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Our next presenters were Sonya, Maggie and Tena. They spoke about MATP which stands for Motor Activity Management Program.

MATP is highly structured 8 week program that is designed for individuals who are unable to compete in the Special Olympics Program who haveh severe or significant intellectual and/or physical disabilities. After the 8 weeks of training, the athletes come together with friends and family to watch them compete in Challenge Day, cheer them on and celebrate what they learned. There are evaluaton tools to determine who can particpate.

There are 5 Principles of MAPT which are as follows:

1. 7 basic motor skills

a. Mobility

b. Dexterity (athletics/softball

c. Striking

d. Kicking (soccer

e. Manual wheelchair athletics

f. Motorized wheelchair

g. Swimming (aquatics)

2. Non-competitive

a. No rules/non competitive

b. Everyone can participate

c. Adapted equipment and/or physical assistance for safety

d. Fun and accomplishment vs competiton

3. Age appropriateness

a. Chornological

b. Funcitnal ability

c. Mental aga

4. Functional abilities

a. Skill/sport related to access

b. Funcitnal ability

c. Mental aga

4. Functional abilities

a. Skill/sport related to access

b. Interest

5. Focus: Use What’s There

a. Use what you have in your community

I was not aware that this program exists. What a wonderful opportunity for our students with special needs to actively participate and celebrate physical activity. I intend to search this program out for my students in the future.

Task Anaylsis: PE Settings

Jeanette and Jasmin dsicussed Task Analysis as a form of assessment that could be used in all settings but focused on PE. The book Paraeducators in Physical Education, Adaptated Phsycial Ed in Sport and Physical Ed assessment toolkit is a resource they talked about in their presentation. They began by looking at traditional and standard assessments and the challenges they bring. By using task analysis, the teacher and student can break a task into its individual steps to see exactly what the issues are as specifically as possible. It helps the teacher understand where the student needs improvement and/or adaptations. This is an inclusive way of assessments aned can be universally designed for all students. We followed by trying a task analysis for ourselves. While I found it challenging, I can see how the concept could be used in the classroom.