Effects of participation in a sports exercise programme on movement competencies of mentally retarded children

7. SUMMARY Exercising for sports or entertaintment is not only beneficial for healthy people but also for handicapped people. The purpose of this study is to indicate the effects of exercisining, on the physical abilities of handicapped. For this reason. With the support of Elazığ Association of Mentally Handicapped People, we started our study using 2$ students (Female, 9 female). All students participated our study were volunteers. The managers, instructors, and the families of the students were infomed about our study. For each of the students we arranged personal information cards. We observed the students exercising in a gymnasium for three monts, twice a week and two hours for each meeting. Four instructors observed and accompanied the students during each of the physical exercises. The students were tested on various exercises including (a) pre determined entertainment exercises, (b) warm-up exercises, (c) cool-down exercises, (d) basic gymnastic exercises, (e) sport plays, and (f) game competitions. Before and after the three-month observation period, we tested the students to note their pre and post exercise performance. We used a 1,2,3, and 4 evaluation scale to determine the performance of the students in these tests. Scale 1 represents failure, 2 denotes that the exercise is accomplished with help, 3 denotes that the exercise is accomplished using a model, and finally 4 denotes that the exercise is accomplished withount any outside help. We used Student t. Test for the statistical evaluation of the student scores. We used p< 0.01 and p<0.05 levels of significance in our tests. Weight average of the students before and after the exercising period are 33.13 ± 12.34 and 32.54 + 12.34 kg, respectively. Fat percentage averages before the exercising period is 20.02 ± 5.65 cm. After the exercising period the fat percentage average is 32.54 ± 12.34 cm. The difference between these values is is statistically significant using a p<0.05 level of significance. We observed a significant difference (p<0.01, p<0.05) between pre and post exercise test results of the students for the following exercises : (a) vertical jump, (b) long jump, (c) hand strenght, (d) push-up, (e) ab-crunch, (f) sit-down and stand-up movement, (g) walking 88exercise, (h) running on a line, (i) walking on a balance device, (j) rolling over back and forth, (k) stairway climbing (up-down), and (1) shooting and dripling with a soccer ball. Finally, we conclude in this study that regular and controlled exercising improves the physical health, sporting abilities, and movement abilities of mentally-handicapped children. 89