1/10/2024 0 Comments Brain gym for autismGeneral physical fitness – pushing, pulling, climbing, jumping and throwing – builds the foundation for success in specific athletic activities. We do not need all of the branches in order to have a healthy, stable root and trunk system, but we do need those roots and trunk to grow solid branches. These are all highly specified activities.Ĭonsider general fitness and play as the roots and trunk of a tree. Being good at baseball is not a prerequisite for being good at soccer, and being good at tennis is not a prerequisite for being good at football. There is a reason there are very few professional athletes playing more than one sport. These sport-specific movements and activities do not generalize much to daily living skills or other athletic and play situations. A sport, while certainly beneficial for a variety of physical, social and cognitive processes, includes a very specific set of skills. This is one of the limitations of sports activities. Generalization is the ability to perform a specific skill in a variety of situations. The generalization component is enormously important. He is beginning to incorporate movement into non-structured activities. During breaks from specific activities, Frankie will now pick up a SandBell (a rubber disc filled with sand) and throw it around, or jump over the hurdles. These are skills that may or may not be easily taught, but have a great role as “foundational” movement and play skills. We have focused on increasing both his tolerance of physical activity and performing multiple steps of an activity, such as picking up a ball, carrying it overhead and then throwing it. For example, I have been working with “Frankie” for about six years now. Play is also a skill that can be taught using exercise as its components. I often structure my fitness programs as “structured learning for chaotic situations.” Play is chaotic it is random, fun and an essential part of the human experience. The struggles in getting children involved in physical activity can be because many families live a sedentary lifestyles, have poor nutrition and few opportunities to participate in vigorous fitness activities. When these behaviors do not emerge in childhood, there is an increased risk of muscular imbalances, low muscle tone and lack of initiative to engage in free play or movement activities. A lot of gross motor development relies upon exploratory activities, including climbing, jumping, running, and variations of bending and squatting. I can put together the greatest series of hopping exercises, but if my athlete with autism cannot yet tolerate standing on two spot markers and making eye contact with me, this activity may be very frustrating to them. Often times the two biggest obstacles in introducing fitness to individuals on the spectrum is trying to understand where the individual is from physical and cognitive skill level and selecting the appropriate activity for that individual. Autism CARES Act Reauthorization (2019).Health and Home and Community-Based Services.
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