Eaton, Lauren Elizabeth2020-09-292020-09-292020https://hdl.handle.net/1794/2574058 pagesThe goal of this thesis is to create a framework for professionals in the fitness industry to accommodate people with special needs, specifically those with autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy. My intent is to educate personal trainers and other fitness professionals on the need to differentiate and adapt their interactions and training protocols for people with developmental disabilities. This is expected to lead to a decline in the rate of obesity-related disease and causes of death in this population by making exercise more accessible. The annual cost of obesity is roughly $6.38 billion (Trogdon et al., 2008). The framework of this thesis can be implemented to alleviate some of those health-related costs. The methods for this study involved searching key words including “special needs, developmental disability, or mental retardation” and cross-referencing these terms with words like “exercise, fitness, or workout” in information sources such as Web of Science, Sport Discus, and PubMed. The information from the articles retrieved was broken down into categories which provided data for different sections of this thesis.en-USHuman PhysiologyDevelopmental DisabilityExerciseCommunicationExercise ProgrammingPhysical ActivityPhysiologyThesis/Dissertation