Understanding the complexity of disability through physical activity

1. Understanding the complexity of disability through physical activity Katie Stanton-Nichols, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Adapted Physical Activity Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

2. History of service learning at IUPUI • Urban University with Center of Service and Learning which supports faculty development of service learning in multiple ways • I have been a Boyer’s Scholar and am currently a faculty service learning liaison in our school • Our school has six service learning campus-community partnerships—mine focus on the disability community (family, children, and adults) • Faculty are highly engaged in service learning and we are currently evaluating our overall service learning “impact” (school/community) • Service learning is part of our School’s strategic plan

3. Courses/Service Learning Settings • Two upper division undergraduate courses • Pre-service teacher education physical education majors • Pre-professional physical/occupational therapy students • Approximately 15-35 students per course • Lectures 2 times/week 75 minutes • Two hour service learning setting one day a week • Two service learning settings: one with children with disabilities ages 3-15 (motor development focus); the other physical fitness setting with adults with disabilities

4. Central question, issue, or problem to explore • Students experiencing disability within the context of physical activity are faced with the challenge to look past what individuals cannot do and focus on what individuals can do…..building upon one’s ability versus disability • As students begin to appreciate ability versus disability, they seem to change their perception of disability and deepen their understanding of the term. How do students deepen their understanding of disability through reflection and participation in service learning programs?

5. So…what is disability? • Webster’s • “a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities” • Thesaurus • “disablement, incapacity, impairment, infirmity, defect, abnormality; condition, disorder, affliction” • Antonym: • talent, skill, expertise, adeptness, aptitude, skillfulness, savoir faire, prowess, mastery, accomplishment; competence, proficiency; dexterity, adroitness, deftness, cleverness, flair, finesse, gift, knack, genius • So is it any wonder that student’s question what a person can do or how they can do “it” if labeled with a disability?

6. Question relevance/importance • If we can prepare pre-service professionals to have more than confined knowledge of disability characteristics but a “method” of broadening their basis of disability, it could: • Ascertain if contextual understanding of disability enables student’s to appropriately plan for activity • assist in understanding what students learn as they participate in a physical activity service learning program, • enable faculty in assessing certain values and ethics in the service learning programs, • understanding how to develop a civic-minded graduate, • contribute to the knowledge base related to service learning experience and course content knowledge, and • understand if difference in setting impacts what students learn or understand about disability and physical activity • Interested audiences: • Faculty in adapted physical activity, special education, and related services • Faculty who are interested in assessing student reflection

7. Service Learning Settings Motor Activity Clinic • Gym/pool setting for children with varying disability categories ages 3-15 • Focus to improve overall motor skill ability and swimming skill Ability Fitness Clinic • Physical fitness setting for young and older adults with disabilities (acquired, etc.) • Focus to improve overall mobility, function, and independence Setting is similar (contextually) & struggle tends to be the same for all students (understanding ability within disability); for most this is their first working experience with disability and for some it is their first large scale service learning experience

8. Service Learning reflection • Students participate choose to participate in either service learning setting when registering for the class. • Students participate in half day training/orientation one week prior to the start of clinic; in class discussions occur from the beginning of semester • Students will “reflect” differently depending upon the setting (accounting for setting) • Submit weekly reflections in addition to plans • Current analysis was taken from students participating in Ability Fitness Clinic-midterm reflection (different from weekly reflection)

9. Specific to this project….. • Midterm reflection that asks the following: “List and describe at least five things that you have learned from this experience. In your description, include how you have learned, how the learning has helped you in class, and if you think the practicum is a vital part of your learning.” • Unprompted, students have responded to the “five things” in such a manner that suggests that they change their understanding of “disability” • Reviewed 12 student responses to date (fall 2009 and spring 2010); 8 seem to have similar themes/domains

