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There are over 61,000 school-age children with visual impairments in public schools today. Research has shown that they are often behind their peers in physical activity participation and in motor skills. In order for children with visual impairments to become physically active and self-determined adults, they must be provided the same opportunities as their same-age peers with the support necessary to provide full access to the physical education curriculum. Recent research has shown that teaching children with visual impairments is one of the most complicated inclusion challenges facing physical educators today. Children with visual impairments also experience numerous barriers to physical activity in recreation and personal fitness programs outside of the school setting. Since physical educators report numerous challenges in this area, the purpose of this article is to provide some basic strategies for the inclusion of children with visual impairments in general physical education classes so that they can meet the national and state standards for physical education and make progress toward full participation and self-determination in society.

Summer camps all across the United States have been forced to make changes to programming in order to follow the COVID-19 pandemic guidelines. As many universities and schools transitioned into [...]

Abstract Camp Abilities is an overnight sports camp for children and youth with visual impairments, blindness, or deafblindness. Camp Abilities started in 1996 at The College at Brockport in Brockport, [...]

Status of Physical Activity Among Youths with Visual Impairments Over 25 million children in the United States participate actively in youth sports. Developmentally appropriate sport programs focusing on skill acquisition, [...]

The purpose was to examine attitudes of aquatic instructors (female, n = 59; male, n = 23) toward teaching swimming to students with mild to severe disabilities in an inclusive setting. Aquatic instructors from 28 states representing 75 cities across the U.S. participated in this study. Data were collected by mail with a modified version of Rizzo's (1984) "Attitudes of Physical Educators Toward Teaching Handicapped Pupils" (renamed "Physical Educators' Attitudes Toward Teaching Individuals with Disabilities -- Swim"). A correlated t test showed that aquatic instructors were significantly more favorable toward teaching aquatics to students with mild disabilities than students with severe disabilities. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that conducting an inclusive aquatic program was the best predictor of favorable attitudes toward including students with mild disabilities, while having more certifications in aquatics was the best predictor of favorable attitudes toward including students with severe disabilities in regular aquatic programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are over 61,000 school-age children with visual impairments in public schools today. Research has shown that they are often behind their peers in physical activity participation and in motor skills. In order for children with visual impairments to become physically active and self-determined adults, they must be provided the same opportunities as their same-age peers with the support necessary to provide full access to the physical education curriculum. Recent research has shown that teaching children with visual impairments is one of the most complicated inclusion challenges facing physical educators today. Children with visual impairments also experience numerous barriers to physical activity in recreation and personal fitness programs outside of the school setting. Since physical educators report numerous challenges in this area, the purpose of this article is to provide some basic strategies for the inclusion of children with visual impairments in general physical education classes so that they can meet the national and state standards for physical education and make progress toward full participation and self-determination in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I have no doubt that students with disabilities would be better served by physical educators who, having demonstrated proficiency on a national certification exam, possess a standardized knowledge base in [...]

Camp Abilities is an overnight sports camp for children and youth with visual impairments, blindness, or deafblindness. Camp Abilities started in 1996 at The College at Brockport in Brockport, NY. Camp Abilities is now found in 17 sites around the U.S. and in six other countries. The purposes of the camp are 1) to empower children and youth with visual impairments to become actively involved in sports, 2) to educate professional preparation students and teachers about how to teach children with visual impairments, 3) to conduct research in the area of physical activity best practices and children with visual impairments, and 4) to provide a respite to the parents. Camp Abilities has helped an entire generation of children become more active, and has also educated communities where they live about the physical abilities and potential of people with visual impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]