Despite the benefits, children with disabilities do not participate in recreational activities as often as typically developing peers. The purpose of the program was to: 1) describe the benefit of a gymnastics program on a child’s development, and 2) identify the impact of a staff training program. Engagement in the proposed program aimed to ultimately contribute to a child’s involvement in recreational activities, health and quality of life (QOL). All participants in the gymnastics program demonstrated a positive change in motor and communication skills. Pre-test data from the staff training program indicated that none of the gymnastics staff members were comfortable in teaching children with disabilities prior to engagement in the staff training program. Results suggest that organizations should make an increased effort to increase the engagement of children with disabilities in recreational programming.
","abstract_html":"<p>Despite the benefits, children with disabilities do not participate in recreational activities as often as typically developing peers. The purpose of the program was to: 1) describe the benefit of a gymnastics program on a child’s development, and 2) identify the impact of a staff training program. Engagement in the proposed program aimed to ultimately contribute to a child’s involvement in recreational activities, health and quality of life (QOL). All participants in the gymnastics program demonstrated a positive change in motor and communication skills. Pre-test data from the staff training program indicated that none of the gymnastics staff members were comfortable in teaching children with disabilities prior to engagement in the staff training program. Results suggest that organizations should make an increased effort to increase the engagement of children with disabilities in recreational programming.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Leichtenberger, Cayla"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"OTD","degree_level":"Immediate Access","degree_discipline":"Occupational Therapy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jeryl Benson","Jaime Muñoz"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-12-21T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-12-21T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:10:50Z","subjects":["Occupational Therapy","Recreational Activities","Leisure","Doctoral Experiential Component","Sports Studies"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1739","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jeryl Benson","Jaime Muñoz"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Leichtenberger, Cayla"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-12-21T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Occupational Therapy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Immediate Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["OTD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Occupational Therapy","Recreational Activities","Leisure","Doctoral Experiential Component","Sports Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1739"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Despite the benefits, children with disabilities do not participate in recreational activities as often as typically developing peers. The purpose of the program was to: 1) describe the benefit of a gymnastics program on a child’s development, and 2) identify the impact of a staff training program. Engagement in the proposed program aimed to ultimately contribute to a child’s involvement in recreational activities, health and quality of life (QOL). All participants in the gymnastics program demonstrated a positive change in motor and communication skills. Pre-test data from the staff training program indicated that none of the gymnastics staff members were comfortable in teaching children with disabilities prior to engagement in the staff training program. Results suggest that organizations should make an increased effort to increase the engagement of children with disabilities in recreational programming.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Tumble tOTs: Outcomes of a Gymnastics Program for Children with Disabilities"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jeryl Benson","Jaime Muñoz"],"dc:creator":["Leichtenberger, Cayla"],"dc:date.available":["2018-12-21T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Despite the benefits, children with disabilities do not participate in recreational activities as often as typically developing peers. The purpose of the program was to: 1) describe the benefit of a gymnastics program on a child’s development, and 2) identify the impact of a staff training program. Engagement in the proposed program aimed to ultimately contribute to a child’s involvement in recreational activities, health and quality of life (QOL). All participants in the gymnastics program demonstrated a positive change in motor and communication skills. Pre-test data from the staff training program indicated that none of the gymnastics staff members were comfortable in teaching children with disabilities prior to engagement in the staff training program. Results suggest that organizations should make an increased effort to increase the engagement of children with disabilities in recreational programming.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1739"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Occupational Therapy","Recreational Activities","Leisure","Doctoral Experiential Component","Sports Studies"],"dc:title":["Tumble tOTs: Outcomes of a Gymnastics Program for Children with Disabilities"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Occupational Therapy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Immediate Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["OTD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:10:50Z"}