Page 3 - Gym Report March 2019

Case studies and

testimonials

Daniel

Elin
‘When Daniel first accessed the Gym, he would walk in
go over to the mat and just sit down for the whole session
making his noises, so we decided to use a picture of an
Elin has had a personal target of ‘with
exercise band and a band itself as an object of reference
guidance to take more responsibility for
to try and get Daniel interested. We did this for five weeks
and slowly Daniel started to pick the bands up and follow
some aspects of my health and well-being’ .
what staff were doing.
We then started to give Daniel pictures of the machines
and he would choose the rower and the recumbent bike.
‘When Elin fist started going to the Gym, she was very At first Daniel would only use them for a few minutes each.
insecure and shy. Elin didn’t really want to participate in Daniel did need help to put his feet in the pedals of the
any exercises and would try to hide behind members of bike and the blocks of the rower.
staff. The other students in the Gym session Elin is in are Slowly over time Daniel started to use everything in the
all male students. To begin with, Elin was very aware of Gym for longer periods of time by watching everyone else
the fact that she was the only woman and she was very doing their routines.
worried about working out alongside the men as she said Now Daniel is totally independent doing his routine he has
that ‘they are stronger and faster’. Through accessing up to fourteen pictures on a board where he will put them
the machines and learning some simple body weight in the order that he wants and will carry on with his routine
exercises, Elin has increased both her endurance and independently
strength. Confident in her abilities, she now happily works I have now introduced a mirror to Daniels routine which
out alongside the other students.’ he seems to really enjoy. It has increased his focus and is
Jana Weidemann (Personal Development and developing his self-reliance. His concentration and fitness
Citizenship Coordinator) have both improved significantly’.
Neil Harries (Health and fitness Tutor)

Haydn ‘The machines in the Gym have had a very positive impact

providing Haydn with a way to find a sense of calm.
Through the repetitive movements on the machines (e.g.
Rowing or pedalling), Haydn regulates his anxieties and
his stress levels. Haydn is also much more focused when
he is using one of the machines as he can manage to
channel all his energy into movement. Instead of having
Haydn experiences sensory overloads and high levels of to repeat certain words or phrases, Haydn can repeat his
anxiety. He can find it extremely difficult to focus on day to
movements which allows him to engage in conversations
day activities and to carry out tasks. Haydn experiences
with staff.
repetitive speech patterns (Echolalia) as part of his autism.
Jana Weidemann (PDC Coordinator)