Recreation can be defined as activities that an individual chooses to do based upon their value as being enjoyable, satisfying, and interesting. Recreation can encourage personal growth and self-expression and provide increased learning opportunities. Leisure can be defined as free time where individuals are free from work or duties.
Recreation and leisure play an important role in social well-being by providing people with a sense of identity and personal self-sufficiency. Recreation and leisure can build social relationships, adds meaning to individual and community life, improves physical and mental health, and contributes to people’s overall quality of life. All parents want what is best for their child and by increasing parent knowledge of the benefits and the accessibility of recreation and leisure facilities for students with disabilities; we help build the foundation for an active and social future for our students.
The Cure Our Children Foundation website has a special section of valuable information about sports and recreational activities for children with physical disabilities. This site provides research articles that are full of information on laws, rights of children with disabilities, important exercises for different conditions, modifications for some sports, and a comparison chart that lists popular sport activities on one side and alternative sports for students with disabilities on the other side. Also, on this website you can find the web links and phone numbers for places that provide modified sporting activities for students with disabilities, organizations and associations, articles, magazines, books, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. This site would be very valuable to a parent who is looking for a sport their child can play.
TOTA
Texas Occupational Therapy Association provides a list of camps that are full of recreation and leisure activities called “Camps for Special Kids”. This list contains the names, websites, phone numbers, and the general area of many camps located here in Texas, for children with disabilities. In these, camps provide day camp activities to year round services for children with disabilities. This would be a great website for parents who are looking for a place where their child can experience camp activities, meet new friends, and receive the accommodations they need all at the same time.
Sports for Exceptional Athletes Video
Sports for Exceptional Athletes Website
Sports for Exceptional Athletes is a sports program who serves athletes with developmental disabilities ages 5 through adult. This program exists to create opportunities for people with and without disabilities to interact and form lasting bonds of friendship through shared sports and recreational activities. This program offers 24 different sports in four different seasons. They also invite athletes with developmental disabilities, families, friends, and others to play and compete together. The video for this website shows clips of students playing multiple sports and interviews from students about what they like to play, their thoughts about the program, and their views on making friends. This website and video can be used by parents who may be uncertain of the benefits recreation can bring to their children or who are looking for a facility for their student to participate in recreational activities.
The Cure Our Children Foundation website is an excellent resource to provide to parents or family members of individuals with disabilities who would like to put their child in a sport. It provides alternative ways to participate in sports and has specific information that can help achieve alternative activities. This website can help coaches and teachers with ideas for alternative activities or lesson plans to help accommodate people with a disability.
ReplyDeleteThe TOTA website is wonderful for families who are interested in placing their child in a camp setting with other individuals with disabilities. These camps can provide therapy, an education, and promote making new friendships with other individuals with disabilities. The website also provides links for a number of camps along with their phone numbers and addresses.
The Sports for Exceptional Athletes website and video are great examples of what programs are available. We think the video is a great resource that shows how individuals with disabilities can do anything such as swim, bowl, and interact with the community. These websites can be used to help generate ideas or help motivate the community to set up an organization that will make sport activities available for individuals with disabilities.
We really liked your resources. High school is a time when many students are playing sports or being involved in extracurricular activities so it is important that parents of children with disabilities know that their children are not left out. We really liked your first site because it has so much information including the exercises for different conditions and modifications for a particular activity. These resources are important because through recreation students in transition can learn social, self-esteme, and advocacy skills that they will need when they graduate.
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