ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: EVERYBODY IS ABLE!

Submitted by Brandi Heather (@BrandiKnss )

Adapted Physical Activity, Inclusive Physical Education, Mainstream, Differentiated Instruction, IEP Plans – all come back to one fact: Everybody is Able!

As an Adapted Physical Activity Specialist, I am often asked about using the correct terminology around adapting a physical education space for all learners. My advice is almost always this: if you are asking the question, you care about making the environment a welcoming one for all students, and that is what matters most. Don’t get caught up in terminology; get caught up in finding a student’s strengths and building on that as a starting point for helping to make physical education a place where they feel competent and confident.

An example I recently experienced is about changing perspective. I am often thinking about how to make physical activity more welcoming for all students, and while I was in Canadian Tire I came across this…

Yup, it is a creeper for under the car… however, it also is a great way to include students with limited mobility in locomotor movement in dodging, agility using their arms or feet, or being assisted by peers on their back! Here is the best part of this, so many students had so many great ideas about how to use it for balance, obstacle courses, and including all of the students in play-based activity.

There are many resources out there on Differentiating Instruction for Learning: https://education.alberta.ca/media/384968/makingadifference_2010.pdf, and Learning for All http://www.learningforallab.ca/

“Teaching all children to love moving is only limited by the imagination… find possibilities everywhere!”