motor learning is an internal process that cannot be observed from
an external perspective.
 It takes place inside the learner’s brain and the muscular
movements are only a reflection of brain activities
 Once a motor skill is learned, it becomes relatively permanent and
will not be easily forgotten.
 For example, once an individual has learned how to ride a bike,
Assessment in Adapted Physical Education
What is an assessment?
 Assessment is the process of gathering information about a student to
make an informed decision.
 As part of special education, assessment serves as the foundation for
determining a pupil's strengths, needs, and eligibility for special
education support services through the use of formal and informal
procedures.
 The interpretation of assessment information guides decision
making related to eligibility, student-based educational needs,
possible goals and objectives, program services, and placement
who performs an APE assessment
 PE teacher who is able to address adapted physical
education, trained in gathering data through
observation of performance, diagnostic tests, curriculum-
based instruction, communication with parents and staff,
and use of performance and behavioral checklists.
Who?? Special educators, physical and occupational
therapists and school psychologists
 Assessment Data for Placement Decisions
 Best practice dictates that information from assessment data
is used to determine whether a student needs support in
physical education, and how much support the student
needs to be successful in general physical education.
 Such support may be in the form of accommodations to the
curriculum and/or instruction.
 CHAPTER FOUR

4.Services delivery; placement

4.1 Planning at the school district level

Differentiated Instruction
 Within a generalized teaching approach, many aspects of instruction
can be modified to enhance instruction.
 A skilled educator keeps in mind the learner's abilities and makes
changes to instruction on an individual or differentiated basis.
 Instruction should be focused on the abilities of each student, making
modifications only as needed.
 What is community-based programming?
 Helping students to make connections with physical activity
opportunities in the community outside of school is, the
responsibility of the physical education teacher.
 The PE specialist plays a major role in recognizing
opportunities in the community and identifying the skills
the student needs to participate successfully.
 The Role of Para professionals in Assisting Adapted Physical
Education Teachers
 Paraprofessionals and instructional assistants can play an
important role in assisting students with disabilities in the
general physical education setting.
 Support personnel enhance the level of instruction in the
physical education setting in numerous ways:
 Providing extra verbal and visual cues for students with
disabilities
 Modelling desired movement or behavior
 Providing simplified instructions
 Encouraging involvement of other students/peer buddies
during physical education
 Assisting students so they can successfully participate in the
general physical education setting
 Monitoring student behavior
 Assisting students with transitions in the classroom
 CHAPTER FIVE
5.Individual difference with emphasis on sport
 There are many different types of disability that have
distinct/different features.
 Physical activity program should be designed and activities
are adapted based on the features of each type of disability
 Learning Disability
 Learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological

processes involved in understanding or using language.

 Learning disability is characterized by an imperfect ability to listen, to think,

speak, write, spell or do mathematical calculations.

Characteristics of learning disability

 All children differ in their psychomotor, cognitive and behavioral characteristics.
 Any one or all of these factors will affect the success level of a child in physical

education.
 depth perception problems, directly influence a student’s ability to master basic

movement tasks.
 Special consideration in physical education
 Slight teaching modifications may be needed for individual
students.
 To reduce hyperactive tendencies, prepare the lesson with
several short activities in mind rather than one lengthy
concentration.
 Give clear, brief instructions, ask the children to repeat the
directions before beginning the activity.
 Use small learning steps, and praise the child’s efforts and
accomplishments.
 Mental Retardation
 Mental retardation:- refers to substantial limitation in certain, but not all,
personal capabilities, including cognitive, functional and social abilities.
 Children in this category have limited development of the brain, which
prevents them from learning, using their resources and adjusting to lie as
normal children do.
Some possible causes of mental retardation are:-
-chromosomal abnormalities.
-genetic metabolic and neurological disorders.
-Congenital infections.
-Parental drug expo-sure (ex. Alcohol, cocaine)
-Postnatal factors (e.g. severe malnutrition, viral infection
 Characteristics of mental retardation
 Persons with severe mental retardation most likely have
adverse performance in social, cognitive language and motor
development.
 Persons who are mentally retarded may be clumsy/crazy/ and
awkward/not suitable/ and lack balance, which affects their
ability to perform motor tasks efficiently.
 Many students who are severely mentally retarded have
difficulty interacting with others.
 Motor delays are very common among persons who are
 Special considerations in physical activity programs

Physical education program should be based on the nature and needs of

the learner.

• Select activities to meet the students’ interest levels. Consider

individual differences when selecting the activities.

