Disclosure: In staying true to our mission, we offer full disclosure and transparency with any article we publish that could be construed as supporting and/or marketing products, goods, or services. It should be a noted that if we sell a product, we will profit from the sale of that product. What about those products we do not sell? Easy—we do not offer an affiliate program, nor do we use them. If we promote or suggest a product or service, it is because we think it can help and be of value to you, not because we are going to make money on it. In this article you will find several goods, sites, and services. This is our exact company association with these items:
- Autism Society—No association
- Autism Speaks—Company and company owner denotes money to them.
- Autism Fitness eBook—We purchased this product; the author has written articles for the site. No financial association.
- Aut-erobics DVD—No association. We purchased the DVD. No financial association.
- 101 Games & Activities—We do sell this product.
- Raising the Bar—We do sell this product
- Autism Fitness PAC Profile—We purchased this product; the author has written for the site. No financial association.
April is Autism awareness month. Currently 1 in 88 children have been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One in 54 boys are affected, and one in 252 girls are affected. The rates continue to dramatically rise. Reliable, accurate, and useful information should be accessible to those faced with the diagnosis of a loved one and the inevitable challenges that will arise.
The identification of a child with ASD can alter the entire family dynamic—parenting style, long-term expectations, and goals for the child might need to be altered. Many parents are unsure of where to go for information and support. In light of this, and of the many emails and questions we receive here at elitefts™ in regards to children with Autism and other disabilities, it is appropriate that we compile a comprehensive resource "directory" for parents and care providers with newly identified children. Also included is a review of some of the Autism Fitness programs on the market.
Resources
Autism Society
The Autism Society is the nation’s leading grassroots autism organization with the mission of improving the lives of all affected by autism. The goal of the Autism Society is to increase public awareness about the day-to-day issues faced by people on the spectrum, to advocate for appropriate services for individuals, and to provide the latest information regarding treatment, education, research, and advocacy.
Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization. Their goal is to fund research that investigates causes, prevention, treatments, and a cure for autism; to increase awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and to advocate for the needs of individuals with autism and their families.
Autism Speaks also provides information/videos for parents regarding the special education process. The information provided is from a lawyer, not public or private educators involved directly in the education issue on a daily level. While the information presented was factual, it can also provide an inaccurate impression of service delivery and how to work cooperatively with your local education agency. A local parent advocacy organization is likely going to be able to provide you with the most accurate information and support for any issue concerning special education.
Local Parent Advocacy Groups
Most states have a parent advocacy organization to provide support and advocacy to families of children with disabilities. Idaho Parents Unlimited and Exceptional Parents Unlimited (Fresno, California) are two types of these organizations. These organizations also better understand the nature of special education in your area, parents' rights, programming options, etc. than some of the national organizations that utilize legal advice for the educational setting. The special education journey of your child may likely be the entire duration of his/her school career. For that reason alone, it is critical that parents know how to work cooperatively with their local education agency rather than following legal advice when it’s not entirely necessary at some times. Local parent advocacy groups also provide excellent connections to events, resources, and support within the community that would be pertinent to families. Your local parent advocacy group is often the lifeline for many families in need of making connections and getting support.
Blogs/Groups
Find and create a network of support. Find local parental support groups and connect with them, live and in person, via social media, forums, etc. There are many excellent blogs out there that range from a father’s perspective, behavioral support, medical support, educational perspectives, etc. You name it, they are there. Find several that align with your own experiences, or fears, or just someone you can related to.
Autism Fitness
Autism Fitness classes are a trend gaining more recognition. There are benefits to physical activity and exercise for individuals with ASD. Motor impairments and balance, postural stability, gait, joint flexibility, and movement speed are common areas of deficit. With that in mind, it is important to point out that Individuals with ASD do not have unique or specialized physical needs or deficits that would separate them from the more general category of Developmental Disabilities. The challenge with this population is providing appropriate support strategies to remain engaged, focused, and benefiting from a prescribed exercise program. Again, those strategies and supports can also be relevant to other disabilities.
