1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,360 All right, welcome to the AdaptX Podcast where we have conversations with individuals who 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:10,120 are building accessible businesses, advocating for inclusion or excelling in adaptive sports. 3 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:13,000 Our intention is never to speak on behalf of those with disabilities, but provide a 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,120 platform to share insights into a more accessible world. 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:17,880 Today we are joined by Dr. Hayley Kavanagh. 6 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,960 She is currently working in the role of research and developmental coordinator for the Young 7 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,600 Athletes Program with Special Olympics Ireland, designing and implementing a coach-led fundamental 8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:28,560 movement skill intervention. 9 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,200 She previously undertook the role of health and wellbeing coordinator for the organization, 10 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,800 increasing their health education program reach by 300%. 11 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:40,040 Her doctoral studies at Dublin City University focused on fundamental movement skill proficiency 12 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,080 in children with intellectual disabilities. 13 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,720 Hayley, thank you for joining me today. 14 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:45,720 Thanks so much for having me. 15 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:47,320 I'm excited to be here. 16 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:51,560 I want to quickly mention for our listeners in the US, which is most of our audience, 17 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,340 that Hayley might refer to FMS as the fundamental movement skills. 18 00:00:55,340 --> 00:00:58,720 Our fitness professionals in the States might be familiar with that abbreviation as functional 19 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,200 movement screen, but two very different assessments and objectives. 20 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:07,700 Throughout the episode, I'll let you clarify what that consists of and how it's measured. 21 00:01:07,700 --> 00:01:11,280 For me personally, I had a very formative experience with Special Olympics. 22 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,960 It was my first introduction to disability at 15 years old. 23 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:20,160 Over the last, I guess, half of my life, the last 15 years has revolved around inclusion 24 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,060 and sport and fitness. 25 00:01:22,060 --> 00:01:27,280 Did you have a unique experience that initially influenced this career path? 26 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,880 Yeah, absolutely. 27 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,880 In Ireland, we have our final year exams in high school called the Leaving Certificate. 28 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,320 At that time, everyone's trying to compete to get as many points as possible to get a 29 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:44,400 college degree or course that you want to attend. 30 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:50,040 I knew I wanted to work somewhere in the health and science space, but I wasn't 100% sure 31 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,240 what I wanted to do. 32 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:58,320 I did really well, but the course that I got given then was Sports, Science and Health 33 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,120 at Dublin City University. 34 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:05,600 At the time, I was a bit disappointed with how I performed, even though overall it would 35 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:06,600 be deemed a good score. 36 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:12,320 I said, look, I'll go in, I'll try sports science, and I can do physiotherapy afterwards 37 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,720 if I want to or if I need to. 38 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:20,600 So I went in and in the first year, we covered a topic called Adapted Physical Activity. 39 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,640 It was the first time that I'd ever heard of that phrase. 40 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:27,480 It was the first time that I'd ever even heard of the concept of sports and physical 41 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,240 activity for people with disabilities. 42 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,280 I went up to my lecturer and said, how do I get involved in this area? 43 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,120 It just really, really intrigued me. 44 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,960 She said, go and volunteer with your local Special Olympics club. 45 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:45,040 So having no knowledge in basketball or prior experience, I went down to my local club and 46 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,320 I was assistant coaching and just helping out with children who were learning to play 47 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,000 basketball for Special Olympics. 48 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,360 Then I was there for about a year or two and they were rolling out a new program called 49 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:01,760 Young Athletes, which was for children with ID aged 4 to 12 years. 50 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:07,080 I kind of took a lead role on that program and rolling it out within the club setting. 51 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:08,760 I really, really enjoyed it. 52 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,640 I was volunteering then right up until COVID hit really, and then we kind of went online 53 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:14,640 for a bit. 54 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:17,680 So that's how my love for this area really grew. 55 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:24,480 And again, during college, we had the opportunity to do a placement, like a six month work experience. 56 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:29,580 So I chose, and again, we had to interview and it was quite competitive, but I had the 57 00:03:29,580 --> 00:03:32,680 opportunity to work at an intellectual disability service. 58 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,280 So in their gym and swim programs. 59 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,880 And that organization is called Stewart's Care. 60 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:39,800 So again, it was a totally different side. 61 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,920 This time it was adults that we were getting to work with for the first time and just seeing 62 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,960 how much sport and physical activity meant for them. 63 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,200 During that time period of the placement as well, there was a few people who were coming 64 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,960 into the gym who were users of motorized wheelchairs. 65 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,940 And one guy in particular had said to me that he had an acquired intellectual disability 66 00:04:01,940 --> 00:04:06,960 and he remembered what it was like to play football before he then was a motorized wheelchair 67 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:08,360 user. 68 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:13,560 So I got my thinking cap on and I remember again, we had learned about power chair football 69 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,120 and I think our lecturer had told us about boxes that you could put on the front of the 70 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:18,120 chair. 71 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:19,120 So that's what we went out and did. 72 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:24,640 And we brought plastic boxes, cable tie them to the front of the motorized wheelchairs, 73 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:29,520 got really large footballs and we started Ireland's first intellectual disability power 74 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,360 chair football team. 75 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:32,440 So that was really exciting. 76 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:37,040 And we did a big fundraiser and actually raised money for proper equipment and actual guards 77 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,880 to go on the front of the chairs because when people were crashing into each other, the 78 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,720 boxes were just flying and splintering everywhere. 79 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:49,360 And then from there, just before I finished my final year, I actually got a job running 80 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,600 the sport and physical activity programs for that organization. 81 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,400 Again, it was a really blessed opportunity and that came about. 82 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,680 So that's how it started really for me. 83 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:04,040 Do you remember, it's something that I've been asked before and I haven't always been 84 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,560 able to pinpoint it or accurately describe it. 85 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:12,920 Do you remember what the emotions you felt were or what kind of initially drew you? 86 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,840 Because I started with unified basketball as well and I guess it was kind of like a 87 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:21,400 youth athletes, young athletes program because there wasn't that differentiation at the time, 88 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,000 but we did have kids that were all the way down to five or six. 89 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:31,280 But I just remember being drawn to the unique aspect of those relationships where the athletes 90 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:36,960 we were working with really just wanted my time instead of they didn't have these expectations 91 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:38,560 for me. 92 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,240 What college are you going to go to? 93 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:44,200 How do you perform in your varsity basketball game this weekend? 94 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,080 All they cared about was me being present and I found that very refreshing. 95 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:55,040 I was wondering if there was a specific aspect of the experience that drew you in? 96 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,240 I think it's the people themselves. 