• Select activities primarily on the basis of the development of motor

skills.

•Individuals with mildest forms of mental retardations, have a problem

of comprehending complex playing rules and strategies. Therefore:

-Place the student in a less demanding position;

-Over-teach and constantly reinforce cognitive aspects of each game.

 Behavioral and Emotional disorders
 Nowadays such disorders are common among school children. The problems have
negative influence on their learning.
 Behavioral and emotional disorders are conditions in which the behavior or
emotional reponses of a student are so different from generally accepted, age
appropriate, cultural norms.

There are different types of behavioral and emotional disorders. These are:

1.Anxiety disorders: including phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and panic

disorder.

2.Dissociative disorder: is are in which the individuals is unable to integrate his or

her memories this includes: amnesia (loss of memory)

3.Personality disorder: including odd, dramatic, and anxious personalities

4.Emotional disorder and suicidal behavior

Conduct disorder includes:-
 Socialized aggression
 Attention problems
 Psychotic behavior
 Cause of Behavioral and Emotional disorders
 Heredity and genetic predisposition
 Breakdown in the family unit, parental conflict
 Sexual , physical abuse and emotional neglect poverty
 Peer pressure, particularly gang involvement
 Environmental toxin!
 Behavioral and emotional disorders show different characteristics.
 Among these, physical and motor characteristics and associated with

interpersonal relationships are described below.

A. Interpersonal relationships
 loss of emotional control
 shyness
 un socialized aggressiveness
 fear
 flight reaction
 anxiety

B. Physical and motor characteristics
 Poor physical condition caused by withdrawal from activity
 Retardation of motor skill development caused by withdrawal
from activity
 Disorientation in space and time
 Poor body image
Special considerations in physical education program
 It appears important to provide students with these disorders the
opportunity to participate regularly in sustained, vigorous, aerobic
activities.
 Exercise programs have been effective in reducing the
stereotypic, self-injurious, and disruptive behavior of individuals
 Children with the disorders benefit from physical education
programs that emphasize fitness, balance, and basic movement;
many have great difficulty with competitive games and sports.
 Programs with cooperative
 Autism
 Autism:-is one of the disorders included under
the large umbrella ofpervasive developmental
disorder that is characterized by significant
neurological impairment.
 The major characteristics of autism are
significant developmental delays, global and
comprehensive language disorders, abnormal
and stereotypical behavior patterns, and social
isolations
 Characteristics of Autism
 Children with autism shows gross and fine motor delays.
 Stereotyped body movements (e.g. Hand flicking or twisting,
spinning/rotate, head banging).
 During unstructured, unplanned free plays. These children are
less focused on play.
 They exhibit marked physical over activity;
 Wish to be sociable but fail to make relationships with peers;
 Poor at games, no idea of cooperating in a team.
 Special considerations in physical education
 The selected physical activities should be developmentally
appropriate.
 These activities may include aerobic walking, aerobic dance,
jogging/running.
Physical disabilities- are impairments that affect the use of the
body as a result of deficiencies of the nerves, muscles, bones and
joints.
 There are three major types of physical disabilities.
 These are neurological impairments, orthopedic/physical/
 1. Orthopedic Disabilities
 Orthopedic disabilities are:- deformities, diseases, and injuries
of the bones and joints.
 The major orthopedic conditions are arthritis/joint
inflamation/, arthrogryposis (curved joints), ontogenesis
imperfect and Osteomyelitis.
a, Arthritis
 The term arthritis is derived from two Greek roots. “Arthro”,
meaning joint, and “it is” meaning inflammation.
 It is explained as an inflammation of one or more joints
b, Arthrogryposis (curved joints)
 Arthrogryposis:-is a condition of flexure/bend or
contracture/deformity of joints of the lower limbs more often
than the upper limbs
 The limbs may be fixed in any position;
C, Ontogenesis:- is a condition marked by both weak bones
and elasticity of the joints, ligaments and skin.
 d. Osteomyelitis/bone inflammation/
 The other disorder under orthopedic disabilities is
osteomyelitis.
 Osteomyelitis is an inflammation of a bone and its
medullary (marrow) cavity.
 Ostemyelitis is caused by bacteria, micro bacteria and fungi.
 2.Neurological impairments
These are chronic disabling conditions that result from
impairments of central nervous system
-Neurological impairments are six major related disorders:
1. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
2. Cerebral palsy
3. Epilepsy
4. Multiple sclerosis
5. Spinal bifida
6. Muscular Dystrophy
 Sensory impairments
 Sensory impairment:- is the condition in which one of the
senses, sight, hearing, smell, touch and spatial awareness, is
no longer normal
Hearing impairment
 Hearing impairment is conditions in which individuals are
fully or partially unable to detect perceive at least some
frequencies of sound.
 Hearing impairment is the most prevalent type of disability.
 Causes of hearing impairments are:-
1. Brain infections such as
- Meningitis -Brain fever, etc
2. Communicable diseases such as
- scarlet, measles, influenza and others
 Age, long term exposure to environmental noise, genetic
factor, disease or illness
Characteristics of hearing impairments
 Hearing impaired children don’t understand their role in the
play experience and often withdraw,
Visual impairments
 Visual impairments: - is vision loss to such a degree as to
quality and all additional support need through a significant
limitation of visual capability.
 There are varying degrees of visual impairments ranging
from blindness to distorted (blurred/low) vision.
 Based on this for the purpose of education visual
impairments are classified as:-
Blindness
Partially sighted
The cause of visual impairments can be:-
1. Birth defects- Congenital Cataracts
-Optic Nerve Disease
-Retinopathy (Retinopathy of prematurity
because of poor regulation of oxygen in Incubators
2.Infectious Diseases- Rubella and Syphilis (prenatal
influences)
3. Existing conditions - Diabetes , Accidents, Injuries,
Poisoning, Tumor and so on……
Characteristics of visual impairments
Here included those characteristics that have implications for
physical education.
 Limited vision restricts physical motor activity;
 Awkward, clumsy total body movements and
 poor motor skills,
 Lack of fitness,
However, when appropriate physical activity programs are
available, individuals who are blind can develop excellent
levels of physical fitness;
 One of the greatest difficulty of visually impaired children is
lack of mobility, not inability to move.
 The ability to move between different levels in society or
employment.
 Most children with serious visual impairments lack the motor
skills and patterns essential for successful participation in
physical activities due to lack of experience.
 A mobility training programs on the playing area, increase the
child’s independence and thus the ability and desire to
participate fully.
There are special considerations when involving visually

