THE BENEFITS OF SPORT AND EXERCISE FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

By Lauren Fulcher

Balance:

Coordination:

Fine-Gross motor skills:

• Fine motor skills improve with physical activity which leads to improved fine motor skill in activities of daily living such as writing tasks.

• The consequences of poor physical conditioning and motor abilities observed in children with visual impairement include exclusion and marginilisation from peers (Lieberman & McHugh, 2001; Kalloniatis & Jonston, 1994).

• Boys have higher overall motor development than girls.

• The older the participant the better the performance of participants in overall motor development.

• Children who develop their motor skills and believe they are skillful, have confidence (Yusof, Aiman, Zawi, Hasan, & Radzi, 2013) and thereby are more willing to participate in physical activity in games, being involved peer groups, and participate in creative and sport activities.

• Physical activity in early childhood may help develop motor skills
  •  Timmons B. W., Naylor P.-J., Pfeiffer K. A. Physical activity for preschool children - How much and how? Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 2007;32:S122–S134. doi: 10.1139/H07-112. [Cross Ref] [Ref list]

• Motor skills in young children are thought to be linked with various health outcomes such as self-esteem 1, cardiorespiratory fitness 2 and cognition 3.
  • Ulrich B. D. Perceptions of physical competence, motor competence, and participation in organized sport: Their interrelationships in young children. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. 1987;58(1):57–67. doi: 10.1080/02701367.1987.10605421.
  • Okely A. D., Booth M. L., Patterson J. W. Relationship of cardiorespiratory endurance to fundamental movement skill proficiency among adolescents. Pediatric exercise science. 2001;13(4):380–391. doi: 10.1123/pes.13.4.380.
  • Review The relationship between motor skills and cognitive skills in 4-16 year old typically developing children: A systematic review. van der Fels IM, Te Wierike SC, Hartman E, Elferink-Gemser MT, Smith J, Visscher C J Sci Med Sport. 2015 Nov; 18(6):697-703.

Team Work:

• Teamwork links with inclusiveness and social interaction between peers. It also improves communication skills between all involved.

Communication:

• Visually impared people have many different ways to communicate. Understanding that every persons communicates differently and adapting this allows the individual to be included in all of the activities.

Social Inclusion Confidence through building friendship networks:

Other:

• Self esteem: physical activity/ participation in sports  increases self-esteem through positive social interaction with peers.
  • The acquisition of motor skills, as well as the building of positive self-esteem, is for every person of primary importance and more so for people with visual disabilities, due to the fact that to a large extent this specify the level of independence/autonomy, the degree of adequacy of adaptive behaviour, as well as the quality of their life.

• Orientation and mobility:

• • O&M is about knowing where you are, where you want to go and how to travel there safely.

• • The use of mobility aids help with improving O&M.
    • Aids include long canes, guide dogs, gps devices and electronic aids known as Miniguides. Each mobility aid has different advantages but they can all be uses to assist participants to travel with more safety and confidence in their environment.
    • Enable or improve independent travel.

• • canes
    • Long
      • Designed to physically detect obstacles as well as changes in height of the ground in front of the individual.
      • Can be solid, folding, or telescopic with the latter two being easy to slip into a handbag or backpack when not in use.
      • Light and have a range of replaceable cane tips for travelling over different surfaces.
    • Identification
      • AKA ID canes.
      • Smaller than long canes.
      • Their white and red colours let other people know that the person holding the cane has reduced vision.
      • Can be useful in difficult situations such as negotiating crowds or crossing the road.
    • Support
      • Useful for people who experience problems with their balance when walking.
      • Adjustable in length to ensure each participant gets the perfect fit.
      • Also have white and red coating that lets others know that the user has difficulty with their vision. This is beneficial when using public transport, shopping or when walking in crowds.
      • White and red coating is reflective which makes it more visible-and safer- when travelling in low light conditions.

• • Guide dogs
    • Trained to enhance the mobility of people with impaired vision by avoiding obstacles and stopping at steps, kerbs and other important changes in the surface of the path ahead.
    • Can be trained to locate objects such as seats, traffic light poles, doors and shop counters.
    • Can also be trained to assist people to get to destinations that they use regularly such as school, work, shops, and community venues.
    • NDIS participants can apply to receive funding for the ongoing costs associated with owning a Guide Dog such as food, vet bills and pet insurance.

• • Miniguides
    • Handheld electronic devices that detect objects in the environment using sound waves.
    • Designed to be used with a long cane or guide dog.
    • Great for detecting objects such as poles, seats or obstacles at head height.
    • Can even be used to find doorways or gaps between buildings.

• • Technology
    • Trekker Breeze GPS
      •  Handheld GPS device specifically designed for people who are blind or vision impaired.
      • The device speaks the names of streets, intersections and other important places in the environment while the user is travelling on foot or in a vehicle.
      • Can also provide the user with information about shops and services that are nearby with the press of a button.
    • Iphone GPS
      • Guide Dogs NSW/ACT can offer participants short term loans of apple iphones while they learn to use navigation Apps such as the industry leading GPS app.
      • O&M specialists provide training and assessments so that participants get the right device, software and have the skills required to use them well.
    • https://www.guidedogs.com.au/what-we-do/assistive-technology

• • Low vision Services
    • If you have trouble with daily tasks such as difficulty reading, recognising faces or watching tv, then low vision services could be of help.
    • Focus on helping you to live safely and independantly with low vision.
    • Provide practical advice and aids to help in daily life.
    • Many of the aids can be funded through existing government schemes.
    • Magnifiers, monoculars, lighting systems, and other devices such as CCTVs to help with reading.

