Exercise Bike

A student in a local elementary school classroom has severe physical, visual and cognitive disabilities. The student’s primary form of exercise is walking in the school hallways with a classroom instructor. This method is inefficient because it removes one of the two instructors from the classroom and leaves only one instructor to supervise the classroom. The physical therapist requested a device to allow the student to perform exercise while in the classroom. The device must:

1. operate easily with minimal supervision
2. motivate the student to perform the exercise activity
3. be safe for the student and classmates
4. conform to the classroom

To meet the objectives, an exercise bike is modified to compensate for the student’s disabilities. The final design is shown at the left.

Impact

The development of the bike with a motivational device will significantly enhance the student’s learning and development in the classroom as well as

improve his health. The strengthening that he gains through exercise will help to maintain his general health and level of ambulatory skills, especially as he continues to grow. This student also demonstrates a number of disruptive physical and vocal behaviors. The physical behaviors include aggressive movements of his head or falling to the ground intentionally and often without much warning. Exercise helps to modify these behaviors and calm the student, and the bike will allow him to exercise on his own while in the classroom. Since he can also now exercise more frequently and consistently, it is hoped that he will be able to participate in more appropriate social interactions in the school environment.

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0079969 and/or a Research Experience for Undergraduate supplement. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.