Fi g ht and le ft side and a bac k and a fro nt si d e. Tr icks to foster lea rn in g o f specifi c par ts o f t he bo d y ca n eas il y b e ada pt ed to th e trampolin e too. Th e famili ar strad d le jump and th e tu ck jum p ca n be re nam ed th e toe- to uch jump and th e knee -hu g jump . In add iti o n, th e tra mpol in e ca n help th e ch il d see him se lf in relati o n to hi s enviro nm ent. Th e fee li n g of bein g th row n u pwa rd an d pull ed downwa rd is a fee lin g t ra m po line enthu sias ts take fo r g rant ed, but m an y LD children have n eve r jumped up. Wh en th ey beco me airborne o n th e tram polin e, th ese children deve lop a co nce pt of th emse lves as separa te fro m th e wo rld around .
Teaching learning disability children how to jump on trampoline
I CAN'T do
A SEATdROP
A trampoline program lor children with learning disabilities by Natalie Bee rs " Sw in g th e ba ll oo ns hi gh ... jum p w ith yo u r eyes shut.. hop o n o ne loo t. " Th ese co mm ands are no t th e co nve nti o nal in stru cti o ns hea rd in th e tr amp o lin e class . Ye t, as we know, all ch il d ren perform at d iffe ren t levels; and l or so m e ch il d ren simp le bo un cin g is a cons iderably d iff icul t leat. The t ra diti o nal exercises and stunt s such as sea t-dro ps, swivelhip s, and va ri o us Ilip s ca n no t be eas il y mas tered by all stu de nt s in a t ra mp o lin e c lass. In a typ ica l sc hool roo m class of li ftee n student s, at leas t o ne w ill have such a p ro b lem on a trampolin e. Th is ch il d n o t on ly fa il s at th e tas ks at hand, he is exceedi n gly hype ractive ahd d istrac tabl e. H e is frequ entl y th e class " tr o ubl emaker." H oweve r, thi s labe l may be a mi sno m er. These chil dre n, w h o ca n be p icked o ut in an y classroo m, actu all y have a lea rnin g di sab ili ty w hi ch ca n i mpede th eir m o tor develop ment as we ll as affec t ing academ ic perfo rma nce. Beca use of th eir in ad equ ate mo to r deve lopment , w hi ch res ults in co ordin ati o n, strength , flex ib ility, and ba lance pro bl ems, th e t ram po li ne in str uc to r mu st be awa re of th e la b el " lea rnin g d isa bili ty " and b e ab le to recog ni ze t he many i mpl ica tio ns o f the te rm in hi s wo rk w ith th ese yo ungs ters. If th e t ram po lin e prog ram is ad ap ted to m ee t th e nee d s o f th e lea rnin g di sab ilit y child , h e ca n grea tl y be nef it fr o m it. H ow then, ca n we co nst ru ct a prog ram fo r the uncoo rd in ated chil d w ho has a learn ing d isa bilit y? Fir st, it is n ecessa ry to und erstand how an LD ch ild behaves and w here hi s m ajo r d if ficulti es lie . Children w ith lea rnin g di sab iliti es are n o t retarde d . Th ey are of average o r above ave rage intelli ge nce, b u t o ft en fun ct ion poo rl y at pe rcep tu al- motor tasks. They have ad eq uate vision, hea ri ng and emo ti o nal adj ustment. The chil d is also fr ee fr o m p hys ica l ha nd ica ps. Howeve r, an LD child pe rfo rm s in su ff icientl y in hi s academ ic end eavo rs, is hype rac ti ve, has
GYMNAST June/ July '74
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poo r balance, has tr o u b le co ntro llin g hi s impul ses, and lacks muscl e co n tro l. Beca use of t hese charac teri sti cs, man y of w hi ch invo lve movem ent, ba lan ce, and mu sc le deve lop ment , a speciall y adap ted p rogra m of i ns tru cti o n on th e tram po li ne aids th em in d efi cient areas. Ga inin g bett er ba lance an d pos tu re are part o f any tram po lin e class, but are especiall y i mpo rt ant for a lea rn in g d isab ilit y gro up . Th e ch il d sh o ul d first wa l k aro un d th e edge, th en forwa rd and backward, and fin all y o n ha nds and kn ees discove ri ng th e give o f th e canvas. H e m ay tr y lea nin g like a tr ee b low in g in th e w ind , or ro ll like a ba ll tryin g always to maint ain hi s ba lance. Nothin g is m o re im port ant o n th e t rampo lin e th an ba la nce w hil e bou ncin g. Th e chil d sho ul d fi rs t be bo un ced by th e teach er w hil e sitt ing down, next w hil e stand in g up, and fin all y be all owed to boun ce b y him se lf. If he has ex tr eme d iff icult y w ith thi s, ho ld in g o nto a towe l o r th e in stru cto r' s hand m ay help. Gam es are good ways to in crease th e d ri ve of su ch yo un gste rs, and are easil y adap ted to pro m o te ba lance. Red- ligh t, gree n-li ght , th e Bunn yhop, Pop goes th e Wease l, or th e Mex ica n H at Da nce w ill add