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Today more Americans are participating in physical activities than ever before. Activities like tae-bo, in-line skating, and martial arts have fostered participation by people of all skill levels and abilities. Physical activity is defined as "movement of the human body that results in the expenditure of energy at a level above the resting metabolic rate" (Anshel et al., 1991, p. 113). Benefits associated with involvement in physical activity include reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and decreased stress levels (Surgeon General, 1996). Furthermore, the social and psychological benefits of increased physical activity are tremendous. Many individuals involved in daily exercise report better ability to sleep, improved self-esteem, increased stamina, and decreased stress levels, attributes that lead them to have a better attitude about life (Martinsen & Stephens, 1994; McAuley, 1994). Research also indicates that when students are involved in daily physical activity, their inappropriate behaviors as well as their self-injurious or self-destructive behaviors decrease (Crane , 1994).
Unfortunately, students who are blind or deaf-blind are not afforded the same opportunities to participate in regular physical activity and do not attain the same psychological, social, and physical benefits as their sighted peers (Sherrill, 1998). That situation occurs in part because having to devote more time to academic subjects than their sighted peers hinders their ability to engage in leisure and physical activity (Sherrill, 1998). Psychologically and socially, people who are more sedentary tend to have negative affect, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, low confidence, and poor self-efficacy (Morgan, 1994). Physically, individuals who are blind and deaf-blind tend to possess higher levels of body fat and lower levels of cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, and muscular endurance than their sighted peers (Jankowski & Evans, 1991; Lieberman & Carron, 1998; Skaggs & Hopper, 1996; Winnick & Short, 1985). Winnick (1985) has also determined that students who are blind are less adept at activities such as throwing, catching, balancing, striking, and body and spatial awareness. Those various delays are attributed not to genetic limitations of performance but rather to the overprotective and discouraging attitudes of parents or teachers who do not allow individuals who have visual impairments or are deaf-blind to participate in physical activity (Nixon, 1988; Winnick, 1985).
These deficits in physical and motor...