Before diving in…
The primary goal of APE research is to explore and discover ways to enhance quality services provided to children with disabilities. However, there’s often a disconnect between research and practitioners who may not always have access to this important information. The purpose of these research-focused blog posts is to bridge this gap.
One thing to remember when reading and understanding research is to reflect on your context. This means thinking about your students, your schools, your teaching philosophy, etc. You as the reader can choose how to apply what’s relevant to research suggestions or leave what isn’t. Further, it’s your judgement on how research connects with your teaching. The only request is that you engage in deep reflection and listening.
Visual Supports and Children with Autism
Of the many strategies in teaching children with autism, visual supports has been a go-to for APE teachers. There are loads of teacher-created resources out there with technology assisting practitioners in creating them for their students. I myself have used video modeling heavily in my classes with my go-to being the PE Chef (spaghetti and meatballs!).
We draw a lot of our reasoning for its use from evidence-based practices within special education that has shown positive results. However, APE researchers have started to question whether visual supports are “effective” when used from a special education setting to a physical activity one. This doubt comes from the differences between the two environments. APE often occurs in a larger space involving a combination of gross motor skills that includes additional auditory and visual stimuli that may influence how children with autism process and understand information. And special education is often provided in a quiet, smaller space working on fine motor and academic skills.
Although it may seem harmless to apply visual supports from special education to APE, there may be unintentional consequences if these strategies do not necessarily “work” for children with autism in a physical activity setting. These consequences could mean wasting time and resources or even impacting children’s motor skills or future physical activity opportunities.
Below I present a summary of a systematic review of literature that examined studies who looked at the use of different visual supports on the motor skill learning of children with autism in physical activity settings.
Picture Task Card
- This strategy is supported by physical activity research finding positive results for children with autism.
- APE teachers can be flexible in their picture count included within task analyses of skill components as the number may not matter.
Visual Activity Schedule
- This strategy is supported by physical activity research finding positive results for children with autism.
- APE teachers should be mindful of the number of pictures used with 8 or fewer being a starting point.
Video Modeling
- Video modeling was shown to have mixed results for its use in APE.
- Although special education supports its use, a possible reason for differences may be due to the nature of skills. Watching video models that involves gross motor skills and multiple body parts moving might be overwhelming for children with autism to process at one time.
- At this time, we might not completely know how to appropriately use video modeling.
Video Prompting
- This strategy is supported by physical activity research finding positive results for children with autism and can be seen as an alternative (as of now) to video modeling.
- APE teachers can be flexible in their video prompting count of skill components as the number may not matter.
- Video prompts of 1 minute or less may provide more sufficient information compared to longer segments.
Summary
As you come to your own judgements regarding the findings of this review, continue to reflect on your usage of visual supports and how it helps your students with autism in APE. Ultimately, you decide whether it applies to your settings or not. But, I hope you continue to critically think about the practices and strategies used in APE to provide meaningful and appropriate instruction to children with autism.
Research Article Reference
Forbes, A. S., & Yun, J. (2023). Visual supports for children with autism in physical activity. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 40(4), 781-806. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/apaq.2022-0157
If you need further clarification or information about this study, please reach out to me.