97 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:03,840 We always slag and joke at Special Olympics saying, once you go to one session, you're 98 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:04,840 hooked. 99 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:05,840 You're not getting away. 100 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:08,240 You're going to want to come back time and time again. 101 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:10,920 But I think it's those people that you get to meet. 102 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,440 Like you said, it's very much about your time and being there in the moment. 103 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:20,960 I think you giving them 10 minutes of your time means so much to them as well. 104 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,640 And that just comes back in leaps and bounds. 105 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:29,120 It's such a nice feeling being there and just getting to know people. 106 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,320 I think for the children as well, it's other things where parents might be saying, look, 107 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:35,320 they're having difficulty in school. 108 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,280 But the minute they come into the sports hall, they're running in, they're meeting friends 109 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:40,440 for the first time. 110 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:45,120 It's the relationships even with each other that are built in that environment of Special 111 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:46,120 Olympics as well. 112 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,160 So yeah, I just love the people. 113 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,440 I just love working with them. 114 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,080 The university system might be a little different in Ireland than it is in the States. 115 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:00,080 But like you mentioned, an assessment that you took towards the end of high school that 116 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,320 determined what path you were going to go is that a competency assessment? 117 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:09,000 Like the US has SATs or is that like a match fit type of assessment? 118 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,360 No, it is more competency based. 119 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:19,040 So it's eight subjects, English, maths, history, science, those type of subjects. 120 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:20,800 And yeah, it's a point system. 121 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,840 So it's basically how well you can perform on the day. 122 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,320 And they're delivered over a two week period. 123 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,920 So you're just going in exam after exam after exam. 124 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,840 And it's based off your marks performed on that single day, essentially. 125 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,440 So that's very stressful at the time. 126 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:37,680 Yeah, absolutely. 127 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,480 What were your doctoral studies like? 128 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:42,640 Did you have a specific research goal? 129 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:43,640 Yeah. 130 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:48,160 So I suppose when I talk about stress, I still think those high school exams are probably 131 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,400 the most stressful time. 132 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:56,680 Even with the doctoral stuff was quite challenging at times, but still very enjoyable. 133 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:02,000 I think the reason I suppose I got interested in the area of research as well as part of 134 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,440 the sports science degree, we do research and things. 135 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:08,200 And again, in final year, you have to pick a topic of your choice. 136 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:13,200 And at that time, I'd pretty much decided I love the area of adaptive physical activity. 137 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,280 This is what I want to go into. 138 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:20,840 And I have had some exposure volunteering with other PhD and doctoral researchers on 139 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:22,040 their projects. 140 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:26,120 And one study in particular was called Moving Well Being Well. 141 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,880 We were going around across the island of Ireland, assessing children's fundamental 142 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:31,880 movement skills. 143 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:36,480 And these are children now in mainstream primary education. 144 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:43,140 So that was my first taste of fundamental movement skills and the idea of physical literacy. 145 00:08:43,140 --> 00:08:47,880 So for my project, then I decided, what does that look like then for children with intellectual 146 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:48,960 disabilities? 147 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:54,480 Because what I'd seen and from the research, it showed that typically developing children 148 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,000 had quite poor levels of motor skill proficiency. 149 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:02,440 And I could only imagine with all the opportunities presented to them, what was it going to be 150 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,280 like on the other hand then for children who weren't presented, but as much opportunity 151 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,240 to take part in sport and physical activity? 152 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:14,080 So again, we kind of started that research or piloted it then in my final year. 153 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,440 And then COVID did hit at that time as well. 154 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:22,400 So it was only around November, I think 2020 then when we'd put an application in to say, 155 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:27,200 OK, we actually want to do this as a doctoral research study and take it a bit further. 156 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:32,960 And we had originally approached Special Olympics Ireland in 2019 to kind of flag the idea with 157 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:34,960 them and just see what they thought. 158 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:41,040 And Karen Coventry, who's the director of sport there and she's my boss now, was like, 159 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,880 she loves evidence based research and it's something that was relatively new for the 160 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:45,880 organization. 161 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,060 They hadn't gone down that path before. 162 00:09:48,060 --> 00:09:52,880 So they were taking a chance and the young athletes, they see it as the future of the 163 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:53,880 Special Olympics program. 164 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,720 You know, they're coming in, we want to give them the best opportunity to develop their 165 00:09:57,720 --> 00:09:59,200 fundamental movement skills. 166 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,640 But yet they had no findings on how was the program going? 167 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:05,880 Are the children developing their skills? 168 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:07,560 What is their baseline levels like? 169 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:10,440 So that's really where the project kind of stemmed from. 170 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:11,440 Yeah. 171 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:19,240 Yeah, I think if you look solely at the literature and I'm sure it's accurate in many ways, individuals 172 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:23,720 with disabilities, lower gross motor functioning abilities. 173 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:29,160 And I wonder sometimes if that's a product of their disability or whether it's a product 174 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,600 of a lack of opportunities to develop. 175 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:39,080 When you speak on like nature versus nurture, does it appear to be specific to a diagnosis 176 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:44,660 or does it maybe stem from a lack of opportunities to good programming like young athletes? 177 00:10:44,660 --> 00:10:46,440 I think there's a bit of both. 178 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:47,440 Definitely. 179 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:51,760 I think that in terms of say the cognitive side of things that what the research would 180 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:58,400 say is that because of say the cognitive disability that then developmentally children with intellectual 181 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,480 disabilities are behind. 182 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:01,840 They're typically developing peers. 183 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,760 Like they might learn to walk at a later stage and things like that, which means then their 184 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:10,120 movement patterns are developing at a later rate. 185 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:15,040 So but then on the other side of things, there is definitely less opportunities for children 186 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:20,200 with ID to take part in sport and physical activity and even anecdotal evidence that 187 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:25,840 we would have heard or if a child with an intellectual disability is attending a mainstream 188 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:30,680 primary school, we've heard stories of them being left out of physical education class, 189 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,880 like they're left sitting on a bench because maybe the teacher doesn't know how to adapt 190 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,280 the activity to include them. 191 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:42,200 Or there's a fear or worry maybe from parents or from teachers about what if they get injured 192 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,560 or what if they get hurt side of things as well. 193 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,240 So I definitely think it's combination of both. 194 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,920 But then again, from what we've seen when we're out in the field as well is that children 195 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:58,320 who tend to take part in more than one activity, so more than one sport or you know, they're 196 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:03,480 being physically active more than one day a week, their fundamental movement skill proficiency 197 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,920 is definitely higher because they've had more exposure to it. 198 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:11,840 And I think the key about fundamental movement skills is that the more you need to be provided 199 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,280 with opportunities to learn, reinforce and practice them. 200 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,760 You know, it's the same with everything with with reading, with writing, the more we do 201 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,240 it, the better we are at it. 202 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,320 And so yeah, exactly the same for fundamental movement skills. 