The purpose of an IEP, by definition and design, is to incorporate a student-centered curriculum, or elements of a curriculum, that make sense for him. With physical fitness and adaptive physical education, I’ve argued, and continue to argue, that the curriculum as a whole does not make sense, limiting the potential growth and skill development for the individual.
Specifically for IEPs, physical fitness and APE goals should follow a hierarchy:
- Foundational movement skills
- Motor planning (putting 2 or more gross motor movements together)
- Selection of activity (active play and creativity)
- Social skills within PE programming
Those social skills can be cooperative or competitive, but the choice has to make sense for the individual. Think of it from a long-term perspective as well. If we take the time to develop basic movement skills (pushing, pulling, squatting, crawling, jumping, climbing) that generalize to oth- er situations, there is a greater likelihood that the student will be able to engage in new physical activities, and she may just try new things on her own (initiative and creativity). How long, realistically, are most kids (any kids) going to play sports? The numbers dwindle into the single-digit percentages by high school, and that is for the neurotypical population. The point is that the PE system caters to the minority (those kids who do enjoy and are adept at sports), with many APE programs at- tempting to mirror general PE programs.
Sports and competitive games are not bad; they simply are not the only options, and most often are an inappropriate basis for formulating an IEP. If the concepts of teams, winning/losing, points, time contingencies, and offense/defense are too abstract for a student, why build goals around participating in such an activity when there are certainly more important and reinforcing options? Socialization is an important component of fitness and APE programming but not at the expense of actual physical development and not when there is no meaningful social interaction occurring. Since social skills (reciprocity, conversation) are often a deficit for the population with autism spectrum disorders, it does not make sense to develop these skills while so much else is going on: “Pass the ball to Kelly! No, now the other way! Look at Kelly! Now look at Chris….”
We wouldn’t expect a group of students who have not yet taken algebra to be ready for calculus. Yet we’re doing this with PE/APE because of the overwhelming misconception that kids will just know how to move naturally. The abundance of studies demonstrating a high rate of gross motor deficits in the young ASD population refutes that, as does the steady eradication of recess coupled with the significant anecdotal data that young individuals just do not go out and play anymore.
Here are some questions that should be brought along to an IEP meeting when it relates to APE, gross motor skill development or anything movement based:
- What are the general and specific goals? Why were they chosen?
- How are current skills being tested? In how many settings? By whom?
- What are the criteria for mastery/ independent performance?
- Does she enjoy the programming? What is the most reinforcing activity for her?
- I think the following are life skills that could be improved through better physical ability: __________. Can we focus on some of these?
- *Bonus*: What can we do at home to further develop and generalize these skills?
An IEP is a strategy for helping the student develop the skills he needs to succeed, and fitness should be no less a concern than any other academic or life skill. Through intelligent, creative, and individually centered programming, students with ASD and related disorders can thrive in physical education settings and beyond.
Eric Chessen, M.S., YCS, is an exercise physiologist who works with young athletes on the autism spectrum.
Reprinted (in shortened form) with permis- sion from “Physical Fitness and the IEP” by Eric Chessen, 2014. Parenting Special Needs Magazine, May/June 2016, Copyright 2016 by Parenting Special Needs LLC. www.parentingspecialneeds.org