10. Evidence to suggest their understanding • “I have also learned to always focus on one’s abilities instead of their disabilities. I feel that is the most important think I have learned in this class because I will take that with me in life and I can help educate others in the fitness industry to be more accommodating and successful when working with PWD” • “I have learned that almost any exercise can be modified in some way to suit the client’s needs…..I have also learned that you can never judge a book by the cover. Someone may look like they have a disability and not be able to do something but they may surprise you and do everything you ask of them just because they are determined” • “I have learned several things from this class. I learned so much about function from my client. It’s hard to read something from notes and a textbook and really understand it. Honestly, I did not realize that I was applying these concepts until Dr. Stanton mentioned them to me during a training session. I guess that was the moment when everything clicked and I was not so intimidated by planning exercises for my client. I understood what my client needed based upon studying his movements, trying different exercises and then focusing on the exercises that seemed to improve his performance most. Now, instead of focusing on my clients’ functional limitations, I am implementing exercises that will hopefully increase his function as well as other things” • “Not letting your own conclusions get in the way is important and I kind of hit on this in the first question. You can really limit your client if you assume they can’t do something, you need to focus on what they can do”

11. Continued… • “I have learned to respect people with disabilities as I would respect everyone else. ……it is through trial and error that I had to make modifications. Sometimes the exercise worked and other times it needed to be changed”(alludes to function vs. disability) • “I hate to say this but ‘xyz’ showed me that people with disabilities are just like everyone else. They can be rude, mean, sarcastic, funny, sweet, and bossy. ‘XYZ’ showed me each of those characteristics our first visit which I found quite overwhelming. There were times when ‘xyz’ would say something inappropriate and I tell her that isn’t right to say with a firm voice. I would have never done that unless Dr. Stanton said it was okay. I would let her continue to say inappropriate things and rationalize it by saying it’s because she has Down syndrome.” • I’ve learned that people with disabilities are motivated in different ways just like able-bodied people. Another thing that I’ve noticed is that parents or siblings of the people who come to clinic. I’ve never heard any of them talk about their son’s/daughter’s disability. I didn’t expect them to dwell on it, but I think that it is so normal to them that it’s just like any other day” • “By the second week, I began to adjust my perspective on ABC’s condition. Instead of focusing on what he can’t do, it quickly became second nature to choose a series of exercises that I know he’s capable of performing”

12. Initial Domains • Ability focus • Function vs. disability • Recognition of perceived ability by disability category

13. Altering the questions garnered similar responses…. • Instead of asking “list five things….”, in their final paper (called personal growth statement), I asked them to respond to the four prompts (Ash, Clayton, & Moses, 2009) • What did I learn? • How did I learn it? • Why is it important? • What will I do in light of the learning? • These questions garnered similar comments but student’s seem to struggle more with identifying what they learned (have not analyzed the content/domains)

14. What aspects of the design and character of this work are you not yet fully prepared to describe? What questions do you have and what do you still need to know? • How frequently should students reflect on the concept of disability? • Are video reflections a more appropriate means to evaluate understanding disability particularly if students struggle to express themselves through writing? • Should their reflection be graded? (will it hinder what they say or how they say it) • Because students are participating in lecture where we engage in discussing disability, culture, and bias how do I account for lecture influences? • There are several theories that influence behavior or attitudinal change (e.g., Theory of Planned Behavior; Contact Theory) but neither “explain” how understanding of disability is changed through service learning. I am struggling to find a theoretical model to support asking my central question. • My instinct and knowledge tells me that I should account for their previous experience with disability, but should it be qualified or quantified? • On the other end of the continuum, some students will struggle because of lack of preparation, understanding of behavior management, and no previous experience with disability. It is possible these students will have much large gains in their perception than others who have previous experience. Do I separate these students in research methodology?

15. References Ash, S.L., Clayton, P.H., & Moses, M.G. (2009). Learning through critical reflection: A tutorial for service-learning students. Drum, C.E., Peterson, J., Culley, C., Krahn, G., Heller, T., Kimpton, T., McCubbin, J., Rimmer, J., Seekins, T., Suzuki, R., & White, G.W. (2009). Guidelines and criteria for the implementation of community-based health promotion programs for individuals with disabilities. American Journal of Health Promotion, V. 24(2), 93-101. Welch, M., Liese, L.H., & Bergerson, B. (2004). A qualitative assessment project comparing and contrasting faculty and administrators’ perspectives on service learning. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, V. 9(2), 23-42.