Adaptive Physical Education Teacher

An Adaptive Physical Education Teacher serves as a Gym Teacher for students who have physical or mental disabilities that prevent them from participating in regular gym classes. Play and exercise are crucial to the development of children, and those with disabilities are no different. Adaptive Physical Education Teachers monitor students’ performance, and adjust the physical equipment or the rules of games so each student can participate.

Physical Education Teachers are in charge of one of the most fun parts of the day: gym class. As Adaptive Physical Education Teacher, you spend your weekdays planning out and supervising games.

The goal is twofold. The games must be exciting while giving your class a workout at the same time, and you must provide supervision to make sure no one gets hurt and that the children avoid overexerting themselves. Gym class builds children up physically, and simultaneously teaches teamwork.

As an Adaptive Physical Education Teacher, you have additional considerations when planning your classes. Children in wheelchairs may not be able to shoot high enough to hit the basketball goals, or a child with a mental disability may not understand the rules of a particularly complex game.

This is where your creative side comes into play. By lowering the basketball goals, you can let wheelchair-bound children play the game like any other child. Changing the rules of a complex game allows students with mental disabilities to participate and learn along with the rest of their classmates. Adapting to the individual needs of each student ensures that everyone can laugh and play together.