Because of his low cognitive functioning, during the first
2 weeks of the intervention, Mr. T could not understand
the command for him to do each step of the exercise. We
had to use our hands to nudge or touch his leg to give him
a hint, and on occasion we lifted and lowered his legs for
him. By the third week of the intervention, however, we
saw a learning effect: Mr. T recognized the name of the
machine (Keiser), pronouncing it every time we took him
to the exercise laboratory, and he was able to sit on the
machine by himself and perform the exercise almost without
help. Throughout the exercise program, however, he
could not exercise each leg separately.