
Kids on autism spectrum get physical activity, nutrition support through Detroit program
A Wayne State University (WSU) community-based program for kids on the autism spectrum is taking off. PLANE, short for Physical Literacy and Nutrition Education, offers adaptive strategies to get kids moving, as well as a nutrition curriculum that shares ways to introduce kids to healthier foods.
Dr. Leah Ketcheson, assistant professor and program coordinator of WSU’s Health and Physical Education Teaching program, proposed the idea for PLANE through her 2016 doctoral thesis after teaching adaptive physical education in the Detroit Public School Community School District from 2007 to 2010. Ketcheson saw a need for extracurricular health programming among students with autism. Dr. Leah Ketcheson.
“The classrooms of children with autism were the most intriguing but