The purpose of this master's thesis is to design a program of an adapted swimming activity for a pupil with a severe form of motor disability, cerebral palsy-spastic diparesis, and moderate intellectual disabilities. The participant pupil is not yet fully adapted to water. For people with cerebral palsy, an exercise in water is highly recommended, as it has many positive effects on the body and allows them greater independence of movement. This was also proved in our case, as the pupil successfully progressed and developed a certain degree of independence in movement in the water, despite the difficulties due to motor disability. We have also proven that with a gradual introduction and a relaxed and fun atmosphere, many fears and prejudices of non-swimmers can be overcome. The games and activities we introduced according to the Halliwick swimming concept helped us with this. With the positive effects of the implementation of the adapted swimming activities, we want to draw attention to the importance of early and comprehensive treatment of people with special needs.
The results show the effectiveness of the set program and continuous work. After completing the program, the pupil is better adapted to water, both physically and mentally. The pupil's fear of water has visibly diminished to such an extent that it no longer prevents her from progressing and new experiences. With the conducted research, we showed that the adapted swimming activity, performed according to an author's designed program including the elements according to the Halliwick concept, is suitable for people with severe motor disabilities and fear of water. The pupil progressed or maintained her initial state in all assessed abilities. With the results of the research, we want to contribute to the development of the special pedagogical profession in the field of learning and development of the swimming abilities of people with motor disabilities and intellectual disabilities. At the same time, we want to encourage the special-rehabilitation and sports-pedagogical profession to perform adapted motor activities in the water more often.
By presenting both used test instruments and interpreting the results, we want to help facilitate the assessment of swimming abilities, monitor progress, and planning physical activities in the water for people with special needs. Both instruments used in the research (SWIM and WOTA 1) proved to be beneficial and useful in planning the program, the program’s monitoring, and the evaluation of the pupil’s progress. Nevertheless, both hypotheses were rejected, as the tests did not show progress in all the assessed abilities as we expected them to.
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