Exercise for Special Populations

Visual Impairment Lab (10 pts)

Part 1:
 Break into pairs and blindfold 1 partner. The visually impaired client should pretend that they are
not familiar with the facility or the exercises.

 Lead your blind client throughout Boyle

1. Please include walking up stairs
2. Navigating through hallway
3. Perform the following:
 Start your client exercising on the bike, treadmill or stepper
 Perform the sit & reach test
 Instruct & complete some abdominal crunches
 Instruct & complete upper body dumbbell exercise

 Put earplugs on the other partner and repeat step 3.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Questions:

1. How did it feel to be blind? What specifically did your leader do or not do that decreased/increased
your anxiety?

- Being blind was an anxious feeling, even in a familiar environment. Leading me by having my
hands on their shoulder and talk about the direction they are moving, while making noise off a
nearby object reduced my anxiety as I had a better idea of my surroundings.

2. As a blind client, what concerns/reservations might you have with regards to exercise?

- My main concern would be getting on equipment like a bike for the first time as there are a
variety of movements that require coordination that I may not have. Being able to hear the
instructions was helpful in being able to perform the movement and then have the professional
physically correct my form if necessary.

3. As the seeing Exercise Professional, what techniques did you use to lead your blind client? What
worked best……what didn’t work? How could you improve your leading abilities?

- Leading the visually impaired client through longer distances and through doorways by having
them hold on to my shoulders worked the best. Counting the number of stairs and having them
reach their hand out for the railings were helpful. Identifying nearby objects and making noise off
them made the client more aware and comfortable with moving throughout the room. Having the
client lead and direct them from behind was not successful as they did not have the reaction time
to move out of the way of oncoming people.
4. As the seeing Exercise Professional, how hard was it to get the client to complete the different
exercises? How did you have to modify your “normal” instruction? What potential problems/barriers
could occur with working with a visually impaired client?

- The most difficult thing was instructing someone who was both visual and hearing impaired
because it makes it difficult to transmit what you wanted them to do in addition to the proper
technique in how to perform those exercises. A potential problem to correcting this is that some
corrections require physical correction through touch, and there are some clients who would not
be comfortable with me touching or correcting them. With someone who was hearing impaired,
the professional did a couple reps of the intended exercise to demonstrate proper form. For visual
impairments, more descriptive steps were listed so they could really understand what was
happening and physically correct the form if necessary and the client is comfortable with it.

5. List 2 considerations & modifications for the visually impaired client & 2 for the hearing impaired.

- Visually Impaired
a. Develop key words that help the client better understand the exercise and what proper
form entails.
b. Make sure the client is comfortable with the professional correcting their form if
necessary.
- Hearing Impaired
a. Have the professional demonstrate both the exercise and the correct form making
sure the client pays attention to certain components.
b. Set up tapping cadences so the client knows when to stop, slow down, or move
forward.