• • Childrens services
    • Getting around freely and confidently is just as important to children who have a vision impairment as it is for any other child. Guide Dogs NSW/ACT provides specialised Orientation & Mobility services for kids to ensure that safe and purposeful exploration of their world is achieved at important milestones in their development.
    • We deliver training programs that are tailored to each child's needs, age and skill level. The program grows with the child, starting with pre-cane skills with babies and infants, and progressing to independent travel around school grounds, between school and home, and to sport and work experiences as needed.
    • Orientation & Mobility specialists work with everyone involved in the child's life to reinforce this training at home, pre-school, school and in the community. When a child has complex needs we work with other early intervention specialists in a trans-disciplinary model so that the child benefits from having a range of health professionals who fully understand their needs.

• • • As advocates for people with a vision impairment, we can provide recommendations for environmental changes to school grounds and playgrounds, and advice on games and the tools needed to enable the child to fully develop their orientation and mobility potential.

• • • Group programs
    • Guide Dogs NSW/ACT runs a number of programs for small groups of school-aged children who are blind or vision impaired.

• • • • Sydney Kids
        • Here at Guide Dogs, we feel that it is really important for children with vision loss to experience and learn the skills needed to catch public transport. Our Sydney Kids program enables children between 6-12 years to practise their skills in a supervised environment.
        • This FREE holiday program is designed to enhance your child's independent travel skills in a fun and inclusive environment.
        • To register your child for the next program, please call us call us on 1800 484 333 or fill out an enquiry form.

· Youth Program

• • • • • The Guide Dogs Youth Program is designed to give high school students with all levels of vision impairment, unique experiences where they can continue take their independent travel and life skills to the next level.
        • The series of FREE events associated with the Program are held over the school holidays and give students the opportunity to design their own adventure.

includes them into an environment that

People with vision impairment are often excluded from sport on the grounds that they are not able to participate due to their impairment.  this leads to a lack of social interactions and a hindered ability to make friends.. This judgement is misguided as

Blind sport NSW has programs that aim to induce the benefits of sport and physical activity. One of the programs is the High Five 4 Fun! Program.

Benefits:

Sport and physical activity have many benefits for everyone involved and their impact on the individual are endless. Sport/ Physical activity participation by the visually impaired is important as it allows them to integrate into society with their peers without excluding them. People with vision impairment experience many benefits from sport including improvement in general health, social inclusions, balance, motor skill acquisition, communication and teamwork. These benefits are essential for everyday living.

Sport/physical activity has a major impact on general health as it has various benefits on all aspects of health. Firstly, it improves cardiovascular health such as decreasing resting heart rate and blood pressure.

Sport is used as an integration factor for people that have physical and psychological impairments as it enables the social interaction and participation with peers (1).

Sport allows everyone to interact with their peers, creating bonds of friendships in the fact that they have a common interest and hobby.  Social interactions with peers through building friendship networks boosts self-esteem which allows them to further their independence and achievements.

Balance is an important factor for the visually impaired as it helps to encourage their integration in space. Goalball infers many effects on the improvement of motor skills such as rapidly changing direction, stopping, landing and jumping which may confer excellent balance properties.

Motor skill acquisition is important as it has a huge impact on the level of independence/autonomy, the degree of adequacy of adaptive behaviour, as well as the quality of life. The improvement of fine motor skills in sport leads to fine motor skills being improved in activities of daily living, such as writing tasks. It has been found that children who develop their motor skills and believe that they are skilful have confidence and therefore are more willing to participate in physical activity in games, being involved in peer groups and participate in creative and sport activities (2).

Research has suggested that physical activity in early childhood helps to develop motor skills (3) (Timmons) which in young childhood are thought to be linked with various health outcomes such as self-esteem (4) , cardiorespiratory fitness (5) , and cognition (6) .

Communication is an important skill requirement in all situations. Visually impared people have many different ways to communicate. Understanding that every persons communicates differently and adapting this allows the individual to be included in all of the activities.

Teamwork links with inclusiveness, socials inclusion confidence and promotes interaction between peers. It also helps to improve communication skills between the support team, the visually impaired individual and their team/peers

Many sports have been adapted to include people with disabilities, such as swimming and football, but there has also been sport specifically created for specific impairments such as goalball for the visually impaired. The latter can induce many physical and psychologic improvements of fitness and wellbeing.

Sport and physical activity have many benefits for everyone involved and their impact on the individual are endless. Sport/ Physical activity participation by the visually impaired is important as it allows them to integrate into society with their peers without excluding them. People with vision impairment experience many benefits from sport including improvement in general health, social inclusions, balance, motor skill acquisition, communication and teamwork. These benefits are essential for everyday living.

• it improves cardiovascular health such as decreasing resting heart rate and blood pressure.

• Sport is used as an integration factor for people that have physical and psychological impairments as it enables the social interaction and participation with peers (1).
  • creating bonds of friendships in the fact that they have a common interest and hobby.- this boosts self-esteem which allows for further independence and achievement.

• Balance is an important factor for the visually impaired as it helps to encourage their integration in space.
  • Goalball is a sport specially designed for the visually impaired.
  • It infers many effects on the improvement of motor skills such as rapidly changing direction, stopping, landing and jumping which may confer excellent balance properties.

• Motor skill acquisition is important as it has a huge impact on the level of independence/autonomy, the degree of adequacy of adaptive behaviour, as well as the quality of life.
  • The improvement of fine motor skills in sport leads to fine motor skills being improved in activities of daily living, such as writing tasks.
  • Research has suggested that physical activity in early childhood helps to develop motor skills (3) (Timmons) which in young childhood are thought to be linked with various health outcomes such as self-esteem