Adaptive physical education for children with the Down syndrome

Background. The purpose of the research is to justify the efficiency of using adaptive physical education for children with Down Syndrome. Material and methods. The research was conducted on the premises of the Center for Early Pedagogical Rehabilitation and Social Adaptation of Children "Pahinets". The children were randomly divided into two equal groups: the control group (n = 10) and the general group (n =10) taking into consideration the age and motor development of the children. The children from the control group were taught using the conventional methodology, while the children in the general group were exposed to the adaptive physical education methods. Results. The research was taking place over a period of 6 months, the sessions containing adaptive physical education methods were organized based on the results of the observational experiments and consisted of 3 parts: introduction, main part, and conclusion. At the end of the research, the results of the control group remained mostly unchanged with the only exception of walking the gymnastics bench while holding a ball, which showed a slight increase from 1,4±0,54 points to 1,8±0,42 points. The results prove that, with the help of systematic adaptive physical education sessions, children with Down Syndrome in the general group increased their speed and force indicators, as well as the scores in stamina and coordination. Conclusion. In the course of the research, it was established that under the influence of systematic adaptive physical education sessions children with the Down Syndrome from the general group their indicators of speed and strength qualities, as well as endurance and coordination of movements improved.