Adapted physical education : movement and dance for children with special needs

Abstract

From her early teen-age years, the author always remembers herself as being intrigued by, and drawn to, children with special needs, mostly those with Down's Syndrome. As a result of her encounter with such children, she came to believe that they are very special persons, with the most human of emotions and lovable qualities. It is because of the author's strong feelings towards such children, that she decided to contribute something to improve in some way the quality of the life of children with Down's Syndrome. Thus, the author's main concern in this dissertation. is to increase the awareness among parents and teachers, of the importance of movement and dance, and, more specifically, to create/develop a programme (based solely on movement and dance) , which would prove both physically and socially beneficial to these children. In other words, movement and dance will be used as a medium of a learning and developing experience for children with Down's Syndrome. A video-cassette of the movement and dance programme for children with Down's Syndrome, is also presented as part of the dissertation.