Physical Activity and Social Engagement Patterns During Physical Education of Youth With Visual Impairments

All individuals, with and without disabilities, focus on their quality of life and wellbeing (Williams, 1990). Physical activity enables them to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, and obesity (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996).

Through physical education, individuals with disabilities receive a variety of opportunities to learn motor skills, to develop physiological systems, to impact their psychological processes, to increase social skills; and generally to affect their emotional well-being (Cooper & Quatrano, 1999). For individuals with visual impairments, an increased tendency toward a more sedentary lifestyle exists, making physical activity an important concern (Longmuir & Bar-Or, 2000). Social engagement is another critical area for individuals with visual impairments: If they lack the skills to participate in community offerings, they limit their opportunities as adults to build relationships with peers (D'Allura, 2002; Zanandra, 1998). Promoting physical activity and social engagement among children with visual impairments is important for creating a foundation for later satisfaction as adults. As an avenue to influence both social and fitness goals, educators should focus on the potential impact of physical education instruction for children with visual impairments (Sherrill, 1998; Winnick, 2000).

Physical Activity in Individuals With Visual Impairments

Individuals with visual impairments are prone to inactivity throughout their life span, and studies focusing on children with visual impairments indicate that they engage in less physical activity than peers with other disabilities (Longmuir & Bar-Or, 2000; Sit, Lindner, & Sherrill, 2002). Longmuir (1998) reported data indicating that daily physical activity levels using both self-report and more objective means (such as pedometer counts) were significantly lower for children with visual impairments, putting this target group at a heightened risk for inactivity. Previous research showed that children with visual impairments had significantly lower motor skills and physical competence than their sighted counterparts (Brambring, 2001; Gronmo & Augestad, 2000).

Individuals with visual impairments have a greater need to be physically fit because in comparison to sighted peers they have increased demands for energy to carry out everyday tasks (Lieberman & McHugh, 2001). Further, their level of vision influences many critical areas such as motor learning, ability to interact in games, and understanding of spatial concepts. Learning deficits coupled with a lack of visual cues make movement less efficient and even...