impaired individuals in physical activity programs.

1. Usage of medium of instruction.

•Audition is a very important sensory medium of instruction for

children who have visual limitation

2. Controlling the environment – safety measures to prevent

injury during physical activities are:-

•Limit the play area;

•Limit the number of participants in the play area

3. Applying methodological strategies
•Instructing with manual guidance accompanied by verbal
directions;
•Providing specific and immediate feedback
•Moving visually impaired children in small group
4. Considerations while selecting equipment
•Brightly colored balls and objects for children with limited
vision
•Audible beep balls for tracking and location
Health related impairments
 When children with health impairments improve their motor
performance, they also benefit socially and psychologically,
 physical activity programs that increase exercise tolerance
and recreational sport skills may also improve self-care and
social competence
 Involving persons with health impairments in skill and
physical development activities programs often help break a
cycle of passive, debilitating/devastating physical and social
lifestyles
 The following disorders are affect participation in physical
activities.
• Asthma /respiratory disorder
• Diabetes
• AIDS
• Cardiomyopathic condition
1. Asthma
 Asthma is a respiratory disease characterized by reversible
airway obstruction, airway inflammation, and increased
airway responsiveness to a variety of stimuli.
Characteristics of Asthma
 The symptoms of asthma vary widely.
 Some asthmatics just wheeze and have a dry cough.
 Others have tight chest, wheeze and cough frequently,
 And have increased difficulty breathing following exposure
to allergens, viral infections, and exercise
Special considerations during physical activities
• The person with asthma must be selective when and where to
exercise.
• Exercising in cold and dry environments should be avoided.
• Individuals with asthma should be taught to breathe through
the nose and be given training in abdominal breathing.
• Abdominal breathing exercise will increase the strength and
endurance of the respiratory muscles and will allow greater
amount of air to be inhaled and to be made available for
exercise.
2. Diabetes
 Diabetes is a general term referring to a variety of disorders
that they divided into two groups diabetes mellitus and
diabetes insipid us.
 Physical activity is an important component of diabetes
mellitus treatment.
 Exercise increases insulin sensitivity, and can help reduce
body fatness, decrease insulin resistance, improve the body’s
ability to clear sugar from the blood.
• Always, it is important to eat something 2 to 3 hours before
and after exercise, to prevent dehydration by drinking 02 cups
of water 2 hours before exercise
• Five to ten minutes should be spent for warming up before
exercising and cooling down after exercising with stretching
and slow large muscle activities
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION