VIDBE-Q 2026 Volume 71 Issue 3
and gross motor skills. Quality adapted or general physical education programs
can promote social skills development, enhanced self-esteem, self-
determination, and communication opportunities
(Arcous et al., 2020).
Opportunities to practice and improve motor skills can also lead to a higher
level of independence and orientation and
mobility skills while gaining
strategies to maneuver in environments with special awareness (Airi
et al.,
2016).
Physical activity can also provide students with deafblindness a sense of
belonging and improve perceptions of other educators and service providers.
Blind sports can be modified to provide youth with deafblindness access to
competition and increase opportunities to be physically active. When
developing transition plans within the Individualized Education Program (IEP),
lifelong physical activities such as running, biking, or swimming can provide
recreational opportunities that are often overlooked by IEP team members
(Lieberman et al., 2018). Limited opportunities being provided to students with
deafblindness within physical activities as one of the largest barriers (Imel et
al., 2020).
Lieberman, Kirk, and Haegele (2018) reported that adults who were
deafblind were dissatisfied with the lack of information in their transition plan
related to physical recreation and activity, which could have encouraged future
involvement in physical activity. Another study reported that 60 percent of the
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