Amanda Wilbanks

Intellectual Disabilities
Name of the Article: Understanding Challenging Behaviors of Students with Autism Spectrum
Disorder in Physical Education

Population: Physical Education teachers struggling to understand why P.E. may be difficult for
students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objective: Physical Education teachers will work on the strategies provided to make the gym
not as over-stimulating, in hopes to get better behavior and participation from the student with
Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Age/Grade Level: K-12

Procedure:
Introduction: Physical education settings seem to be a troubling area for children with Autism
Spectrum Disorder. If a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has an outburst of
challenging behavior in school, there is a strong chance that it would happen in P.E. Being in
control of the stimuli occurring and knowing what could possibly trigger an outburst of
challenging behavior could change the way the student with an intellectual disability acts in
class. Knowing these strategies for the different types of challenging behavior is very important
to having a classroom that remains under control.
Physical education classes can be challenging for children with ASD because of the amount of
stimuli occurring in the gym at any given moment. There is the sound of children running, balls
bouncing, talking, teachers talking, etc. Children with ASD can suffer from hypersensitivity,
touch sensitivity, or over focused attention to specific stimuli. A lot of loud noises at once could
trigger an episode. Being aware of the noise level in the gym is crucial. Speaking with the
parents about what their child may be most sensitive can be helpful. Most importantly,
introducing the students with ASD to a multi-sensory setting should happen gradually. Slowly
introduce new factors into their time in P.E. so that they will not feel overwhelmed. For some
with ASD, tactile sensory plays a big role, textured balls or equipment could either be too
overwhelming to them or they could overly focus on the object and not pay attention to the rest
of class. Choosing equipment that is dull, and not very textured may help ease up the stimuli
perceived by a student with ASD. The best thing is to know your students’ needs and know what
will help them best succeed in each setting. Make sure they feel comfortable, but also do the best
you can to make it where they won’t be overwhelmed to avoid challenging behavior. In some
cases, it may be best to let the student with ASD choose which piece of equipment they want to
exercise with so that they have some control over the stimuli. These strategies will differ per
student, every disability is different and each student with an intellectual disability will react
differently to different things. Being prepared for anything and knowing what to do when
challenging behavior occurs is very important when working with students with intellectual
disabilities and these strategies helped me better understand how to help in these cases.
Possible Adaptations: I don’t think anything needs to be taken away from these strategies. If
anything I would implement a parent/teacher conference or speak to the student’s homeroom
teacher about what could possibly be overwhelming to them. These strategies can be
implemented in any classroom at any age. A homeroom classroom can have overwhelming
stimuli as well, so knowing these strategies would be helpful to any teaching professional.
Reflection: Overall, I really enjoyed this article. It offered many strategies that I will implement
in my future classroom. I really appreciated the chart with the challenging behavior cause and
appropriate strategy related to it. This article would be helpful for any future teacher to read,
especially physical education teachers.
Research: The author states this strategy works because each child with ASD is unique and
learning each child’s needs is crucial to being a great P.E. teacher as well as being able to handle
the challenging situations. Using these strategies to better help and accommodate students with
ASD is very effective.

Reference
Lee, J., & Haegele, J. A. (2016). Understanding Challenging Behaviors of Students with Autism
Spectrum Disorder in Physical Education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation &
Dance, 87(7), 27-30
 Amanda Wilbanks
Learning Disabilities
Name of the Article: Adapted Bicycles for Teaching Riding Skills

Population: This is for students with disabilities (including learning disabilities) who want to
learn to ride a bike.

Objective: Students with disabilities who want to learn to ride a bike can learn by attending the
camps or clinical put on using adaptive bikes.

