Improving the Health of People With Intellectual Disabilities: How Fitness Professionals Can Make a Difference

1 CEC

Presented by Melissa Otterbein

People with intellectual disabilities (PWID) are motivated to improve their fitness. A 2020 Special Olympics survey found that among PWID who belonged to a gym, most attended regularly, with 74% attending at least twice per week. However, PWID continue to face many barriers to fitness participation, including lack of access and social support. This session features fitness resources that will equip attendees to deliver impactful fitness programming for PWID. Attendees will understand pathways for engaging PWID on the individual level as clients, community level through roles such as Fitness Coach, and systems change strategies to improve fitness access for PWID.

Learning Objectives:

1. Attendees will understand current gym participation trends among people with ID, as well as barriers and facilitators of community-based fitness programming for people with ID.
2. Attendees will understand the health and wellness impact of fitness programming in the lives of people with ID and tools they can use to promote continued fitness improvements.
3. Attendees will understand opportunities to engage in improving the health and fitness of people with ID through involvement with Special Olympics, including a fitness coach role.

This course includes an online video, PowerPoints and a corresponding online quiz.

All course content will be presented to you electronically upon completion of your purchase. This includes the video files, quizzes and certificates (certificates awarded upon successful completion of the quiz).

Learners must complete this course within 365 days from the date of purchase.  ACSM will not offer refunds, transfers, or course credits for uncompleted courses prior to their expiration date.

ACSM does not allow substitutions, refunds or credits for this course.  

For questions related to your online CEC courses or purchases, email onlinelearning@acsm.org. 

Membership Discount 

Join ACSM and save 50% on CEC quizzes by contacting our membership department at membership@acsm.org.  Membership dues updates may take a minimum of 24 hrs. to be reflected in your account. 

Don’t get charged for the same course more than once! Bundles may contain courses you’ve already purchased, and an individual course you’re considering purchasing may be included with a bundle you’ve already paid for. Be sure to carefully compare the contents of each course and course bundle as the system will not prevent you from making duplicate purchases.