Physical Education and Recreation for Students who are BlindVisually Impaired

1
Physical Education and Recreation for Students
who are Blind/Visually Impaired

• Sheila Amato, Ed.D.
• Teacher of Students who are Blind/Visually
  Impaired
• East Meadow School District
• brltrans_at_verizon.net
• Health and Physical Education teacher
• Long Island Ladies Soccer League goalkeeper
• Geocacher

2
The quest and the importance of having a
professional network

• Hi, all - I have been asked to give a one-hour
  presentation to a group of future physical
  education teachers (some of them may become
  adapted physical education teachers) about
  working with our population of students in grades
  K-12. I'd appreciate any resources... online..
  print... or experiential. What should I include?
  I want it to be fun and hands-on/movement
  oriented, while still giving them the knowledge. 
  Your thoughts, activities and resources are
  appreciated in advance.

3
Our Best Practice as teachers (also called
Promising Practice)is based on

• Having a Question
• Research
• Asking More Questions
• Collecting and Interpreting Data
• Drawing Conclusions
• Implementing Recommendations
• Re-evaluation

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John Dewey

• A constructivist philosopher and educator
• Developed experiential learning theory
• Everything occurs within a social environment.
  Knowledge is socially constructed and based on
  experiences. This knowledge should be organized
  in real-life experiences that provide a context
  for the information.
• The teacher's role is to organize this content
  and to facilitate the actual experiences.
• Thats YOU!

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The physical education teacher (Thats you!) is
one of the most important influences on
socialization within a physical education class
Suomi, J., Collier, D., Brown, L. (2003).
Factors affecting social experiences of students
in elementary physical education classes. Adapted
Physical Activity Quarterly, 22 , 186202.
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• The psychological well-being and social
  development of a student can be enhanced through
  opportunities to participate in a variety of
  age-appropriate physical activities
• Houston-Wilson, C., Lieberman, L. J. (1999).
  The Individualized Education Program in physical
  education A guide for regular physical
  educators. Journal of Physical Education
  Recreation and Dance , 70 (3), 6064.

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• Physical activity improves the health-related
  quality of life by enhancing psychological
  well-being, which, in turn, contributes to human
  growth and social development. Social development
  is considered to be an essential characteristic
  of self-determined behavior.
• (American Alliance for Health, Physical
  Education, Recreation and Dance AAHPERD, 1999
  Graham, Holt-Hale, Parker, 1998).

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What you can do

• An effective way to teach problem solving,
  socialization, cooperative skills, and team
  skills is through effective physical education
  programming
• American Alliance for Health, Physical Education,
  Recreation and Dance. (1999). Physical best
  activity guide, elementary level . Champaign, IL
  Human Kinetics.

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YOU can truly make a difference in the life of a
child with your

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Attitude
• Creativity
• High expectations

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Its time to move!

• Put your arms out in front of you.
• Hold the position while holding it,
• Look around what do you see?

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Use imagery and help to focus your minds eye
on what each arm is doing. 

• Saying Put your arms out in front of you
  creates a different image than saying
• Imagine there is a brick wall in front of you-
• now put your arms out against that brick wall
  and push on it to keep yourself standing up! 
  
• Being able to talk about what that would look
  like your head drops between your arms, your
  feet get planted in place- about shoulder width
  apart creates that image for students who are
  blind of what it should look like and moreover,
  what it should feel like.

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The main function of the eye is to work with the
brain to provide us with vision. The eye and
brain translate light waves into a sensation we
call vision.

• The eye

• The brain

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What is the difference between sight and vision???

• Sight is the ability to see clearly at any
  distance. Sight depends on the anatomical
  structures of the eye.
• Vision is the ability to take this clear image
  and bring it into the eye in a smooth and
  accurate manner, then transmit the image through
  the optic nerve to the back of the brain where it
  is interpreted and made sense of by combining it
  with past learning experiences.

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A sensory/visual impairment

• Affects your perception of your body in space
  (visual/spatial awareness)
• May affect your balance/equilibrium
• Affects your estimation of distance
• Affects eye-hand-body coordination
• Affects scanning and tracking (the ability to
  follow a moving object)
• How many sports involve one or more of these
  factors?

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Trivia

• Did you know that your eye is the only part of
  your brain that is visible from the outside?

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Real students who are blind doing real
physical education activities
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Its time to . Move!

