With its many styles and concepts, group exercise is a widely accessible sport. But how accessible are your classes?
The EMD UK National Survey revealed that 21% of group exercise participants report that their day-to-day life is limited either a little or a lot by a disability. With 4.86 million people now doing group exercise on a weekly basis, you as an instructor should be considering how accessible your classes are and what you can do to appeal to more. Although this may seem like a daunting task, there is a world of training and support available to you.
CanDo Hub provide dance fitness classes, workshops for schools, colleges and day provisions and CPD courses for professionals. Their programmes are specifically designed for children and adults with Additional Learning Needs and disabilities, improving, self-esteem, stamina, co-ordination and balance. One such training course is their Additional Learning Needs/ SEN Awareness and training for instructors in the form of CanDo Anything CPD Courses. The course gives informative and practical training on how to devise and adapt group exercise-based classes for participants, as well as providing a teaching toolkit of strategies to engage, communicate and develop those with additional learning needs.
Sam Nicholson, creative director and lead instructor at CanDo Hub, explains how often people with additional learning needs are underestimated and how CanDo training can help your classes become more inclusive.
