Opportunities for Adults at Their Local Recreation Center

Opportunities for Adults at Their Local Recreation Center essay assignment

Opportunities for Adults at Their Local Recreation Center essay assignment

By Martin E. Block

Deena is 25 years old and has been working part time at a local grocery store for the past five years. She lives in a group home with three other young women, all like Deena who have intellectual disabilities. Deena can read a little bit, enough to follow a simple recipe (pictures help though), to identify the men’s versus the women’s rest room, and to read labels to stock shelves at the grocery store (pictures on the cans help more than the words). Deena can do basic math too, such as measuring a cup of water when she is cooking, using money to buy things at the store, and telling time.

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Deena was never athletic or one who liked physical education (PE) when she was at school, and she stopped taking PE after the tenth grade when PE was no longer required. She tended to be a little on the heavy side when she was in school, but living on her own and not being physically active has led to an additional 25-pound weight gain. Some of Deena’s friends in her group home similarly are not very physically active and have gained weight. The group home is in a nice neighborhood that is a short walk to a bus stop, but there are no walking trails or sidewalks in the neighborhood. The most physical activity Deena and her friends get daily is walking two blocks to the bus stop. The bus drops Deena off right in front of the grocery store where she works, and there are fast food restaurants, banks, and a department store all within the little shopping center.

One of the group home workers suggested that Deena and her friend try and find something more active to do during their leisure time other than watching TV. They all tried Special Olympics in the past, and they continue to participate in Special Olympics bowling every Sunday from November to February. Deena and her friends enjoy the camaraderie of being with others during bowling, and they all enjoy bowling and the little competitions that are created for them each month. However, bowling is not very physically demanding, and it only lasts for three months of the year. The group home worker is hoping to find something that would get the women to be a little more active and last throughout most of the year.

A new community recreation center recently opened in their town, and by good fortune the bus that takes the women to the shopping center continues two more stops and drops people off right in front of the recreation center. One day the group home worker went on the bus with the women to the new recreation center to take a tour. The tour began with an exercise room filled with weight-lifting machines, free weights, and a variety of cardio machines. The women then walked by two dance studios where different types of dance and exercise classes were offered. Next to the dance studios in a room where there were no windows was the yoga/Pilates studio. Down the hall was a game room with pool and ping-pong tables, and farther down was another big room with comfy chairs and couches, as well as tables and chairs for board and card games and for just sitting and reading. Finally, the women saw the locker rooms with bathrooms and sinks, as well as places to change and shower.

The women were impressed with what they saw, and at the end of the tour, they sat down with one of the recreation center’s program directors. She explained about the various classes that were offered. Although this recreation center did not offer any “therapeutic classes,” they did offer a range of beginning to advanced classes. Beginning classes really focused on helping participants be successful and enjoy the activity. The program director also explained about support that would be provided to help the women learn how to use the weight and cardio equipment. This included a free 30-minute introductory session, and then staff would be available in the exercise room to help any of the women as needed.

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It all sounded great to the group home worker and the women, although none of them seemed too excited about the weight-lifting room. They did like the bikes and treadmills that had TVs on them. The cost was going to be an issue. Although the women did get some financial support from the state, none of them made much money in their part-time jobs. Between rent, food, and insurance, there really was not much money left at the end of the month. Fortunately, the community center was willing to give all the group homes in the area a special deal for coming to the center during the day when it was less busy. This worked well with the women and their schedules, as they all worked most days from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. They could go from work to the recreation center three to four times per week right after work.

Deena and her friends had to decide what to do at the recreation center. After being on their feet all day at the grocery store, something that allowed them to sit and perhaps stretch would be best. As it turned out, there was a beginning yoga class on Mondays at 3:00 p.m., and all four women from the group home signed up for that class. The women would eat lunch at the grocery store in the lounge area, and then they would take the bus to the recreation center. The group home worker assigned to Monday afternoons met the women at the recreation center, where they would all check in and change in the locker room. From the locker room, they all went to the bike area of the exercise room and rode a recumbent bike and watched TV for 30 minutes. After biking, they all went to yoga class from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., would go back to the locker and change, and then take the bus back home. The group home worker exercised with the women and helped them as needed in the locker room and the exercise room. The yoga instructor was great at taking the time to explain each movement and walk around and help everyone who needed help. Although the women were not the best at yoga, there were a couple older men who needed more help that the women!

On Wednesdays and Fridays, the women following a similar routine in terms of eating lunch at the grocery store, taking the bus to the recreation center, and then riding the bike for 30 minutes. Instead of yoga the women, did 30 minutes of weight lifting. A different group home worker met them at the recreation center, and she worked out with the women and helped them as needed. The women were given a workout routine to follow that was laid out in a notebook that had ten different exercises. Each exercise had its own page with pictures of the exercise showing one of the women on the machine in the ready position, doing the movement, and the end position. These pictures were great at helping the women know how to do the movements. In addition to the pictures, there was a number on top of each page, and that number matched the number on each machine. After several weeks, the women had mastered the routine and how to do the exercises on each machine, but they still kept the notebook with them. Being together (they partnered up and took turns on the machine) was nice for the women, and they encouraged each other and just chatted as friends do.

The recreation center proved to be a great success. Each of the women lost a little bit of weight and gained some strength and endurance. The yoga helped them stretch out after standing at work all day. The yoga instructor created a picture book for the women similar to the exercise book the women used for weight lifting. One of the weekend group home workers led an abbreviated yoga class with the women on Saturdays and Sundays, and this proved to be great fun for the women. Although the group home worker did her best, the women often corrected her on how to get into positions and how to sustain a position. But it all was great fun for everyone, and it proved to be a calming activity to start each weekend day after breakfast.

Case Study Facilitation Questions

1. What is the critical issue in this case?

2. Are there related issues? Things like insurance, cost, transportation? Some of these were dealt with, but how might you deal with these issues if you were setting up a similar program?

3. What are some of the specific elements that contribute to these issues? Again, the major issues were solved in this case, but how might you set up a similar relationship with a local recreation center in your community?

4. Who are the characters in the case?

5. What role would a physical educator play in this case? These are adults, but could an adapted physical educator still have a role in helping get this program started and succeeding?

6. What would you recommend to the group home providers and staff at the recreation as specific strategies to make this program work more effectively?

7. Are there any related topics for discussion? For example, how can you sustain the program (what if the women are bored and want to quit)? How can you measure progress and continue to push the woman to improve?

8. What specific accommodations are required to make the recreation center and the exercise room work for these women?

Taken from: Editors: S. N. Hodge, N. M. Murata, M. E. Block, & L. Lieberman (2020). Case Studies in Adapted Physical Education: Empowering Critical Thinking, 2nd edition. Routledge, New York.