• Pretend youre walking
• Through tall underbrush
• Through a dark, dangerous alley
• Across a wide street on a rainy, windy night
• Through a forest of man-eating plants!
• Down a road of sticky asphalt and tar
• Across a log over a creek full of crocodiles
• Across a street of broken glass
• Through a snowstorm
• Through a bowl of chewed-up bubblegum.
• How does a child who is blind gain these
  real-life (or creatively designed) experiences?

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Comments from the Field

• There are three main messages that I would share
  with mainstream PE teachers  One is that the
  game is not sacred, the kids are, so adapt it so
  that it is a meaningful and enjoyable experience
  for all.  That said, if the game must be adapted
  to the point that it is neither, then don't
  bother with it. 

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Comments from the Field

• The sighted students should not miss out on games
  like basketball simply because their blind
  classmate cannot participate equally in a game.
• In that instance, the blind student should be
  allowed to learn and develop basketball skills-
  such as free throws to a hoop with a beeper on it
  for sonar location, as well as be taught the
  rules so that he/ she has the as much knowledge
  of the game as their sighted peers.  Including
  the student in ways such as making him/her the
  designated free throw shooter for a team, or
  adapting the rules for inclusion (such as they
  may be chest-passed the ball with a verbal
  comment, then may take a free throw at the
  beepered hoop for double points) could be
  helpful.
• But the success of that sort of adaptation
  depends on the class and the student. If it does
  not work, then having the student do an alternate
  activity during that time, such as learning or
  practicing weight-lifting, swimming, goalball,
  Swish, yoga or any number of suitable activities
  would be perfectly acceptable

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Comments from the Field

• And lastly, sport and recreation are vital parts
  of life and participation in these activities
  afford students with low vision or blindness a
  chance for freedom, independence, pride and
  social opportunities that they need.

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My colleague had a lot to say

• I was the only VI kid in my school.  If you
  combine my trying to 'keep up' with the sighted
  kids with my oblivious gym teacher who thought
  she was doing me a favor by pushing me to do
  things, it was a disaster.  How do you push a VI
  kid to play tennis?  Every time you miss the ball
  and everyone starts laughing at you, you just
  want to run away.  My teacher was either
  thoughtless or clueless.
• Even worse is the modern tendency to include a
  blind child in ball games by assigning them a
  buddy who runs with them and tells them what to
  do.  This isn't participation, it is being a
  puppet.  You can't enjoy a sport playing like
  that and it is even more embarrassing then what
  we went through trying to pretend we could see.
• It just seems so obvious to find a sport the
  blind child CAN do then to try to have them do
  what everyone else is doing just to fit
  in.

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My colleague is still talking

• Recess in elementary school, and PE in junior
  high and high school are among my most
  excruciatingly unhappy memories when I think
  about my experiences as one of two visually
  impaired students in the public school system in
  my very rural Maryland county.  Imagine
  subjecting a child who could not see to daily
  games of dodge ball during 4th, 5th and 6th
  grades!  No wonder I misbehaved to get out of
  having to endure recess!  I would have done
  anything to avoid that ball hitting me -- hard --
  in the head over and over again during afternoon
  recess!
• When I was in high school, I was pretty seriously
  injured when I was expected to run the hurdles. 
  Of course I couldn't jump over the hurdle when I
  didn't even know it was there until I was about
  10 inches away!  Softball, volleyball (how I
  hated that!), basketball (I could make a basket
  but could not function in a fast-moving game),
  even field hockey -- all of these were disastrous
  experiences for me!  And embarrassing.  And
  demoralizing.
• PE has to be tailored to the capabilities, skill
  levels, and needs of each child with a visual
  impairment.  It is cruel to subject a child who
  cannot see to activities and games that he or she
  cannot actually participate in effectively.

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Final words from my colleague

• MOST PE activities are centered around ball
  games, field hockey, tennis, volleyball,
  softball, etc.  Even when gymnastics are
  introduced it included running at a vaulting
  horse.I was excused from regular PE class
  because I was 'incompetent at sports.' On one
  hand I was relieved because I didn't have to go
  home crying because no one wanted me on their
  team, but I loved doing things - and I hated the
  label of 'incompetent.'Then my life changed and
  I COULD do judo, hiking, swimming, cross country
  skiing, tandem bike riding, and on and on.Yes,
  VI kids CAN do sports but it is not accommodating
  their disability to expect them to play ball
  games with a buddy to tell them where to go and
  when to swing etc.  This is not participation, it
  is politically correct accommodation.  A VI
  child is truly participating when they can fully
  participate without someone holding their hand.

