My name is Bret Bondlow, and I am the founder of Compelling Fitness. I began my career in social work (behavioral specialist) over 30yrs ago and, over that time recognized that there is an unfulfilled need for fitness programs aimed at maintaining the health of individuals with special needs, physical disabilities and neurological disorders. My awareness of this need served as the catalyst for my transition into fitness training, since 1990, I’ve been working with children and adults with a wide range of cognitive, physical, emotional, or behavioral abilities. Through Compelling Fitness, I provide customized training programs for professionals and nonprofessionals alike, who are interested in enhancing the lives of people with special needs.

In my experience, the availability of formal fitness training programs for these individuals is very limited. Why? I believe there’s a disconnect: personal trainers who understand the exercise concepts but are not always well educated to work with kids or adults with special needs, while clinical staff with medical and psychology backgrounds often
lack knowledge of fitness programming. Another complicating factor: the parents of children with special needs require extra help establishing a fitness program to follow at home.

 

The importance of developing fitness programs for children and adults with special needs is extremely important not only physically, but cognitively, behaviorally and sensory integration as well. The struggle to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the general population is challenging enough. We need to recognize these special individuals and realize that many cannot do it without our help. We must stop looking at these individuals as if they have a problem to be fixed. Rather, see each individual as having an exceptional gift, one for which we need to create an opportunity for them to excel within their given abilities.