Movement Studies in Disabilities Information

Field-Based Programs

IMPACT: Individualized Movement and Physical Activity for Children Today has been in operation since 1982. The program provides appropriate physical activity experiences for approximately 80 children with disabilities, aged 15 months to 21 years. IMPACT is supervised by graduate students in the MSD program, and recruits undergraduate student volunteers to assist in the program.

Graduate students in our program also work within the Corvallis 509-J schools under the supervision of a cooperating teacher. These options include pre-school, elementary, middle school and high school-aged students. The OSU transitional program is for 18-21 year-olds with moderate disabilities, which are served on the OSU campus in conjunction with the 509-J schools. Community-based programs are also part of the field-based experiences. The graduate students assist in local programs such as Oregon Special Olympics, wheelchair basketball programs in Salem and Eugene, Exercise Program for Adults with Multiple Sclerosis, as well as adult fitness programs for person with disabilities.

Research Interests

The following are examples of research topics of faculty and graduate students in recent years:

• Validation of cardiovascular fitness testing in men with moderate mental retardation
• Effect of seat position on wheelchair performance in athletes with cerebral palsy
• Lactate and ventilatory threshold on spinal cord injured men
• Field test measure of aerobic fitness of persons with spinal cord injury
• Bone density in women with mental retardation
• The effect of specific and corrective feedback in improving motor performance of children with moderate disabilities
• Effect of systematic instruction in improving motor performance of persons with severe handicaps
• Effects of peer tutors on opportunity to respond of children integrated in physical education