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Media Relations

A can-do approach to autistic children and athletics

New York Times
August 3, 2006

By Anahad O'Connor

For years, children with autism were left on the sidelines, a consequence of a widespread belief that they were incapable of participation in athletics. Now they are now being pushed to take part in physical education programs, encouraged by experts who say that certain sports can ease repetitive behaviors, like pacing and head-banging, and also provide a social outlet. "Parents of autistic kids have a lot of battles to fight," said Georgia Frey, an associate professor of kinesiology at Indiana University in Bloomington, who founded an adapted physical education program in 2001. "So when it comes to getting their kids involved in recreation and physical activity, it can seem too exhausting. But I do think that parents see the value in these programs, because the demand for them is very high."

Read this story at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/03/fashion/03Fitness.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&ref=health &oref=slogin

To learn more about Georgia Frey, view this link: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/asset/page/normal/772.html

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