203 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:30,400 Yeah, that learn, reinforce, practice is essential because I think sometimes there's a lot of 204 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,480 seasonal based programs for people with disabilities. 205 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,280 But it's like the same thing in the fitness space. 206 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:42,600 But if you came to me with a specific fitness goal, and my response was, yeah, we have our 207 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,520 next eight week program starting next month. 208 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,800 And then after that eight week program, the next one starting a month later, like, that's 209 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:54,240 not the best recipe for fitness improvement, motor skill improvement, etc. 210 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:59,960 So it really reinforces the essential piece of year round programming, I suppose. 211 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:04,880 Yeah, and young athletes, the young athletes program is a year round program, which is 212 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:05,880 great. 213 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,040 So the only time it really runs alongside the school year. 214 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:13,120 So the only time periods that the children would not be taking part is over the summer 215 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:14,120 months. 216 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:20,000 And again, some clubs depending on volunteer availability, they might run through or for 217 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,600 as long as they can through the summer as well. 218 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,720 And then at Christmas time, maybe for two weeks or in December. 219 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:31,280 So it is it is a really good program in that respect that it is year round. 220 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,720 However, it is just one day a week. 221 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:38,880 So we are really trying to encourage athletes to take part in other things outside of the 222 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:39,880 program as well. 223 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:45,640 And once athletes are between the ages of six and eight, it's just it is sport dependent. 224 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:50,960 They can join other sports programs that we have on offer with Special Olympics. 225 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:55,760 However, we are obviously trying to encourage, you know, I think one thing that the coaches 226 00:13:55,760 --> 00:14:00,200 tell me they struggle with a bit sometimes is managing parents expectations because they 227 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,840 might say my child has been in the program a year. 228 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,240 I want them to go to a sport. 229 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,960 And we're trying to say, but they haven't developed, you know, all of the skills that 230 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:14,440 they need to be able to play basketball or to play football or to do those things. 231 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:19,240 So I think if it is the one day a week, you know, we need to be recognizing that it might 232 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:20,440 take a bit longer. 233 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:24,400 Whereas if they're physically active outside of the program, then those skills will develop 234 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,240 at a faster rate. 235 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:32,700 So is this seen as a prerequisite to participation or like a supplementary option? 236 00:14:32,700 --> 00:14:38,240 So at the moment, we probably are trying to go down the prerequisite route a bit. 237 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:43,760 It was only introduced in 2016, this young athletes program for the first time, because 238 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:48,320 prior to that, it would have been I think children had to be aged eight to join the 239 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:49,400 sports program. 240 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:53,960 So parents were looking for their children to get into things earlier, which of course, 241 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:58,220 you know, any other child might start a sport or, you know, at age four, it could be. 242 00:14:58,220 --> 00:15:01,800 So that's why the program then was introduced. 243 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:06,140 So yeah, look, we are trying to say that it's a prerequisite, but we don't stop anybody 244 00:15:06,140 --> 00:15:09,280 if they want to wait and join a sports program either. 245 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:10,280 Yeah. 246 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:11,280 Yeah. 247 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:17,240 I just wonder if sometimes the best way to get better at a sport is to practice it or 248 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,060 just to be to be engaged in it to a degree. 249 00:15:20,060 --> 00:15:28,720 So the parallel between like you have to meet XYZ standard to participate or you start participating, 250 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:33,600 you identify where the deficits are and then you try to address those deficits either within 251 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,200 practice or within supplementary training. 252 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,500 Yeah, it's an interesting model. 253 00:15:39,500 --> 00:15:46,900 But you had mentioned some of the cognitive deficits may be contributing to slower processing 254 00:15:46,900 --> 00:15:49,780 speeds and lower gross motor skills. 255 00:15:49,780 --> 00:15:53,360 While we push like authentic conclusions of people with and without disabilities, like 256 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:59,280 seamlessly coexisting or various diagnoses coexisting, could you make the case for like 257 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:04,180 more specialized programs being beneficial for people with disabilities? 258 00:16:04,180 --> 00:16:08,120 So for example, in the States, there's like Down Syndrome Sports of America. 259 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:13,520 So for athletes solely with Down Syndrome, like, could you make the case for specialized 260 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,480 being advantageous to kind of level the playing field? 261 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:20,840 I think that's an interesting question. 262 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:27,520 I think I suppose we also are looking at society and what's happening in our communities and 263 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:28,720 things like that as well. 264 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:33,520 So while you might say, okay, so everybody with Down Syndrome, let's do this program 265 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:38,960 because, you know, we can tailor it, obviously tailoring it to meet individual needs is so 266 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:43,640 important, but I think that that can happen at a sports session or the young athletes 267 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,320 program anyway. 268 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,000 Because with the help of the coaches and volunteers, they get to know their athletes really, really 269 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:50,000 well. 270 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:54,680 I think that that is what is more important than I suppose, grouping people into more 271 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,040 kind of categories for sports. 272 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:01,520 I think Special Olympics in general, you know, we are segregated in that sense that it is 273 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:06,400 only for people with intellectual disabilities or I know in the United States you have unified 274 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:07,400 sports. 275 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:12,000 At the moment in Ireland, we haven't rolled out that program model as of yet. 276 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,800 I think in the future, it's probably something that the organization might look at. 277 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:21,600 But as of now, we're solely a program for people with ID and I think it's part of coach 278 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:26,160 education and training that catering for the individual athlete and to meet their individual 279 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,120 needs is part of what we do anyway. 280 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:32,920 So everybody should be able to be included and catered for within the session. 281 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:38,440 Yeah, and I'm a big proponent of the mixed ability model, not necessarily advocating 282 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:44,240 for specialized but yeah, it's just an interesting idea of like what environment is someone most 283 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:49,040 successful in and then what environment do they feel most included in. 284 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,800 I think for a long time, I thought that inclusion was just like the presence of people with 285 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:54,800 or without disabilities. 286 00:17:54,800 --> 00:18:01,000 But now, now the literature kind of trends towards inclusion as an experience or as an 287 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:07,000 emotion that's kind of ever evolving and it's really up to the individual to determine 288 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:12,240 when they feel included and not myself as a gym owner or a coach to say like, oh, this 289 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:13,240 program is inclusive. 290 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:18,360 It's kind of it's up to the participant, I guess to a degree. 291 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:25,760 What are the unique challenges of conducting research with this population? 