Article 1

Name of article: Palaestra

Name of journal: I can skate Dorothy Hamill’s Adaptive Skating Program Gives Children with Physical Disabilities a Chance to Soar

Name of author(s):  Lauren Manfuso and Meredith Purvis

When and how did you locate this article? I found this article using the schools library’s EBSCOhost database. Keywords that I used to narrow down my search was “therapeutic recreation” and “adaptive equipment”

Two paragraph synopsis of what you learned in this article:

Dorothy Hamill, an Olympic gold medalist and figure icon helped start an ice skating program at Kennedy Krieger located in Baltimore, MD for children with different physical disabilities. The program provides several levels of participation. All of the sessions start off with a set of land exercises that are followed with an on-ice warm-up. Over the course of this program the skaters are able to pursue levels of certification through the United Stated Figure Skating Association Adaptive Program, this helps with achievement and skill development.

     To let children and their families know that skating in not impossible, the I-Skate program utilizes instructors, volunteers and a wide variety of adaptive equipment. Some of the different adaptive equipment that can be used are: Skates designed to allow for individual to keep their orthotics on. Standard walkers, which are great for individuals with reduced strength or balance and bar walkers which is great for individuals with increased impairment because it allows them to sit down immediately when needed.

     I-Skate is a community based program, because of this it operates without the individualized educational program (IEPs). However, instructions and learning is designed especially around each participants unique needs and success is more gauged by a child’s increase in confidence and ability then a measurable set of criteria.

How will you apply this knowledge to your professional development?

Before reading this article I thought that ice skating for someone with a physical disability, such a spinal cord injury would not be possible. This article reminds me that as long as I have the right adaptive equipment anything is possible. This is something that I need to keep in mind as I plan activities for participants.

Would you recommend this article for other TR students?  Why or why not?

I would recommend this article to other TR Students. I think it is always great to find resources about activities that you can do with participants. This article is great because it explains about the adaptive equipment that they used for ice skating.