Page 90 - Issue 112 May-June 2021

Sport Personal training for people with special educational needs and disabilities Dermot Kavanagh discusses the benefits of personal training for people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) 90 If the last year has taught us anything, it’s the importance of mental and physical wellbeing and how exercise can help see us through the trickiest of times. But exercise can be daunting enough at the best of times, so where does that leave people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)? Making exercise accessible Most personal training (PT) courses teach you an extensive array of exercises to suit different people and their different goals, but lack any real information on how to support clients with additional needs. So where does that leave the SEND community when it comes to accessing mainstream fitness platforms and related activities? In a report by Future Fit Training, Raising the Bar, it stated that 86% of fitness employees think that current training does not equip gym professionals to work with disabled people. The same study showed that 95% of respondents think that working with disabled people should be included as standard in the Personal Trainer qualification rather than being an optional study route. Gyms simply lack the accessibility, equipment and training to meet the needs of individuals with SEND. The picture isn’t much brighter in schools with the My Active Future report by Activity Alliance stating that only 25% of disabled children take part in sport and activity all of the time. The reality is that an inactive childhood is much more likely to lead to inactivity in adulthood too. According to Sport England, you are twice as likely to be physically inactive if you have a disability than if you don’t. So just because the opportunities in mainstream fitness are few and far between does that mean that people with additional needs should miss out? Inactivity can lead to an array of health issues like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes as well as having a negative impact on mental health. A combination of the above means that people with SEND are much more likely to face health issues than their peers. But shouldn’t this be seen as a fault of wider society rather than a disability- induced barrier? The key to getting people with additional needs involved in exercise is understanding and addressing the barriers that stop them accessing fitness platforms and participating in the first place. The benefits of regular exercise The benefits of exercise are widely known, with improved cardiovascular health, muscle tone, mental health and general wellbeing. For those with additional needs they can be even more beneficial. Improved muscle tone can help with conditions such as dyspraxia and Cerebral Palsy, helping to improve control over the body. Bodyweight exercises and the use of resistance can provide a great deal of much needed sensory input. Throughout lockdown I have had the absolute pleasure of working as a personal trainer with children and young people with a range of different needs; including brain injuries, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and anxiety and tic disorders. This came about after discussions with my fiancé who is a paediatric Occupational Therapist (OT). It became clear that there was a huge gap in the market for personal trainers to work with children and young people with SEND, and for those children and young people to access any platforms for exercise and physical activity. According to the My Active Future report, less than half of parents with disabled children felt they had enough support to help their child to be active. We cannot expect parents to have the knowledge on physical activity to be able to provide the sort of physical activity needed. Whilst working with my latest caseload of children and young people, I have worked as part of Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT’s); I have seen personal training written into Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs); and I have advised on bodyweight/heavy work exercises that have been incorporated into sensory diets for teenagers. Working alongside professionals such as OT’s senmagazine.co.uk ■ Exercise provides a great deal of sensory input. SEN112