THE IMPACT OF THERAPEUTIC RECREATIONAL EXERCISES ON DEVELOPMENT IN BASIC SKILLS OF MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS WITH DOWN SYNDROME

The aim of this study is to examine developmental gender differences of the special movement training programme applied to male and female students with Down syndrome. 12 male and 10 female students with Down syndrome were chosen for the study. The students were chosen from 6-9 age groups. Permission was granted for the study by the families of the children, and the movement training programme was applied. The movement training programme for the study was designed by the academics at the Department of Special Education and Department of Physical Education and Sports. The special movement training programme consist of basic motor skills (walking, running, jumping, hopping, standing long jump, juggling the soccer ball, throwing the ball, catching the thrown ball, hitting the thrown ball with a racket and kicking the ball). The trainings were performed for 40-50 minutes four times a week for 4 months and 8 weeks. Before starting the training, pre-test was applied to the children. At the end of the research period, post-test was applied and then both tests were compared. Furthermore, an observation form was prepared. It consisted of 8 questions. The first data related to the observation form were collected at the beginning of the study. The observation data were recollected at the end of the study. These two observation results were interpreted, analysed and reported. The obtained data were analysed using SSPS.16 programme. The male and female students were compared and interpreted according to Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon W and Z values. As a result of the present study, while a development at the level of p<0,001 was observed in the basic skills of the male students, there was a development at the level of p<0,05 in the basic skills of the female students. Basing on this data, it was concluded that the development of the male students was more than of the female students in the special movement training programme. Article visualizations