Taking the Kids™
Giving Kids With Disabilities a Mountain Adventure
Sam Robson confidently races down a Vermont ski hill, a huge grin plastered on his face.
But for Sam, who is nearly blind, learning to ski means a lot more than some fun in the snow. "I like being able to do something my friends and the rest of my family does," says Sam.
For Coloradoan Jacy Hoagland, so profoundly disabled from cerebral palsy that she can't talk or walk, skiing means the chance to get out of her wheelchair and be in the mountains.
"She loves the outdoors, and there are so few things she can do in the winter," says Jacy's mom, Patty Hoagland. "This has made her much more brave and independent. “
Sam, Jacy, and thousands of other disabled children around the country are able to hit the slopes in the winter and play in the mountains in the summer, thanks to adaptive programs with special equipment and trained volunteer guides.
In addition to skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing in winter, these programs now offer all kinds of summer sports - sailing on Lake Champlain in Vermont, camping and rock-climbing in Colorado, kayaking, canoeing, and camping.
"It's about the freedom," says Tim Robson, Sam's dad, adding that programs organized by Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports (www.vermontadaptive.org) have given Sam the chance "to meet such positive adult role models," such as blind skiers who tackle only the toughest slopes.
These programs give children the sort of confidence that carries over to other areas of life, says Susie Hydle, an occupational therapist who has served on the board of directors of the National Sports Center for the Disabled (www.nscd.org) in Winter Park, Colo.
"When people - adults or kids - can successfully meet a recreational challenge, they're less afraid to meet other challenges in their lives," Hydle says. "If they can build confidence on the ski slope, it carries over to school or getting a job."
The National Sports Center for the Disabled is the largest adaptive program in the country, drawing adults and kids from around the country, conducting 30,000 lessons each year, in sports ranging from skiing and dogsledding in the winter to golf and mountain biking in the summer. There are programs that allow families to learn a sport such as skiing together, and inclusion programs that let kids with disabilities join a regular ski-school class with the help of a trained NSCD guide.
Program participants have a wide range of disabilities, including autism, Down's syndrome, brain and spinal cord injuries, deafness, and serious emotional problems.
There are now adaptive programs at ski resorts from California to Maine - according to the Web site for the National Ski Areas Association (www.nsaa.org). Some operate at major ski resorts such as Steamboat (www.steamboat.com) and Crested Butte Resort (www.crestedbutteresort.com) in Colorado, Park City Mountain Resort (www.parkcitymountain.com) and Snowbird (www.snowbird.com) in Utah, Killington (www.killington.com) in Vermont, and Sunday River (www.sundayciver.com) in Maine. Many offer scholarships.
Says Patty Hoagland: "There's nothing like seeing your kid who doesn't walk skiing down the mountain."
By: Eileen Ogintz