292 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:30,760 So you know, one thing that I will start with is that no matter what mood I was in before 293 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,480 going to, you know, an assessment or testing session, leaving the session, I was always 294 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:40,200 happy just because the children themselves just make you really, really happy and they're 295 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,480 just a joy to be around. 296 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:46,600 But I think some of the challenges or kind of solutions as well that we would have implemented. 297 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:52,360 So when I was helping with other researchers at the time in those primary school settings, 298 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:56,800 we would have groups of children and we would say, you know, number one, go do your run. 299 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:02,800 Number two, go that does not work when you're working in an adaptive setting. 300 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:07,800 So we would work one on one with each child and we would go through the full battery of 301 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:12,320 fundamental movement skill assessments with them as part of the assessment. 302 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:17,580 Anyway, you would demonstrate this time we've actually brought in a visual support protocol. 303 00:19:17,580 --> 00:19:22,760 So we're using, you know, the pictorial exchange communication system, symbols and pictures 304 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:28,240 to show the athletes the skill, then we demonstrate and then we ask them to copy us and to do 305 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:29,240 the skill then. 306 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:34,200 So definitely working on a one to one basis, building that rapport, getting to know the 307 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:40,720 athletes name, a lot of motivation and encouragement is definitely needed in those settings as 308 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:41,720 well. 309 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:46,000 And I think that's probably, you know, some of the challenges maybe we might have faced 310 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:51,360 is that not knowing the researchers, but I suppose that that could happen anywhere. 311 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:56,720 I think you just have to build that rapport when you go in and make it seem like fun and 312 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:01,840 that it's a game and not be putting obviously any pressure or anything saying we don't 313 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:03,120 mention that it's a test. 314 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:04,920 We mentioned that it's a few games that we're doing. 315 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:09,840 We want to see how good you are at performing the skills and then just rewarding with a 316 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:12,440 sticker and things like that at the end. 317 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:18,200 And I think challenging wise, because again, we're a volunteer led organization, sometimes 318 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:22,840 life happens for people and if there's one lead volunteer, then a session might be canceled 319 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:27,640 if that volunteer can't attend, which means that we'd miss out on attending the club on 320 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:28,760 that week. 321 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:34,400 Other things, usual stuff like weather or if it's an outdoor session and it starts raining 322 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:36,600 really heavy and the children can't be outside. 323 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,320 So just those type of challenges really. 324 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:44,760 And I suppose also the number because we work on a one to one basis and most sessions are 325 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:49,920 only 40 minutes to an hour long, we only get through a certain number of children. 326 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:51,800 We only get to assess a certain number. 327 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,600 Whereas again, if you were going to a school, you could spend the whole day there and probably 328 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:00,680 do between 30 to 40 children, you know, every hour, hour and a half type thing. 329 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,880 But that is it's just not the same when you're working with a special population. 330 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:10,240 So our testing periods are that bit more challenging and a bit longer probably than what would 331 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:11,840 typically be expected. 332 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:19,160 Are you able to articulate, I guess verbally without visuals and stuff, the criteria of 333 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,720 the fundamental movement screen, like what motor skills you're looking at, what activities 334 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,920 they're doing during that testing? 335 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,320 So we use two types of assessments. 336 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:35,120 So we use the test of gross motor development three and the box two. 337 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:42,280 So in the TGMD three, that's things like running, skipping, horizontal jump in terms of your 338 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:47,640 locomotor skills, your object control would be catching, kicking, overhand throw, underhand 339 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,040 throw, one hand strike, things like that. 340 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,840 And then the two assessments in the box two are balanced. 341 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:57,720 So a beam balance where you're standing on one leg with your hands on your hips and then 342 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,600 walking heel to toe on a line with hands on your hips. 343 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:08,640 So the ones that the athletes or the children would struggle with a lot is the balance assessments. 344 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:15,600 And when we looked at in terms of percentage mastery, so how close are they at scoring 345 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,220 in all of the criteria? 346 00:22:17,220 --> 00:22:22,680 So a one would mean that you achieved that criteria, a zero means that you didn't. 347 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:28,440 And there's between three and four criteria per skill in the test of gross motor development 348 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:29,440 three. 349 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,840 And then for the box two, it's whether you can, how many steps can you do out of those 350 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:34,840 six? 351 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:39,480 If any, if you get all six, you don't have to do a second trial, but you're given a second 352 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:40,800 trial if you don't get six. 353 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,480 And then for the beam balance, it's a 10 seconds. 354 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:48,680 Can you hold that position for 10 seconds without dropping your leg? 355 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,440 So the balance is definitely in terms of percentage mastery. 356 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:57,880 When we assessed during the doctoral studies, a hundred children with intellectual disabilities, 357 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:02,800 no percent of them had mastered those skills of balance, which was particularly concerning 358 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:07,920 because I know in later life for people with intellectual disabilities, the risk of falls 359 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,780 and the prevalence of falls tends to be a lot higher. 360 00:23:10,780 --> 00:23:16,560 So if between the ages of four to 12, if your balance is already quite poor, where does 361 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,020 that leave you as you start to get older? 362 00:23:19,020 --> 00:23:23,000 So it was definitely, that was probably the most surprising thing for me that came out 363 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,680 of the findings. 364 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,040 Does there need to be a familiarization period for the participants? 365 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:34,920 Like, like, is there some degree of understanding and practicing the tests that would just show 366 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:41,320 someone or that would lead to improvement, but not necessarily insinuate that they've 367 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:46,080 globally improved their ability to balance, but just that they got better at that specific 368 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,680 test through practice? 369 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:49,680 Very possibly. 370 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:54,280 I think in terms of the assessment batteries that we were using and the reason we selected 371 00:23:54,280 --> 00:24:00,000 those was because they were deemed to be the most appropriate for field use with that particular 372 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:01,000 population. 373 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:06,480 I know other studies, like we had found afterwards, that visual support protocol was used with 374 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:12,440 the tests of gross motor development three back in 2017 with children who had autism. 375 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:17,000 And they did show that with the visualization pictures and the cards, that the children 376 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:21,200 performed better in the assessments than without the cards, which is why we introduced them 377 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:26,120 this time to help with cognitive understanding of what we are asking the children to do. 378 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:30,720 Because yes, 100 percent that probably, you know, I'd almost say definitely comes into 379 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:31,720 play. 380 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,200 But in terms of the protocols, the way they stand at the moment, there isn't really a 381 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,680 familiarization period. 382 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:43,000 And then again, I suppose if you were to add that in, that even further elongates how much 383 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,480 testing time or assessment time is required. 