Age/Grade Level: Ages 7-18

Procedure:
Introduction: This article gives the strategy of using adaptive bikes to teach children with
disabilities something active. The children who participate in their clinics are for children who
want to learn to ride a bike but can’t due to their disability or not being able to balance on their
own. The children do not have the appropriate resources to learn on their own. But, with the
adaptive bikes there is a way for them to learn. Learning how to ride a bike creates a way for
them to be active and to gain more confidence in themselves.
The man who creates these bikes created more than 50 variations of the adapted bicycle at the
time of this article. There are bikes that cater to the needs of a variety of different disabilities.
The bikes typically have wide tires or rollers so that balance is not a problem for the children
when they first begin riding. They are also easier to steer; the handlebars don’t wobble as easily
as a standard bike. The adapted bike is actually quite difficult to tip over. The goal of the camps
and clinical is that by the end, the children will be able to ride a standard bike without training
wheels. This strategy of wide wheels and working it down to a standard bicycle is highly
effective and they have great success with this. Most of the participants in the camps have great
success and are able to ride a standard bike without assistance from someone or from training
wheels by the end of the camp. Having a bicycle with wider wheels or rollers for students who
are learning disabled or have any disability would be monumental in that it would allow for them
to feel included and be able to participate in a way they haven’t been able to before. This
inclusion is very important. Teaching how to ride a bike to a student with a learning disability
would be very beneficial for the student because they will be getting the physical activity that
everyone needs to be getting. This is a skill that they could hold on to for life and be able to use
daily. Riding a bicycle daily could be a life changing thing for someone with a learning
disability. Research shows that those with a disability are more prone to become overweight or
obese, so getting on a bike and riding around for even a short amount of time is crucial. This is
beneficial to their health as well as their mental health, giving them a new sense of confidence.
Possible Adaptations: If I were to adapt this strategy, I wouldn’t host camps, I would use an
adapted bike in my P.E. class. Having a bicycle unit would be enjoyable for all students, and in
the meantime, I can use the adapted bike to teach a student with a learning disability how to ride
that bike and maybe be able to get them used to the feeling so that they could ride a standard bike
eventually. This strategy would be beneficial to anyone with any type of disability that is
struggling to learn to ride a bike.
Reflection: I liked this article a lot and found it very interesting. However, I can see that it may
be a difficult strategy to implement in my classroom due to the accessibility of the bikes. If I had
the chance to do this with all of my students with a disability, I definitely would. It amazed me
that they had such a large percent of successes in their camps.
Research: This strategy works because the research shows that children with disabilities can
learn to ride a bike in a short amount of time, it may be harder for some depending on their
disability. Once the children learn to ride a bike, research has shown that the children show
improvements in mobility, level of activity, and self-esteem.

Reference
Klien, R. E., Mchugh, E., Harrington, S. L., Davis, T., & Lieberman, L. J. (2005). Adapted
Bicycles for Teaching Riding Skills. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 37(6), 50-56.
 Amanda Wilbanks
Emotional Disabilities
Name of the Article: The Effects of a Dog Reading Visitation Program on Academic
Engagement Behavior in Three Elementary Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities:
A Single Case Design

Population: Children with emotional or behavioral disabilities would be affected by this

strategy.

Objective: The objective of this article was to evaluate the effects of a dog visitation program
during reading time to see if it helped children with emotional disabilities succeed better.

Age/Grade Level: K-5

Procedure:
Introduction: The goal of this study was to see if bringing a service dog into an elementary
classroom would have a positive or negative effect. Service or therapy dogs have been known to
work in hospitals or nursing homes as a way to bring joy to the sick or elderly. In that same way,
bringing a service dog into an elementary classroom had the same positive effect. The children
showed decreased aggression and increased empathy. The students with an emotional disability
gained more confidence in their reading skills and thoroughly enjoyed reading to the dog.
In the study, they hosted a real service dog and a toy dog, while the real service dog was there
the children with emotional disabilities were more focused and didn’t get as easily distracted by
external stimuli The students also got the chance to give the dog a command which increased
their sense of control and less learned helplessness. Research shows that children with emotional
disabilities reading to a dog can also improve confidence and motivation. The children who
participated in reading to a dog felt that they performed better because the dog was not
judgmental of their reading performance as an adult would have been. The teachers felt that
having the dogs present while the students with emotional disabilities read would alleviate the
student’s anxieties. The results of the study showed that all 3 students that participated in the
study showed great improvements in on-task behavior. The students stated that they enjoyed
reading to the dogs which is important since academic engagement is tough for children with
emotional disabilities. One of the students would pet the dog as she read and would even show
the pictures to the dog, this is evidence that the student feels comfortable reading to the dog.
From this article about this study I have learned that providing a student with an emotional
disability a service or therapy dog has a great chance on improving their reading skills as well as
their own self-esteem and confidence. It may be impractical to have a service or therapy dog in
the room at all times, but having someone bring in the dog during times dedicated to reading and
children could take turns reading to the dog to improve their own reading skills and confidence.
Possible Adaptations: I could not really adapt this strategy to my classroom because I am a
future physical education teacher, so learning to read is not under my responsibilities. However,
having a service dog to participate with a student with an emotional disability in class might
improve that student’s participation. It could be a distraction to the other children in class, so
depending on the needs of the student with the disability it would have to be decided from there.
Reflection: I enjoyed this article and I think it offered great strategies that others may not think
about. Having a therapy dog in a special needs classroom can create monumental differences in
the student’s reading ability, so it is definitely something worth trying. This article gave me
insight on something I have not considered before.
Research: The author states that this strategy can be successful because of the success in the
study they performed. The students showed significant improvement with the therapy dogs
present.