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Its time to . Move!

• While wearing simulators
• Throw and catch a fleece ball with a partner
• Play volleyball with a beach ball
• Kick (gently were indoors!) a soccer ball that
  has bells inside of it.
• Read a print page from this handout
• Find your friend across the room (are you sure
  its your friend?)

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Still more from the field

• Yes, its all about setting proper expectations
  for the VI student, and even those students with
  multiple impairments. They have had ways of
  surprising us.  
• Im also convinced that a physically fit child
  can also be motivated to channel his energies
  towards other goals such as exceptional grades in
  school and working towards a career.
• In my observations and experiences in some public
  schools, physical education is probably one of
  the most dreaded subjects by teachers, because of
  the VI child being hurt and the litigation that
  might result. More than three-quarters of our VI
  kids have multiple disabilities, and they attend
  their local schools, with the expectation they
  will participate in age-appropriate activities.

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about the real world

• Then there is the issue of limitations on
  physical activities that are often  written in
  the IEP of what the blind/VI child should or
  shouldn't do, based on medical info.
• I have always felt that public school teachers
  may have good intentions, but the medical
  conditions of most of our VI kids, plus
  unsuitable school infrastructures, and behaviors
  of some parents, impose major limitations on
  their creativity and responsiveness, and these
  teachers (and their administrators) often are
  unable to articulate their concerns for fear of
  being seen as anti-disability. 

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Geocaching

• www.geocaching.com
• Using multi-million dollar military satellites
  to find Tupperware hidden in the woods.
• Need a GPSr (Global Positioning System receiver)
  and access to the above website
• And a spirit of adventure!

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Sports Video Clips featuring athletes who are
blind

• Actionnaires Sports Club
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vRaGegItuQRM
• Australian Goalball World Championships
• http//www.goalball.com.au/
• Bay Area Goalball
• http//video.google.com/videoplay?docid1232846902
  873989249
• Beep Baseball
• http//espn.go.com/swf/eticket/beep/beep.html 
• Blind Powerlifting
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vaRLew6yAxzg
• Blind Soccer (indoor)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vFUzxCLdPuB0
• Blind Soccer Match - China (outdoor)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vgPZQEohMssI
• Cross Country Skiing
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vhNLxFF_x28I
• Skiing, Wrestling, Goalball Running, and Judo,  
• http//www.ibsa.es/eng/galeria/main.htm
• USABA

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People Resources

• Dont miss Dr. Lauren Lieberman's excellent work
  related to P.E. She's on faculty at SUNY
  Brockport, and you can read more about her and
  her work here http//www.brockport.edu/pes/facult
  y/lieberman.html
• Kathy Zawald - kzwald_at_aol.com. She just finished
  her PhD at the University of Arizona in the area
  of physical education for students with visual
  impairments.
• Larry L. Lewis, Jr.President and
  FounderFlying-Blind, LLCOffice Phone 1 (216)
  381-8107E-Mail Larry.Lewis_at_Flying-Blind.comWeb
  http//www.Flying-Blind.comSkype Name
  Larry.L.Lewis

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Its time to . Move!

• Be a Household Appliance
• Making appropriate sound effects, 5 to 7 students
  together pantomime a single, large, household
  appliance.
• Vacuum cleaner
• Blender
• Washing machine
• Toaster
• Alarm clock
• Electric toothbrush
• Can opener

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Websites of Interest

• Judo for Blind Athletes http//www.judoinfo.com/us
  aba.htm
• The United States Association of Blind Athletes
  (USABA) has an area on its website with
  information on sport adaptations.
  http//www.usaba.org/home.html
• Camp Abilities does a nice job of preparing
  adaptive phys ed students to work with
  individuals with visual impairments.
  http//www.campabilities.org
• Some thoughts about Physical education and blind
  kids http//www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/fr
  /fr14/Issue1/f140111.html
• Physical Education and Recreation
  http//www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/fr/fr26
  /Issue2/fr07sum07.htm