384 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:52,160 And for the project that we're doing at the moment, we're like under very strict or tight 385 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:53,160 timeline. 386 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:58,400 So we were hoping to assess 90 children within a three week period. 387 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,160 And the coaches would deliver an eight week intervention and then we would reassess, you 388 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:06,440 know, eight weeks later in another three week round. 389 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:10,400 So it's quite challenging if you were to add a familiarization period. 390 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,600 But I would imagine or hypothesize that it would help. 391 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,880 Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. 392 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,920 Because I just wonder if the first time they're introduced to the test and then they go through 393 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:26,140 the intervention and then they do the test again, whether improvements are specifically 394 00:25:26,140 --> 00:25:31,040 to the intervention could be attributed specifically to the intervention or to a degree of being 395 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,880 more familiar with the test, being more comfortable with the test. 396 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:39,040 I think sometimes it's even a struggle to try and encourage children to come up and 397 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:43,800 do the assessments with us as well, because their session continues on in the background 398 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,560 whilst we're working one on one. 399 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:50,160 It's like, oh, my coach and my friends are having more fun than what you're doing over 400 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:51,160 here with me. 401 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,960 So, you know, we did have a few athletes saying, no, that's boring. 402 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:54,960 I don't want to do it. 403 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,720 And that's them, you know, saying, no, I'm not consenting to take part. 404 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,440 So my fear would be to ask them to do it more than once. 405 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:07,440 They would probably be like, nope, I want to just do my session the way it is. 406 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,840 Yeah, definitely speaks to motivation. 407 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:18,440 Like influencing a lot of test results as well to like how engaged they are, how well 408 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:23,280 they're concentrating on the task versus being distracted by that external stimuli. 409 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:27,880 Are you able to share kind of what the eight week intervention plans to look like or maybe 410 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:32,960 how a fitness program that works with young individuals with disabilities could adopt 411 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:37,960 pieces of this intervention to work on some of these gross motor skills with their clients? 412 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:44,000 Yes, so when we were designing it, I suppose some key things that we had in mind was repetition. 413 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,920 Number one is really important for this population and the structure. 414 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,520 A lot of the coaches would say to us, you know, the athletes like to follow the same 415 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:53,520 structure. 416 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,240 They like to know what happens when they enter the session, what's happening next. 417 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:02,400 And typically how most coaches would end their session is with a parachute game. 418 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:08,200 So what we did was we made sure that over the eight weeks there was only four warm ups, 419 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:12,240 activities or games suggested, and they were trying to incorporate, you know, a range of 420 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:17,320 different fundamental movement skills, mainly locomotor and balance for their warm up. 421 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:22,320 And then we would repeat the same four for the following, you know, last four weeks of 422 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,400 the eight week program. 423 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:30,800 We also wanted to try and focus on a range of fundamental movement skills as well, because, 424 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,940 you know, you could just focus, say, on locomotor skills and you're probably guaranteed to see 425 00:27:34,940 --> 00:27:37,440 an increase then over eight weeks. 426 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:44,280 But because of our findings from the PhD where we were seeing overall low motor skill proficiency 427 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:48,880 across the different skills, we wanted to try and incorporate as many as possible. 428 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:53,120 So each week we would focus on two key skills. 429 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:58,600 We would do like a skill development game or activity where the coach is reinforcing 430 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,240 some of the key coaching or teaching points. 431 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,560 And then we would focus on a game based approach, incorporating that skill then. 432 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,080 And that's kind of the structure of how it would go. 433 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:12,080 We also have an obstacle course each week as well, because again, you can get a range 434 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:16,160 of skills in there and, you know, bring in kind of stories as well. 435 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:21,240 You know, you're at the zoo or you're at the circus and you've to splash in the puddles, 436 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:25,960 jump over a log, those type of things where you're really engaging the athletes and getting 437 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,320 their imagination working as well. 438 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:33,480 From your research and your experience out in the field here, what has been the biggest 439 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:40,240 surprise to you or what has been the thing that has been most unique in terms of maybe 440 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:46,560 what you hypothesized when you started and then what you realized through data collection? 441 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,440 I think I suppose it does come back to that balance number as well. 442 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:57,160 So we did compare in previous research, we compared the percentage mastery of balance 443 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:02,120 for children with intellectual disabilities and typically developing children of the same 444 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:03,120 age and gender. 445 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,120 So they're age and gender matched. 446 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:09,080 And the typically developing children, it was 75% mastery in the balance compared to 447 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:10,080 the 0%. 448 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:15,120 So that really, really did not only concern me, but we kind of brought it up to the coaches 449 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,040 then and focus groups and said, you know, are you surprised? 450 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,840 What do you think of this 0% mastery? 451 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:25,080 And they said, well, you never gave us any equipment or you never thought us how to do 452 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,800 balance activities or coach them. 453 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:31,040 So I think, you know, we were saying, okay, yeah, you are right. 454 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:37,480 So we needed to look then at our equipment pack and toolkit that we provide to the coaches. 455 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:41,400 So we've added now a balanced beam, we've added balanced rocks. 456 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:47,800 And as part of this new intervention, we are giving coaching cues and we had videos recorded 457 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:52,760 of each of the activities so the coaches could see exactly how they should be demonstrating 458 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:53,960 each of those as well. 459 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:58,800 So I think coach education is a really big thing because with Special Olympics, a lot 460 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:03,800 of the coaches may be family members or they may be parents with no sporting background. 461 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,920 And the reason they set up a club or the reason they show up week on week is because they 462 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:12,920 want to help and provide something for their child and for other children in the community. 463 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,200 So the education side is definitely really important. 464 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:21,320 And we've had, we had a coaches training online there last week, just before the intervention 465 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:22,320 started this week. 466 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:27,720 And I was a bit nervous because the coaches are very honest, which I love, but they hadn't 467 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,040 seen the session plans yet. 468 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,320 So we talked through each of the plans over the eight weeks. 469 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,720 And then I said, does anybody have any feedback or questions? 470 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,160 And they said, one of the coaches said, yeah, I have something to say. 471 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:40,540 And I was like, mm hmm. 472 00:30:40,540 --> 00:30:42,040 And she goes, I love it. 473 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:43,960 You listen to us in the focus groups. 474 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,300 This is exactly what we wanted. 475 00:30:46,300 --> 00:30:48,060 We can't wait to try it. 476 00:30:48,060 --> 00:30:50,040 So that was really, really nice to hear. 477 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,760 And it was a sigh of relief saying, OK, great. 