Reference
Bassette, L. A., & Taber-Doughty, T. (2013). The Effects of a Dog Reading Visitation Program
on Academic Engagement Behavior in Three Elementary Students with Emotional and
Behavioral Disabilities: A Single Case Design. Child & Youth Care Forum, 42(3),
239-256.
 Amanda Wilbanks
Teaching Tolerance
Name of the Article: Size Differences

Population: This strategy can be used in any classroom having issues with bullying.

Objective: The objective of this lesson is to understand the purpose of adjectives, describe
potential classmates using adjectives, and compare the use and fairness of those adjectives.

Age/Grade Level: K-5

Procedure:
Introduction: This lesson plan creates an activity that promotes a healthier mindset and creates an
anti-harassment policy. It is important to teach children while they are young that speaking
negatively about others will not be tolerated. Teaching young minds appropriate and kind
adjectives to describe others by is a strong approach to putting an end to bullying. In this activity,
the students are challenged to kindly describe a picture of someone who is a “potential
classmate”. This challenges the students to think about the positive things about the student and
use encouraging adjectives.
This lesson plan is intended to be used when there has been bullying in the classroom, especially
about a person’s size or weight. Schools are a very common place for teasing and bullying to
happen, especially for overweight children. First, the teacher will discuss important questions as
to how the media contributes to the opinions of people being overweight, and at the school and
community level what can be done to promote living a healthier lifestyle. Then the students will
participate in an activity that will hopefully open their minds to some new ideas about adjectives
and how to use them in a kind, encouraging way. In this activity, a handout called “Letter To Our
New Classmate” will be passed out to the students. The teacher will show a picture to the
students of someone around their age and tell the students to imagine that this person was joining
their class, what can you tell about the student from the picture and how could you describe
yourself to the student. The students will then use the handout given to them to fill out a “letter”
using adjectives that are kind and encouraging. Then, the teacher can review with the class and
call on students to hear responses of how they wrote their letter to their potential new classmate.
This lesson plan also offers slightly altered plans for different subjects of school such as one for
reading and language arts and another for social studies so that the assignment will relate a little
more to the class. Implementing an anti-harassment or no bullying zone in a classroom is very
important, especially to start in an elementary class. Encouraging the students to build each other
up instead of break each other down should be taught at all ages, but starting while they are
young is the best way to make sure bullying is less likely.
Possible Adaptations: If I were to adapt this strategy into my physical education program, I
would create a physical activity out of it. I would create a game where my students would be
learning adjectives, respect for each other, and also be participating in physical activity. P.E. can
host a lot of bullying as well, especially if someone doesn’t run as fast as the others because of
weight. I can see that this strategy would be very useful in my future classroom.
Reflection: I liked this article because it challenges the students to judge someone they have
never met, but only in a positive way. Such as writing in the “letter” that the potential classmate
looks responsible. This teaches students how to use encouraging words to lift up others.

Reference
https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/size-differences
 References
Bassette, L. A., & Taber-Doughty, T. (2013). The Effects of a Dog Reading Visitation Program
on Academic Engagement Behavior in Three Elementary Students with Emotional and
Behavioral Disabilities: A Single Case Design. Child & Youth Care Forum, 42(3),
239-256.
Delano, M. E., & Stone, L. (2008). Extending the Use of Social Stories to Young Children with
Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities. Beyond Behavior, 18(1), 2-8.
Klien, R. E., Mchugh, E., Harrington, S. L., Davis, T., & Lieberman, L. J. (2005). Adapted
Bicycles for Teaching Riding Skills. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 37(6), 50-56.
Kozub, F. M. (2010). Shufflegolf: Teaching golf strategies and etiquette to young children and
learners with intellectual disabilities. Strategies, 24(2), 19-21
Lee, J., & Haegele, J. A. (2016). Understanding Challenging Behaviors of Students with Autism
Spectrum Disorder in Physical Education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation &
Dance, 87(7), 27-30

Michelle Grenier, Ben Dyson & Pat Yeaton (2005) Cooperative Learning that Includes Students
with Disabilities, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 76:6, 29-35

Snyder, P. A., Hemmeter, M. L., & Fox, L. (2015). Supporting Implementation of Evidence-
Based Practices Through Practice-Based Coaching. Topics in Early Childhood Special
Education, 35(3), 133-143.

Woodruff, E. A., & Sinelnikov, O. A. (2014). Teaching young adults with disabilities through
service learning. European Physical Education Review, 21(3), 292-308.

Yan, Z., Finn, K., Corcoran, M., & Beck, L. (2015). Using Peer Education to Promote Physical
Activity, Fitness, and Balance among Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. Medicine
& Science in Sports & Exercise, 47, 395.

https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/many-shapes-and-sizes
https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/healthy-bodies-healthy-
body-image
https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/size-differences