fun to d evelo pin g b alan ce. Af ter th e chil d ren ca n do sim p le bo un cin g, mo re co mpl ex stu nt s ca n be intro du ce d . Ca n th e child jum p o n o ne foo t and th en th e oth er ? Can he cl ap his hand s or sw in g h is arm s w hil e bou ncing? Ba ll oons ca n foster awa reness o f th e u p and down moti o n of t he arms (by fo rcin g arms to be th row n ove r h ead and bro ugh t down to make ba ll oo ns fl y.) A ga m e of " Sim o n Says" w ill ho ld att enti o n bett er w hil e the y are lea rnin g a new ac ti vit y: " Simo n Says jump w ith fee t apart , ju mp w ith fee t toge th e r." Tas ks an d ga m es such as these are good fo r lea rnin g disab ilit y chil d ren since th ey can succeed. Enco urage t his success to deve lo p th eir co nfidence ill t hem se lves and th eir bo dies. Th e tram po lin e cla ss ca n h elp an LD yo un gs t e r deve lo p b ody awa r e n ess, knowledge of th e bo d y pa rt s and a co rrec t image of hi mself. H e fee ls most th at pa rt w hi ch hit s t he ca nvas firs t, an d co nseque ntl y becom es aware o f it. Th e seat-dr o p ackn ow ledg es th e sea t, a kn ee-d ro p th e kn ees and a frontd rop th e fro nt sid e. Th e child rea li zes he h as a
Frequ entl y, it is hard for lea rnin g di sa bilit y stu de nt s to jum p w h ere th ey are in stru cted . Th ey need to deve lo p spacial orientati on in th e space su rro undin g th em . A sim p le aid t o g ive visu al gu id elines for an un co nt ro lled jumper is a bri ght co lo red squ are m ade fro m tape in th e ce nt er o f th e mat. Eac h m ember o f the class sh o uld also b e all owe d to ge t o n th e trampolin e app aratu s by him se lf, oth erw ise he will be un sure of how hi gh he is. Th e in stru ctor ca n o ff er assistance, but' th e teac her w ho lifts hi s stu dent u p is takin g away a lea rnin g ex perien ce Sin ce many leJrnin g d isab ilit y children h ave d iso rga ni ze d be hav io r du e to d isa biliti es in co nn ec tin g and se qu e n c in g eve nt s, perfo rmin g rou tin es o n th e tram po lin e ca n he lp th em in orga ni zin g behav ior. The commo n game of " Ad d- a-t r ic k " is ad va nt ageo us for the m. Th e ch il d mu st pay ca ref ul att en tio n to each prev io us tri ck, o rga ni ze th em, and th en add h is own. Th e tram po lin e teac her sho ul d un de r stand that many lea rni ng d isa bili ty chil dren have d iff icult ies in processi ng in fo rm ati o n. So m e may have audit ory d isc ri mi natio n pro bl ems. They may hea r th e d irec ti o n, "Do a back d ro p ," b ut b e unabl e to pu t t h e soumi s th ey h ea r into a mea nin gful sent ence . rh e res ult m ay be a fro nt drop. To h elp such a chil d, a sti ck fi gure drawin g of a back drop ca n aid the stud ent. Ro u tin es C,1I 1 be illu strated too , and th e ch i ld wi ll lea rn to perfo rm seq u ences in th is ma nn er. a red and gree n visual cu e ca n b e adap ted to th e Red-li ght , G ree n- li ght game to mak e th e signals m o re ex pli cit fo r th ese chil d ren. Perh aps th e m os t im po rt an t by -p rodu ct o f teac hi ng tra m po li ne act iv iti es to chi ld ren w ith th is lea fll i ng prob lem is th e soc ial and psyc h o log ical impact it ca n have. By beg innin g w ith ve ry bas ic ski l ls the chil d ren are abl e to deve lop d pos iti ve se lf-co n cep t. W hen th e ca ref ul illS tru cto r p ld ns a n exe rcise th e ch i Id ren can perform , for th e firs t t im e, they may gras p th e mea nin g of success. The em ph as is, t herefore, sho uld be on lead- u p ac ti vities , and a develop m en ta l se qu ence of exe rcises, r ath er t han the gymn dst ic sk ill. 1hi s w ill give th e clum sy boy o r girl , w hose fri end s make fun of th em, w ho is di slik ed by oth ers, and chose n last fo r ga mes, a chan ce to pla y in stead o f wa t ch. In lin e w ith thi s, th e chil d ren sho ul d be imp o rt ant i n th e sp o ttin g process. Th ey lea rn sa fet y tec hniqu es as we ll as beco min g a p art of th e group, So m ethin g we are awa re of as tramp o lin e ins tru cto rs, is th e be n efit th e tram po lin e is to ge nera l fitn ess, w hil e co n t ri b u ti ng to stre ng th , endu rance, and awa ren ess. Mos t yo un gs ters run and p lay, getti ng al l the st ren u o us exe rcise t hey n eed , b u t a lea rnin g d isab i lity ch il d w ho lacks the co nf ide nce in hi s body 's abilit y to perfo rm , ce rt ainl y ca n be nefit fro m thi s t ramp o lin e exper ience.
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