Personal training for SEN children and young people

[PaediatricOT]

Hi, I've been a children's Occupational Therapist (OT) for 10 years and I'm seeing an increasing need for the use of personal trainers who could work with children or young people with SEN. This could either take the form of individual sessions or small groups, much like mainstream holiday sports clubs but targeted to, and accessible for, young people with a range of additional needs. I'm considering combining my paeds OT skills with a personal trainer with SEN experience to establish such sessions and groups. I'd welcome parents'/carers' thoughts on the need for this and whether it would be something you would consider. Thanks in advance!

I would love something like this. DD has mild CP, but it’s like pulling teeth to get her to do the exercises I know will help her (core strength, fine motor etc) at home.

Private physio or OT costs a fortune, and she’s not severe enough to get much on the NHS. The usual after school and weekend clubs are better than nothing but focus on teaching tennis or football or ballet skills rather than on specific muscle development.

One issue I can foresee is that many SEN kids my DD included are pretty exhausted at the end of the school day. So the club might need to be at weekends or even before school?

PS you may get more responses if you post on the SN board?

Yes this would be great. Would definitely be something we would consider in the holidays or weekends but probably not after school as a. Long journey home from school and b. Knackered!

Thank you for your feedback. As a paeds OT I definitely see the scope for incorporating the skills of a personal trainer to make the suggested exercises more function based, especially for secondary school aged pupils and above. After all, physical fitness is a life skill and a great forum for life-long skill and muscle development. Each session/group would be planned jointly so would have goals from both an OT and personal training perspective. Agreed re your point about fatigue. We’re thinking weekends and school holidays. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

@Wholeholes thank you for your feedback. Where are you based? Agreed that weekends and school holidays would be the most suitable times to offer groups.