THE IMPACT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of physical activity on cognition in youth with disabilities. This study is in collaboration with the TRiPS (Therapeutic Recreation in Public Schools) program at the University of Tennessee. Project TRiPS is a service-learning course where, paired with in-class instruction, students implement therapeutic recreation services in special education classrooms with the intention of deriving specific outcomes. More specifically, 30-minute physical activity interventions were implemented during each TRiPS session using an intervention protocol called FunDoRoo. A pretest posttest quasi-experimental design was used to explore the impact of the physical activity on students’ cognition. Data related to the impact of acute and chronic physical activity on cognitive functioning in youth with disabilities was collected via the modified Corsi Block Test (PathSpan).