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More websites of interest

• Me and My PE Teacher http//www.nfb.org/images/nfb
  /Publications/fr/fr26/Issue2/fr07sum06.htm
• Fit for Life http//www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publica
  tions/fr/fr26/Issue2/fr07sum05.htm
• Listing of blind sports www.blind.msstate.edu/i
  rr/sport.html
• International Blind Sports Association
  (www.ibsa.es)
• Overcoming the Barriers to Including Students
  with Visual Impairments because it addresses low
  expectations, lack of opportunity and more - and
  gives possible solutions. http//sun1.aph.org/pe/a
  rt_l_hw.html
• Adapted Physical Education National
  Standardswww.cortland.edu/apens/15standards.htm

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The Internet has become our new classroom

• American Alliance for Health, Physical Education,
  Recreation, and Dance www.aahperd.org
• APE Aerobicswww.turnstep.com/Adaptive/index.html
• California State Council on Adapted Physical
  Education (SCAPE) sc-ape.org/index.htm
• National Center on Physical Activity and
  Disability (NCPAD) www.ncpad.org
• National Consortium of Physical Education and
  Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities
  (NCPERID)www.uwlax.edu/sah/ncperid/
• PE Centralwww.pecentral.org/adapted/adaptedmenu.h
  tml
• Project Inspirevenus.twu.edu/inspire/

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Research/Bibliography

• Gronmo, J., Augestad, B. (2001). Blind youth,
  self-concept and physical activity. Melhus,
  Norway National Resource Centre of the Visually
  Impaired.
• Korhonen, K. (2000). Physical activity of
  visually impaired high school students.
  Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Arla
  Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
• Lieberman, L. J., Houston-Wilson, C., Kozub, F.
  (2002). Perceived barriers to including students
  with visual impairments in general physical
  education. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly,
  19, 365378.
• Lieberman, L. J., McHugh, E. (2001).
  Health-related fitness of children who are
  visually impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment
  Blindness, 95, 272286.
• Lieberman, L., Stuart, M. (2002)
  Self-determined recreational and leisure choices
  of individuals with deaf-blindness . Journal of
  Visual Impairment Blindness, 96, 724735.
• Ponchillia, P. E., Strause, B., Ponchillia, S.
  V. (2002). Athletes with visual impairments
  Attributes and sports participation. Journal of
  Visual Impairment Blindness, 96, 267272.
• Winnick, J. (1985). The performance of visually
  impaired youngsters in physical education
  activities Implications for mainstreaming.
  Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 2 , 292299.
  

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Lets end with some introspective thoughts

• Greetings, while I dont have any sort of
  education-based material for you, I can speak
  from the voice of experience.  Being totally
  blind, and having been always fairly physically
  active, I can tell you that the underlying
  message that you can impart to these phys-ed
  teachers is  physical fitness is one of the
  greatest gifts you can give to your vision
  impaired students.  I was very fortunate to have
  had family and teachers who took the time to make
  sure that I was physically active and included in
  general phys-ed classes as much as possible.
   Engaging the students hands and body limbs at a
  young age is key when getting them interested in
  physical activity and the environment around
  them. 
• Also, for the adaptive phys-ed teacher, have them
  spend a class explaining and having the child
  participate in aspects of games like football or
  baseball.  I had a wonderful teacher in
  elementary school who spent a whole class period
  outside with me and a football that beeped
  explaining to me all the aspects of the game of
  football and teaching me how to throw a football.
   He did the same with a baseball and bat as well.
   He did so because he knew how badly I wanted to
  experience playing these games, and Ill always
  be eternally grateful for him doing so.

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From here to competition

• Also, strength training, wrestling, and a variety
  of different Martial Arts are wonderful
  activities for laying a healthy fitness-based
  foundation for these students be careful with
  the strength training with younger students who
  are still growing.  Feel free to contact me off
  list to further discuss, or you can check out the
  personal section of my company website for more
  of my thoughts regarding physical fitness and
  blindness.
• And, I echo your sentiments about blind students
  surpassing their sighted peers.  Ill never
  forget one wrestling match that I had in high
  school where I pinned my opponent within 45
  seconds its pretty funny when a 16 year old
  goes back to his teammate in tears because he
  lost to a blind guysmiles!  And what a
  confidence builder that was for meit set the
  tone for the rest of the wrestling season, and
  was one of the events that laid the foundation
  for me to know in my heart that I can compete
  with my sighted peers on any level and succeed.
•