Exercise is important for children (and adults) with behavior problems, disabilities or autism spectrum diagnosis. Daily exercise can help to relax the child, redirect inappropriate behavior, replace inappropriate behavior with appropriate behavior, exercise can be a reinforcer, exercise can eliminate excess energy that might have been used for inappropriate behaviors. The following is a list of some methods of encouraging and arranging for the behaviors that are called exercise.
1. Parents or guardians can arrange a schedule for the day (including the week-end) to make sure that exercise is included each day.
2. The daily schedule should have the exercise(if it is preferred) after the non-preferred activity (ex. such as homework). If exercise is a non-preferred activity then it should be scheduled before the preferred activity ( such as a computer game).
3. Exercise can be an organized activity such as soccer or basketball outside or it can be built into the routine.
For example, when parents go shopping they can park far away from the store so that the child has to walk.
4. Exercises should be designed to address any specific weakness the child needs to overcome. For example, if the child has poor fine motor co-ordination with the fingers games with the hands such as shooting basketball, playing with play dough, hand games with clapping, playing the piano or other games that require exercise and movement of the fingers would be great!
5. Another example is if the child has poor muscle tone in the stomach exercise such as aerobics with sit-ups.
6. If the arms are week movements with the arms such as pull-ups at the park, helping to carry groceries or carrying boxes of toys from the bedroom to the living room.
7. Finally a reward or reinforcer at the end of the day if the schedule is followed is important. The most effective is to have a choice from a token store of a variety of reinforcers or activities that they enjoy as a reinforcer!
8. Finally social praise is very important throughout the day especially if that is a major motivator for your child!:)
1. Parents or guardians can arrange a schedule for the day (including the week-end) to make sure that exercise is included each day.
2. The daily schedule should have the exercise(if it is preferred) after the non-preferred activity (ex. such as homework). If exercise is a non-preferred activity then it should be scheduled before the preferred activity ( such as a computer game).
3. Exercise can be an organized activity such as soccer or basketball outside or it can be built into the routine.
For example, when parents go shopping they can park far away from the store so that the child has to walk.
4. Exercises should be designed to address any specific weakness the child needs to overcome. For example, if the child has poor fine motor co-ordination with the fingers games with the hands such as shooting basketball, playing with play dough, hand games with clapping, playing the piano or other games that require exercise and movement of the fingers would be great!
5. Another example is if the child has poor muscle tone in the stomach exercise such as aerobics with sit-ups.
6. If the arms are week movements with the arms such as pull-ups at the park, helping to carry groceries or carrying boxes of toys from the bedroom to the living room.
7. Finally a reward or reinforcer at the end of the day if the schedule is followed is important. The most effective is to have a choice from a token store of a variety of reinforcers or activities that they enjoy as a reinforcer!
8. Finally social praise is very important throughout the day especially if that is a major motivator for your child!:)
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