478 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:54,200 It is what they are looking for. 479 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,720 And we've managed to put down on paper what the coaches needed. 480 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,520 And I had an email from one of the coaches who delivered on Tuesday evening to say it 481 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:04,360 really helps the other volunteers. 482 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:08,960 So it meant that not everybody in the room was relying on him because I think that's 483 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,880 one of the things as well that I was seeing out in the field was that if there is only 484 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:18,800 one lead person who knows the session plan or the activity, if they get distracted because 485 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:22,840 a child is off maybe doing something that they shouldn't be, then the rest of the session 486 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:27,960 tends to fall apart because other people can't step in and pick up where that person has 487 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:28,960 left off. 488 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:33,040 So everybody, he said he handed the session plan out to everybody and everyone was on 489 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:34,600 the same page then. 490 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:38,680 And most importantly, the athletes enjoyed it, which is what we want to be hearing. 491 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:39,680 So, yeah. 492 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:40,680 Yeah. 493 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:46,240 So the focus group of coaches who are providing feedback as to what they believe they need. 494 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:50,040 You're working with a population that might not be able to always articulate like, I'm 495 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:52,880 struggling with this or I need to work on that. 496 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:59,440 Do you guys also leverage parent or caregiver surveys to understand where they perceive 497 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:03,920 their children are behind in motor skill development? 498 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:09,720 So we did previously ask a question, how would you rate your child's ability compared to 499 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:11,520 other children of the same age? 500 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:16,720 I think a lot of people said in and around the same, but it's interesting that you mentioned 501 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:21,760 parents because I've just sent out a parent's questionnaire this afternoon. 502 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:26,680 And what we are assessing now is parents' knowledge and confidence about the topics 503 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:29,840 of physical literacy and fundamental movement skills. 504 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:35,480 Because again, we know parents are a big facilitator to children being physically active at a young 505 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:39,640 age because they're the ones who are putting them in the car and driving them to the sports 506 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:41,880 hall or venue. 507 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:47,280 And again, the research would say that more active parents raise active children. 508 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,480 So I think education though is a big part for us. 509 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:55,320 So it'll be interesting now to see how the parents' knowledge and confidence about these 510 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:56,680 topic areas are. 511 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:02,200 And then tomorrow and Sunday, I'm actually out with two clubs, young athletes clubs delivering 512 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:03,320 parents' workshops. 513 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:09,080 So we collaborated with the University of Alberta who have a workshop called Play Shop 514 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:13,880 and they deliver that to parents of preschool children aged three to five years. 515 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:18,400 And when I came across their work, I said, this sounds like something that we really 516 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:19,400 need. 517 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:24,640 So we've been reaching out and linking in with them since September, since we first 518 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:29,640 had the idea for the project or started applying for ethical approval. 519 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:32,680 And they've shared their materials with us. 520 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,640 And again, a lot of the games that they're teaching the parents, they can be done at 521 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:38,640 home with simple enough equipment. 522 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:43,040 You know, using tea towels or using pillows and things like that. 523 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:49,160 So we put a little parents pack together for tomorrow with beanbags and ropes. 524 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:54,160 You know, I call them like snakes for balancing and walking on hula hoops, you know, for on 525 00:33:54,160 --> 00:34:00,320 the floor and jumping into balloons to a small ball for catching a larger one for kicking 526 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:05,560 plastic cups to use as a target for kicking into or throwing something up. 527 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:10,600 So the games that the researchers from Play Shop have, I think will be really, really 528 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,720 beneficial for the athletes that we work with. 529 00:34:13,720 --> 00:34:16,360 So the plan is for this intervention. 530 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:20,980 So three groups are taking part in the eight weeks of session plans. 531 00:34:20,980 --> 00:34:25,280 And then another two groups are doing the eight weeks of session plans plus this parents 532 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:26,280 workshop. 533 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,860 And then we have our control group who are just doing their typical weekly session. 534 00:34:29,860 --> 00:34:34,600 So the plan will be to see if there's any difference in motor skill proficiency, if 535 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:38,040 there's improvements and which groups are improving. 536 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:43,280 Is it the one who are doing the weekly with their coach plus doing twice a week with their 537 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,960 parents like a little game for 10 minutes twice a week? 538 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:52,520 I think that'll be really interesting to see again with our hypothesis that the more opportunities 539 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:57,480 you get to learn, practice and reinforce these skills, the better you're going to become 540 00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:58,480 at them. 541 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:01,480 So yeah, that's the plan. 542 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:06,620 We try to tie a lot of these episodes into fitness in some ways, so maybe we can try 543 00:35:06,620 --> 00:35:09,320 to make this fitness specific. 544 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:17,120 So if a gym was working with young individuals with disabilities, intellectual disabilities, 545 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:22,840 do you have any recommendations, practical recommendations into how they could make a 546 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:28,640 more robust and enjoyable program for young adults with disabilities, intellectual disabilities 547 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:29,640 specifically? 548 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:34,280 Yeah, I think asking your participants, you know, what would you like to do today or what 549 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:36,080 do you want to focus on? 550 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:40,560 Because again, people coming into a gym, you know, everybody has different goals and different 551 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:42,240 interests of why they want to be there. 552 00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:44,000 It might be because I want to get fitter. 553 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,800 It might be because maybe I want to lose a bit of weight or I want to run faster or, 554 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:49,800 you know, different things. 555 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:54,920 So I think asking your participants why they're here and what do they want to get out of their 556 00:35:54,920 --> 00:36:00,040 gym, what exercises do they like doing or what are some that they don't really like. 557 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,440 If they don't like them, why don't they like them? 558 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:08,400 And again, just making sure that I suppose the people gain confidence in their ability 559 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:14,200 to take part in the exercises as well, because you want them to be able to after they finish 560 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:18,560 with you, maybe if they're going into another gym, you know, that you're confident in their 561 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:23,040 ability to be able to safely carry out the exercises as well. 562 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:29,080 Yeah, and some of the some of the pieces that you were mentioning during the research, like 563 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:34,640 visual support protocols, things like that might make a better learning experience for 564 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:36,840 people with disabilities within the gym as well. 565 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:41,920 So kind of just leveraging, leveraging presenting materials in different ways that you're probably 566 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:43,840 familiar with universal design. 567 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,400 So yeah, 100%. 568 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,400 I think like a timetable as well. 569 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:53,120 If it's a class and you know, first we're doing this, then we're doing this and just 570 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,800 to kind of provide that reassurance. 571 00:36:55,800 --> 00:37:00,120 Because I think some people that I've worked with who have autism as well, they really 572 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:04,560 like structure and they like to know what is happening next and at what time and things 573 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:05,560 like that. 574 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:09,960 So even having a visual schedule of the exercises or activities that you're doing could also 575 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,240 be very helpful. 