We just finished a week of adaptive bike camp, and it was a great experience! I'm writing a blog post about it in case there are any of you who are wondering what it's like, who might be pondering signing your kids up for an adaptive sports program, or who are looking for volunteer opportunities.
What adaptive sports programs are like
In some ways, it's just like a normal sports camp. You show up for five days in a row and spend a bunch of time practicing that sport or activity. There are leaders, volunteers, and campers. Disney music plays from the speakers. Parents and grandparents congregate on the sidelines and try to keep younger siblings occupied. The main distinctives that make the camp adaptive are these:
- There are more volunteers per camper. In this camp, and the others that I'm aware of, there is at least one volunteer per camper, and sometimes two or three. They make sure campers get the support they need to meet physical and any other needs.
- There is special adaptive equipment. It would take too long to get into the details here, but they have special equipment that moves riders through a series that is more gradual than just training wheels to Boom, on your own riding.
- It's more broken down. In cycling, it recognizes that there are lots of different skills happening at once - the cycling motion, balance, steering, braking, speed tolerance, awareness of other riders around you, leaning into the turn, etc. And the staff finds ways to isolate those skills rather than working on everything altogether at once, which can be overwhelming.
- It's more individualized. This is partly possible because of the huge number of volunteers. Every rider is starting in a different place, has different things to work on, has different strengths and weaknesses, and will move through at their own pace. These camps can meet kids where they are, treat them as an individual, and give them the unique help that they need.
Why your kid should do it!
The main reason we signed up for this bike camp was because we were hoping to see progress in the sport. We did see really good forward progress, both in terms of excitement about biking and physical skills. It's still a work in progress, but we started the camp at square one, and I'm thrilled how far he was able to come in a week. But that was not actually the best part.
The best thing was the positive, encouraging environment from everyone - the staff, the volunteers, the parents, the fellow riders - everyone was supportive of everyone else, and all progress was celebrated. This is not an experience that kids with disabilities get to have all the time, particularly in extra-curriculars and sports. I didn't realize how much it would mean to my kid to gain some new sports skills, to be cheered on and supported in a sports environment, to get a medal at the end - there was a happiness and confidence that he took away from participating in this camp that took me by surprise.
It was also really useful for me to see the value of having skills broken down. Until this camp, I thought anxiety / unwillingness was his main barrier to biking. I can now see that the anxiety was telling me that there were too many pieces to learn all at once when you're just thrown on a bike, but that if it was broken down in a more accessible way, it was a skill that he was very willing and eager and excited to learn. It broadened my perspective of how things should be approached, what anxiety might be saying, and what is possible within the realm of sports.
Why you might like volunteering for an adaptive sports program
The biggest reason is that it's rewarding! As stated above, it's a very positive environment - the campers are happy to be there, and the parents are happy to see their kids happy. You see progress happen throughout the week, and you get to be a part of that progress.
If you love a particular sport, it's a way to give back within a community that you love and are very familiar with. This experience makes me want to someday get involved with adaptive track and field.
Some other logistical reasons: It's a low time commitment - this was about 2 hours per day for 5 days. You are physically active during your time frame (which might be a plus or minus for you, but it's a way to combine exercise and volunteering). It's easy to learn - the trained staff will handle the hard parts, and you mostly offer encouragement and a helping hand.
Thank you to those of you who do give your time this way - it's much appreciated by this mama!
A few more questions...
How can I figure out if this is right for my kid? This might be asked from the "high functioning" or "low functioning" perspective (I'm not a huge fan of those terms, in part because what do they even mean? - in this case, I'm meaning it in relation to ability to do the sport). These programs will give very specific criteria about who is eligible to participate in their program - if your kid meets the criteria, they are right for the program. At our camp, there was a wide range of participants, both in terms of age and ability.
How can I figure out the reputation of my local adaptive program? Ask your child's speech therapist, OT, physical therapist, etc. If this is a program that is held every year, they will have had many of their clients go through it and will likely have heard the good, bad, and ugly from both parents and kids. Also, there is often a local Facebook special needs group, and these groups can give you all kinds of feedback on adaptive programs.
Thus concludes my tome about adaptive sports programs. Thank you to all of you who make adaptive sports programs possible, and I'm hoping this might encourage a few others to check it out, either as participants or volunteers.
