ISaR Inclusive Services and Rehabilitation Didactic Pool Sports and Gymnastics Emmy Csocsán & Solveig Sjöstedt Technical University of Dortmund Department Rehabilitation Sciences Rehabilitation and Education for the Blind and Visually Impaired Project ISaR D-44221 Dortmund, Germany Tel.: +49-(0)231 / 755 5874 Fax: +49-(0)231 / 755 6219 Email: Internet: isar@post.uni-dortmund.de solveig.sjostedt@netlife.fi http://isar-international.com
Motor activities: In the beginning the pupil should be allowed to follow the movements of the teacher. This can best be done before class. Positions and movements should be taught in small steps. Use the same terminology in all instructions. Teach the child to think in movements. Give feedback as the child does not if the movements are correct. During the lecture the pupil must have enough space so as not to bump into the other children. Working in pairs can be a solution. 2
Safety: The basic and most important thing is to consider safety in all kinds of activities. The physical environment must be checked and enough space is to be ensured during all training. By using acoustic signals the child will know the directions e.g. in ball throwing or shot-put. Music: During the gymnastic movements music is good for getting the rhythm of the choreography. 3
Apparatus gymnastics It is really important that the pupil is allowed to get familiar with the apparatus before training movements. With swinging apparatuses it is important to give the pupil enough space to avoid accidents. The teacher should always stand close to the pupil to ensure that he/she does not fall off the apparatus and gets hurt. Like in the classroom it is important that the apparatuses always are in the same place in order to avoid confusion. 4
Power Sports Power sports are good because they start where the persons hold on to each other which makes the pupils with visual impairment equal to the partner. This is especially true in wrestling and judo. Before starting different kinds of power sports one should train falling and balance in order to avoid injuries. In weight lifting the student has to learn correct techniques. You should always start with light weights during technique training e.g. only the bar and no extra weights on. The teacher should stand behind the student and hold the bar together with him/her during the initial training and thus ensure that the correct technique is used. 5
Ball Throwing Games - Goal ball There are several possibilities for pupils with visual impairment to participate in ball games. The best one is goalball a game especially created for persons with visual impairment. This game is played with two teams of three players each. All the players are blindfolded, i.e. sighted children can play it as well. It is a very good game to enhance a persons capability of listening to sounds as the players have to catch a ball with a bell inside rolled along the floor. One thus has to decide the direction as well as the speed of the rolling ball. The ball thrown by the other team has to be caught before it crosses the back line of the court. If it is not successfully caught the other team scores a goal. All technical information can be found on internet e.g. at the pages of Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/goalball 6
A student with low vision can often participate in football provided the ball has a good contrast e.g. yellow. The blind children usually love kicking the ball and play goal keeper with their peers if the ball has a bell inside to inform about the direction and speed of the ball. By giving a sound where the goal keeper is, the child can kick in the right direction. Concerning games like bowls, curling, bowling and darts a sound beacon makes it possible for the children to participate. It is important to check that the other children are out of the way to avoid accidents. Ball throwing is of course possible for the children as well. Baseball type of games are, however, too difficult for most of them as hitting and catching a flying ball is hazardous. 7
Other In-door Activities Dances of different kinds are important social activities. Here the same idea as in gymnastics are to be carried out. The teacher lets the pupil follow his/her movements and the rhythm of course be followed through music. It can be useful if the pupil puts his/her hands on the teacher s to be shown the steps the smooth movements of the ankles might thus be better perceived by the student. Skipping rope may as well be done together with the teacher or a class mate in the beginning for the child to get the hang of it. 8
Outdoor Sports Running: Running is a natural activity for children. A visually impaired child might, however, have a very stiff way of running often with high but short steps, body erect and outstreched arms in front as if afraid of bumping into a wall. To get the running smoother it might be an idea to run hand in hand to give the child the feeling of proper running as well as a feeling of security. 9
Short distance: When running on a field or on the playground the pupil needs a shouter or a sound beacon to know he/she is running straight and that there are no obstacles in the way. At a sports ground the pupil may run on lane 3 and the shouter calls out on which lane the pupil is running during the race for example 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3 etc. In this way the pupil knows he/she is running straight. If the distance is for example 100 meters you need two shouters, one at 50 m who jumps aside when the runner gets close and the new shouter takes over standing at 100 m. 10
Long distance: In long distance running the pupil needs a guide. They run together either holding on to a ring or a short rope. The guide must remember to run by the side of the pupil and not drag him/her (in that case they get disqualified in a competition ) 11
Long jump: Some children with visual impairment are not very comfortable when jumping. To hang in the air might feel unpleasant. If the child has had a chance to jump up and down holding on to someone or something or jumping down from a low bench onto a soft mat in the gym hall this feeling may disappear. At the sports ground one can start training standing jump. When continuing with running jump (just a few steps) the take-off board should be broad and the measuring should be done from the point the leap started. For low vision children the board should be in a contrasting colour. A sound beacon could show the direction. 12
High jump: Like in long jump, high jump should start as standing high jump using a rope instead of a bar. The child can then feel the height of the rope and jump. For low vision children a yellow ribbon should be attached to the middle of the bar to give the idea of the height of the bar. The best way to jump is straddle jump. 13
Orientation and nature walks: These activities are best done in pairs or groups. There are compasses with braille notation and, of course, tactile maps. The child with visual impairment might be the most popular pair or group member if you make the orientation or nature walks into a competition where the pairs/groups have to answer questions at certain points along the track in a subject where the child with visual impairment excels. Because they usually have a very good memory they might be the one who can answer all questions correctly. This has been done with excellent results 14
Rowing/ tandem cycling: These activities can be done without alteration in pairs. A boat for two and a tandem bike give good opportunities to be active. Swimming: Swimming is taught in the same way as for sighted. When they know how to do it, the main idea is to let them swim along lanes as it is done in competitions. A sign must be given at the end of a lap. Children with low vision should be given swimming glasses. In case the children swim at a beach, a sound beacon is needed for them to get the correct directions. 15
Winter Sports Skating Skating is fun and can be taught the same way as for other children. One should, however, ensure that the child does not bump into other children. Here again pair skating is an ideal form of skating. Skiing The tracks must be good so that the pupil knows where he/she is. A guide should ski in front of a low vision child so that the guide is easy to follow. For a blind child the guide can ski behind to give directions and see that everything is ok. The track should not have too steep slopes. The most comfortable skiing is on a big field or on the ice on a lake. 16
Slalom It is also possible for a child to learn downhill skiing. The guide must be very skilled and competent and either ski on the side or in front of the pupil. Low vision children need good sunglasses This person has to provide the blind person with all the information normally required for skiing. The guides is also responsible for describing the surroundings and choosing the line to be taken during the descent. Once they are moving, the guide must give verbal indications to the blind skier as to what he/she has to do, in addition to the conditions on the slope to avoid nasty surprises due to sudden changes in the quality of the snow or in the terrain. 17