Professional and Disciplinary Status of Adapted Physical Activity

Abstract

Adapted physical activity has debated its professional and disciplinary status, but agreement has not been achieved. As a means of objectively evaluating the field for evidence of discipline status, the contents of APAQ (all issues between 1984-2000) and Clinical Kinesiology (1991-2000) were reviewed and compared against four criteria of a discipline: unique knowledge base, methodology, theoretical framework, and terminology. The review indicated that adapted physical activity has a distinct knowledge base but borrows considerable terminology, research methodology, and theory from allied fields. This is likely a reflection of our history, which has been tied to medicine, kinesiology, physical and special education, and some therapies. We conclude that adapted physical activity is a professional field of study with a crossdisciplinary knowledge base, rather than a discipline in its own right.

Physical Activity and School-Age Individuals With Visual Impairments: A Literature Review

“…Another finding that has emerged is the importance of using theoretical or conceptual models to drive future research (Reid & Stanish, 2003;Cervantes & Taylor, 2011) Thus, hypotheses are developed based on them and those models can be further confirmed or revised as appropriate depending on research results. Too few studies (4 of 18, or 22%) included a theoretical or conceptual model.…”

Fundamental Motor Skills and School-Aged Individuals with Visual Impairments: a Review

“…Lastly, when conceptualizing future research in this arena, researchers should consider utilizing theoretical or conceptual models to underpin their studies. Scholars in adapted physical activity research have stressed the importance of utilizing theoretical or conceptual models to drive research (Reid and Stanish 2003). When utilizing these models, hypotheses are developed based on them and those models can either be confirmed or revised as appropriate based on those results (Haegele and Porretta 2015).…”

Celebrating the Insecure Practitioner. A Critique of Evidence-Based Practice in Adapted Physical Activity

“…Adapted physical activity (APA) is a cross-disciplinary field of study that takes its theories and methodologies from the mother-disciplines physical education, medicine and special education (Reid & Stanish, 2003). The focus of APA has primarily been directed towards professional practice in the sense that research and theory in APA aim at enabling "professionals to interact with people experiencing difficulties with movement" (Reid, 2003, 20).…”