Encouraging obese students with intellectual disabilities to engage in pedaling an exercise bike by using an air mouse combined with preferred environmental stimulation

This study extended research into the application of high-tech products in the field of special education, using a standard air mouse with a newly developed pedal detection program (PDP) software. PDP is a new software program used to turn a standard air mouse into a pedal detector in order to evaluate whether two obese students with intellectual disabilities (ID) would be able to actively perform the activity of pedaling an exercise bike in order to control their preferred environmental stimulation. This study was performed according to an ABAB design. The data showed that both participants had more willingness to engage in the pedaling activity to activate the environmental stimulation in the intervention phases than in the baseline phase. The practical and developmental implications of the findings are discussed.