576 00:37:12,240 --> 00:37:17,320 If a gym, if a gym wanted to support more individuals with disabilities, sometimes it 577 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:22,760 just requires like grassroot efforts of reaching out to organizations that are support, support 578 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:26,360 those clientele and and learning how you can help them. 579 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:32,800 How do you think organizations can collaborate with Special Olympics to be kind of a partner 580 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:33,800 in your mission? 581 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:38,280 So for example, if you're saying young athletes only meets once a week, if my gym was 10 minutes 582 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:45,000 away from you, would something like Special Olympics be receptive you think to me offering 583 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,320 additional programs to kind of supplement what you're doing? 584 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:49,320 Yeah, absolutely. 585 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:54,400 I think one thing that we're very lucky with in Ireland is that we have a network of local 586 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,800 sports partnerships is what they're called. 587 00:37:56,800 --> 00:38:04,600 So they would be kind of government led groups that each area in the country or not each 588 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:09,880 area but a lot of the areas would have and they would have a designated person who's 589 00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:14,480 called, sorry, the acronym is SIDO. 590 00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,800 They are Sports Inclusion Disability Officers. 591 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:23,920 So their whole role would be to create opportunities within the local community for people with 592 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:28,760 disabilities and Special Olympics would really have strong connections and work with them 593 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:33,360 because again for us, it's just about people getting out there and being active and if 594 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:37,280 that means, you know, like you said, young athletes is only once a week, we would be 595 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:43,380 encouraging you to go to other organizations to get active and to get out there because 596 00:38:43,380 --> 00:38:47,600 it will benefit you across your life then and it will benefit you when you come and 597 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:51,200 take part in the Special Olympics programs or sport and competition as well. 598 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:57,240 But I think that local sports partnership network is a really big asset that we do have 599 00:38:57,240 --> 00:39:02,360 and that we would be encouraging families, athletes, everyone to tap into because they 600 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:07,840 run a lot of free programs as well which is really beneficial and it kind of removes that 601 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:11,840 barrier of cost for people as well. 602 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,880 Can you think of any misconceptions that people have about Special Olympics? 603 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:20,720 One of the big ones when we speak to students is, oh yeah, the Paralympics would be the 604 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:26,000 first thing that people say or oh, it's for people who don't have limbs or you know, 605 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:32,400 like they would be kind of some of the statements that people would make and through my work, 606 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:36,560 what we've really, really tried to do because I want to encourage as many students to get 607 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:40,720 involved as possible because I think that's how, like yourself as well, when you just 608 00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:44,320 get started, you get a love for it. 609 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:49,120 And so we work with the sports science students who are first years in Dublin City University 610 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:54,520 and we pair them up with local Special Olympics clubs and we get them out for a six to eight 611 00:39:54,520 --> 00:40:01,120 week period in their own time outside of university hours to get that first taste of volunteer 612 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:06,200 experience and the feedback from them is, oh, I didn't know or I didn't realize how 613 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:12,440 sporty people with intellectual disabilities could be, I didn't realize how competitive, 614 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:18,040 how much fun, like crack, you know, all of that type of thing that people would say to 615 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:19,040 us afterwards. 616 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:25,560 Yeah, yeah, the shared recreation seems to be one of the best ways to address attitudinal 617 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:30,320 barriers and expectations or lower expectations that people have. 618 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,040 Because people are nervous, I think sometimes as well, you know, if you've never met someone 619 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:39,760 with a disability, I think some people are worried they'll say the wrong thing or that 620 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:41,360 they'll offend somebody as well. 621 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:46,000 And I think, you know, our advice would be just be yourself, just get out there and, 622 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,880 you know, people are people at the end of the day. 623 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:53,760 So I think that's one of the big things that we would say to the students. 624 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:55,120 Absolutely. 625 00:40:55,120 --> 00:41:01,280 What direction do you hope your research or your work goes in in the coming years? 626 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:03,200 Have I thought about this question? 627 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:08,920 I definitely think I would love to stay in my research in the area of adaptive physical 628 00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:09,920 activity. 629 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:14,320 I potentially would like to broaden it out more towards health because from my previous 630 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:19,320 role as health and wellbeing coordinator, we have seen a lot of health disparities and 631 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:23,880 we know that people with intellectual disabilities face a lot of health disparities compared 632 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:25,960 to the general population. 633 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:31,400 And things like, you know, dying on average 16 to 20 years earlier than the general population, 634 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:37,360 twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease, twice as likely to get things like arthritis. 635 00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:43,680 And a lot of those things, they're not because of the intellectual disability diagnosis, 636 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:49,600 but because of things like lack of access to health care or equal access to health care, 637 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:56,400 lack of accessible health promotion and health education opportunities, those type of things, 638 00:41:56,400 --> 00:42:03,160 health care professional training or lack of, because what we've seen is that again, 639 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:06,600 what we are trying to do, so not only with sports science students, but with students 640 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:12,960 with health care backgrounds like audiology, podiatry, ophthalmology, health promotion, 641 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:18,560 that we work with those students, deliver an inclusive health lecture, teach them about 642 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:22,800 the health disparities that people with ID face and then give them an opportunity to 643 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:24,640 take part in a health screening. 644 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,080 So it's called Healthy Athletes is one of our free health screening programs that we've 645 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:33,040 run and get them to get hands on experience working with the population so that when they 646 00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:37,400 become health care professionals, when they finish university, that they'll be comfortable 647 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:42,040 and they'll be confident to treat a patient who has an intellectual disability. 648 00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:44,480 So that's another big part of the work that we do. 649 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:49,360 And again, I know you mentioned there about the health education programs that I've expanded 650 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:50,960 since I was with the organization. 651 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:55,400 So we introduced things like breast cancer awareness workshops. 652 00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:56,960 We introduced Health at Play. 653 00:42:56,960 --> 00:42:59,480 So that's health education for the young athletes program. 654 00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:01,040 So age four upwards. 655 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:05,360 And again, some of the coaches were saying, what, how do you do health education with 656 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:06,360 four year olds? 657 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:07,480 And I said, okay, we'll show you. 658 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:11,680 So a lot of things like a giant clock to talk about sleep. 659 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:12,960 So what time do we go to bed at? 660 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:14,240 What time do we wake up at? 661 00:43:14,240 --> 00:43:17,980 A lot of visual props and tools for hydration. 662 00:43:17,980 --> 00:43:23,840 We have our giant toilet bowls with a little, they call them like puddles or pools of urine. 663 00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:25,640 So the different colors of urine. 664 00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:29,680 And you say, which color should it be and what color is it really though? 665 00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:34,000 And when we drink enough water, we know it should be very light yellow and not smelly. 