Those distinctions need to be made for several reasons. As is true in special education, the disability category should not drive programming or program placement. The child’s needs should dictate programming and interventions. The same logic should apply for parents searching for supports and interventions for their child. Parents of children with ASD should not limit themselves to any product or program geared specifically to Autism. Conversely, parents of children with other disabilities might find value and benefit from Autism programming. There are more programs popping up using the term Autism Fitness and consumers need to shop by need, rather than trend.
The programs listed below are just a sample of some different products and programs available in the realm of Autism Fitness. This is not a review of the services, certifications, or reputation of each program. This is a review ONLY on some of the products available that families faced with ASD might consider as resources.
The purpose of this DVD is not entirely clear. While this DVD is not marketed directly as an exercise DVD, it can be used in that capacity and/or to support movement therapy or as a cognitive re-mapping approach. There are four levels of varying difficulty, each level begins with a warm up and ends with a relaxation piece.
I implemented this in my self-contained classroom on multiple occasions. This is a valuable tool to pull out when a child (or class) is having difficulty settling in and focusing on an activity and/or school work. My students further along the spectrum were amazing to watch do this. There is a beauty and fluidity to some of the movements in the DVD, and these students were connected, focused, and moving beautifully.
This might be the ASD version of Sweatin To The Oldies, with much less sweating.
101 Games & Activities for Youth With Autism (book) by Suzanne Gray - $19.95
The book is a collection of activities including daily exercises, recreational activities, fine motor games and movement activities, and team and lifetime sports exercises. This is not a resource you would pull out and expect there to be a “canned” exercise program, or any kind of exercise program. Some of the outlined activities were identified as “daily exercises” but stopped short of providing much detail or direction as it relates to an overall purpose or program.
This is a resource I use in my self-contained classroom when the goal is to find an activity to fill time or support a very specific instructional goal. In the home setting, this could be used as a reference for parents looking for ideas to build an exercise program for their child. However, typical exercise programming can simply be modified and adjusted to each individual child.
The DVD follows the same format as the book. The DVD covers different drills and activities without an overall context of programming, purpose, or overall behavioral/emotional support. This is not a pop-in-the-DVD-player, instant exercise program. This is an instructional DVD to provide ideas and a breakdown of exercises.
The Autism Fitness E-Book by Eric Chessen - $24.95
This e-book covers an overview of Autism, the importance of exercise/fitness, background and support on how to teach certain exercises, sample exercises, and simple program design. This resource is a little more comprehensive and measures progress according to the PAC Profile (see next item in list) to gain full benefit of the programming which is a major financial commitment for some that might not be necessary. This is the only Autism Fitness program I reviewed that discussed and integrated behavioral strategies into the fitness programming.
Autism Fitness PAC Profile by Eric Chessen - $97.00
This is a comprehensive resource for how to develop a fitness program for an individual with ASD. This program reviews a matrix that integrates different levels of functioning in order to develop an individualized exercise program. This profile lays out programming and how/when to progress to the next level based on performance. This resource would be most appropriate for an individual far along the spectrum that requires intensive support in most areas of daily living. The cost is very high for the material received. On some levels this resource is more therapeutic/educationally structured and less like physical fitness.
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Message from the President
Amy and I have been tossing around the idea of this article for many months now. While this may seem like a simple list, the background research (aka: the amount of junk we had to sort through) was astounding. I commend Amy on a GREAT JOB! Not only is this a great list for parents and those interested in learning more about autism, but I now also have a resource to email, share, and send to everyone who asks me about this topic.
I would like to expand on one section in this article: Local Parent Advocacy Groups. As a parent of a child with Autism, I have found the Internet to be a mix of heaven and hell. I have met some great people through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks and can offer this advice for most cases. If the person you are networking with is on the spectrum themselves or is a parent of a child on the spectrum, you can learn, share, and grow. If you bump into an “expert,” “Doctor,” or anyone else on the Internet, my advice is to delete it (and not read it) or move along. This is not saying that good ones are not out there trying to help, because there are, but the odds are much higher that what you will run into is someone who really has no idea and is trying to sell you snake oil. Also, never underestimate what you can learn from basic networking with other parents. It is surprising how many of us share the same stories and situations, and I WISH I would have known the people I know now when my son was two to three years old. I could have avoided so much stress, conflict, and confusion.
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