The Role of Sensory Gyms and Fitness Training for Individuals with Autism
The Sensory Gym
When asking “Is a sensory gym right for my child with autism?” or “Will a sensory gym help my child with autism?” the answer invariably depends on the desired outcome or goals. An environment itself, even highly specialized, chock full of equipment and space, does not supply the structure needed to develop skills.
The term “sensory gym” is almost invariably tied to the autism population. Sensory gyms are typically outfitted with areas to jump, climb, swing and balance with a high degree of safety. The purposes of a sensory gym are to provide physical activity options, proprioceptive enrichment, and gross motor development for children (and sometimes teens) with autism.
Sensory gyms are most often equipped with a range of colorful equipment, low or non-fluorescent lighting, trampolines, and stability balls. Many of these facilities offer “programming,” however it is often initially difficult to find out whether the programs are structured, individualized, and progressive; meaning goals are set, met, and further developed.
Because of limited access to appropriate gym, fitness, and/or physical activity environments, sensory gyms can take on a panacea role for children, adolescents, and teens with autism. Rather than approaching the discussion from a “pros” and “cons” perspective, it serves better to analyze the realities of most sensory gyms and contrast that with the development of both gross motor skills and general fitness.
As with any specific industry, places and practices will vary. While many sensory gyms are predominantly “open play” environments with unstructured sessions, some sensory gyms offer “guided play” or therapeutic intervention (occupational and/or physical therapy) using the enriched facility.
The short-term Benefits of Sensory Gym
The short term benefits of sensory gyms for the autism population are numerous. These are typically highly accepting centers with adequate space for all participants. Individuals with autism who exhibit high rates or high levels of motivation to engage in physical activity (repetitive, exploratory, or otherwise), are most often safe in sensory gym facilities.
During open play or open session, children and adolescents with autism have the opportunity to unwind or decompress from challenges or overwhelm experienced during the day. Equally important for this and further discussion is the relatively low or no demand situation in these environments. The sensory gym may be one of the few situations in which the individual has limited tasks or expectations upon them.
The above-mentioned culminate in facilities that are often reinforcing due to the movement and environmental opportunities (climbing, rocking, bouncing, etc). Visits to these facilities may also enable the individual to move about freely and reap the benefits of vigorous physical activity that are known for neurotypical populations.
The Long-Term Gap
Since sensory gyms are most often, or most often advertised for younger individuals with autism, they, for several reasons, do not fulfil on the needs of adolescents, teens, and adults with autism and related neurodiversities.
Fitness is a lifelong skill and as individuals with autism age into teen and adult years, they require, as do we all, more structured, individualized programming. Developing, and counteracting deficits in strength, stability, and motor planning, particularly in autistic individuals over 10 years old, requires a more systematic approach.
We can relate this to a neurotypical individual who, in their 30’s or 40’s can claim they “used to work out” or “used to play sports.” The development and sustaining of strength and gross motor skills is an ongoing process. It cannot be “front loaded” with an active childhood and then a sedentary teen and adult situation.
It is well documented that adolescents, teens, and adults with autism have limited options for strength training and ongoing, meaningful fitness programming. Even when sensory gyms are conducive to gross motor and motor planning development, the relative age at which an individual can no longer participate (due to policy, access, or age-appropriateness) limits the long-term efficacy.
Passive Stimuli vs. Active Stimuli
The difference between enjoying the rhythmic movement of a swing and, say, climbing up a slide represent passive and active stimuli. There is certainly a place for both types of activity, however we have to be mindful of over-reaching or mislabeling passive stimuli as active.
While the swing and other “sensory” modalities can be highly reinforcing, they lack the active engagement to develop motor skills or strength. They can certainly be suitable when the individual needs to calm or decompress, though it is important to distinguish between physical activity requiring moderate-to-high engagement and passive variations. It’s akin to rowing a boat versus floating along in one.
Developing Real-World Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skill development for the autism population is a regularly discussed topic in research, at conferences, in articles, and therapeutic services. For their part, sensory gyms can provide an environment where gross motor activities can occur, however there is an important distinction between gross motor skill use and gross motor skill development.
Developing or enhancing gross motor skills, for the autism or any other population, requires a structured program. While a free play situation with a highly motivated and engaged individual presents movement opportunities, they will most likely be insufficient to improve strength and stability.
Equally important is the prevalence of gross motor deficits and compensatory movement among the autism population. While regular engagement in physical activity (trampolines, balance beams, climbing options) is certainly valuable, a more specific approach must be taken to meet these particular needs.
The Limitations of Play for the Autism Population
While physical and representational play is an important part of childhood development, there is often a lack of engagement in vigorous physical activity among children with autism. Within the sensory gym, a child with ASD or related neurodiversity may engage in more physical activity than a less enriched environment, however this is an assumption.
The environment can facilitate more physical activity though it cannot support or guide. As an analogy, a neurotypical adult can walk into a commercial gym, however the gym setting itself does not make the person any fitter or more active.
Play is a nebulous term as well. Play activity can range from free movement in and around a jungle gym, trampoline park, or other dedicated space to a more structured competitive sport. While play often evokes a particular visual (depending on age), we must still define the parameters of play if we are going to compare it with other activities.
Developing a Systematic Program for Fitness and Autism
Long-term development of fitness skills is a critical component for quality of life and independence for the autism population. As any population ages, the availability of individualized fitness programming and effective, knowledgeable coaching varies.
A fitness program is dependent on goals. For the vast majority of individuals with autism, there are 3 primary categories of skill development;
- Strength
- Motor Planning
- Endurance/Work Capacity
Each of these 3 areas of physical development requires a separate article for both general and specific application for the autism and neurodivergent population. One overarching similarity is the requirement of structure and consistency to develop these skills.
Taking the PAC Profile Approach to Environment
The PAC Profile is the foundation of the Autism Fitness method. Taking into consideration the physical, adaptive, and cognitive abilities of autistic and neurodivergent individuals we can develop a fitness/gross motor plan that works towards their goals.
A sensory gym may provide an environment that is calming and reinforcing for many individuals with autism. It may serve as an area and opportunity to lower anxiety, engage in reinforcing movement (or non movement). Rather than better or worse, we can examine sensory gyms from the PAC perspective:
Physical: Are exercises or movement patterns being performed often and sufficiently enough for a training effect (strength, stability, motor planning, endurance) to occur?
Adaptive: Is the individual sufficiently motivated to participate during their session/time in the facility? How many different activities will they engage in? Are those activities more active or passive based on the discussion above?
Cognitive: Are expectations clear? In an open-ended, completely autonomous environment, specific expectations for the individual with ASD may not exist. While basic behavioral and social skills may be reinforced (varying by individual abilities), an unstructured environment does not have specific programming.
To summarize, the environment is a place. As hospitable and reinforcing as the environment may be to individuals with autism, simply being there does not constitute a comprehensive gross motor or fitness program.
Fitness, especially the strength, stability, and stamina skills that generalize to activities of daily living (ADLs) are crucial for the autism and neurodivergent population at all stages of life. Having various categories of movement, environments, and understanding goals and outcomes can lead to better decisions in prioritizing specific activities and seeking out expert professionals in those areas.
Eric Chessen, MS, is the Founder of Autism Fitness and Director of Neuroadaptive Training and Innovation for Inclusive Fitness. He is the creator of the PAC Profile Approach and Autism Fitness Certification