666 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:37,320 So these are the types of things for the Health at Play with the younger athletes that we 667 00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:42,440 do because again, getting that health knowledge from a younger age and carrying that on through 668 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:48,920 as you get older, we just hope to kind of intercept early and establish those lifelong 669 00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:52,080 health behaviors from a young age within the program. 670 00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:57,200 And then we've also brought in mental health was a big one as well around COVID with athletes 671 00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:01,600 saying to us, our adult athletes saying that they were experiencing feelings of social 672 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,520 isolation and loneliness and they miss their friends. 673 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:08,800 They miss their activities that Special Olympics would have provided. 674 00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:13,640 And that again, for athletes who are going the competitive route and selected for a World 675 00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:16,640 Games opportunity, it's a big deal. 676 00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:19,280 And a lot of nerves and anxiety can come with that. 677 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:24,040 Being away from home for the first time, getting on a plane for the first time, sharing a room 678 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:27,720 with somebody for the first time who snores or likes the light on and you don't like the 679 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:29,120 light on. 680 00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:33,640 So our Stronger Minds, Happier Lives program is a five module program that we worked with 681 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:35,840 Mental Health Ireland on to design that. 682 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:40,640 And that was co-produced with a team of Special Olympics athletes who are health messengers. 683 00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:44,720 So they've been trained as role models and advocates for their own health, but the health 684 00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:48,280 of all athletes or people with intellectual disabilities. 685 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:54,120 So that team would speak a lot at different conferences or events and advocate on behalf 686 00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:55,880 of people with ID as well. 687 00:44:55,880 --> 00:45:02,120 So they're just some of the programs that we've created and got up and running to help 688 00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:06,040 try and end some of the health disparities that this group face. 689 00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:09,520 Yeah, you got your hand in a lot of different projects. 690 00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:16,400 You had first mentioned wanting to move from adaptive PA to health globally. 691 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,300 And I was going to ask how you defined health, but it seems like you encompassed it pretty 692 00:45:19,300 --> 00:45:20,300 well there. 693 00:45:20,300 --> 00:45:24,760 So not just physical health, but also emotional health, mental health, et cetera. 694 00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:31,680 I think yesterday actually we were down in a county in Ireland called Limerick because 695 00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:32,680 we have been chosen. 696 00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:37,960 I say we, a team of consultants, which I'm lucky to be part of, all really brilliant 697 00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:44,080 researchers in the field of intellectual disability research and studies came together and put 698 00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:50,200 in a proposal to Special Olympics International when they put out a call to look at and assess 699 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,660 the health care system through a systems level approach. 700 00:45:53,660 --> 00:45:57,240 So we were one of 10 sites selected. 701 00:45:57,240 --> 00:46:02,840 We're the only country in Europe to be selected for this project and this team of researchers 702 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:07,280 over the next few weeks are going to deep dive into the Irish health care system and 703 00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:12,720 see is it really inclusive and accessible for people with intellectual disabilities. 704 00:46:12,720 --> 00:46:18,280 So I think that's a really great start on starting to look at health for this population 705 00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:21,160 and something that hasn't been done previously. 706 00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:26,200 Yeah, that'll be really interesting to see the results of that. 707 00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:30,920 Is that through, what organization is that through just if people want to kind of be 708 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:31,920 attuned to the results? 709 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:36,360 So Special Olympics International have partnered with the Missing Billion Initiative and they 710 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:44,480 created a separate IDD module that is added on to the Missing Billion criteria and that's 711 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:49,840 basically the assessment tool that we'll be using to determine whether the health care 712 00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:53,000 system is inclusive for people with ID or not. 713 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:57,920 I think some of the other, there's three states in the US that are involved in the project 714 00:46:57,920 --> 00:46:58,920 as well. 715 00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:04,520 I think Wisconsin was one of them and there's another two on the map that they've shared. 716 00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:06,960 I think places like India and things. 717 00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:11,680 But we're the only, Ireland was the only European country selected to be part of this project. 718 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:13,680 So we're very grateful for that. 719 00:47:13,680 --> 00:47:15,040 Yeah, absolutely. 720 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:16,760 That's awesome. 721 00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:21,000 If people want to learn more about the work that you're doing, we can include it in the 722 00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:26,840 show notes of course, but where would you direct them to go or what resources would 723 00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:28,200 you share? 724 00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:33,500 So our social media is Special Olympics Ireland social media pages. 725 00:47:33,500 --> 00:47:38,400 We have Instagram and Facebook and I suppose about Special Olympics in general, Special 726 00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:45,520 Olympics.org for internationally to see where, if you want to volunteer or what are the sports 727 00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:48,360 that we deliver and run and things like that and to see. 728 00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:52,080 There's over 170 countries involved with Special Olympics. 729 00:47:52,080 --> 00:47:55,760 So no matter where you are around the world, I'm sure you'd be able to find a club if you 730 00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:57,680 wanted to volunteer. 731 00:47:57,680 --> 00:47:59,480 And then my LinkedIn, I love LinkedIn. 732 00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:04,040 I love posting updates and things like that and sharing work and projects that's happening. 733 00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:09,200 So happy for people to connect with me on LinkedIn under Hayley Cappna. 734 00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:13,480 Yeah, if you hadn't mentioned that I was going to say LinkedIn, because that was the first 735 00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:18,200 way I was introduced to your work was just through finding one of the research papers 736 00:48:18,200 --> 00:48:23,000 that you shared and you're always posting a lot of good resources and even preparing 737 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:24,000 for this. 738 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:28,240 I was mostly just able to read through your LinkedIn feed and learned a lot about the 739 00:48:28,240 --> 00:48:30,200 work that you were doing, which is rare. 740 00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:36,680 Not everyone shares things openly on LinkedIn for their work, but I think it's awesome. 741 00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:39,280 It's supposed to be a professional network. 742 00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:40,720 So it's the perfect place for that. 743 00:48:40,720 --> 00:48:47,000 So we'll include your LinkedIn page in the show notes as well as well as Special Olympic 744 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:48,120 Ireland pages. 745 00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:51,520 But Hayley, it was great to learn more about what you're doing. 746 00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:57,200 I really both appreciate it and value it greatly. 747 00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:01,320 So again, we'll share those things so people can connect with you if they're interested 748 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:03,520 in learning more. 749 00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:08,440 Maybe if someone wants to start a young athletes program, they can learn from the model that 750 00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:11,680 you guys have created. 751 00:49:11,680 --> 00:49:15,640 And yeah, I appreciate your time and look forward to sharing this with our audience. 752 00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:16,640 Thank you so much. 753 00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:17,640 It was great being here. 754 00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:20,480 Thank you for listening to the AdaptX Podcast. 755 00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:24,360 Our effort to amplify the ideas of our guests and create more inclusive and accessible industries 756 00:49:24,360 --> 00:49:27,460 is futile unless these episodes reach a larger audience. 757 00:49:27,460 --> 00:49:31,320 If you enjoyed our discussion today, please leave us a rating or review on whichever platform 758 00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:32,320 you use. 759 00:49:32,320 --> 00:49:35,360 And if you would like to learn more about AdaptX, the course that we teach to health 760 00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:39,200 and fitness professionals and the projects that our organization is working on, you can 761 00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:43,600 subscribe to our newsletter through our website, www.adaptex.org. 762 00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:47,760 Until next Monday.