I can... enjoy sports!

February 2010

Getting involved in sports can be a great way to keep active and make some new friends.  The 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics are set to begin in March – let’s cheer on our Canadian athletes and find out ways we can get involved in sports



Vocabulary suggestions for participating in sports:

• I love sports!
• Check out my sports photos in my backpack.
• I want to play goalie.
• Go! London Knights Go!
• Do you like hockey?  Who’s your favourite player?
• Do you want to join sledge hockey?
• Who’s your favourite team?
• Did you catch the game last night?
• I’m excited about the Olympics.

Get out there and Get Active!!!

There are many opportunities for people of all ages to get involved in adapted sports in the London area.  Here are a few ideas for winter activities:

Adapted Skiing: The London Track 3 Ski School provides downhill ski programs for children and adults with disabilities. London Track 3 employs and has developed many techniques to assist disabled people to learn to downhill ski and enjoy this winter activity in a manner that is safe and challenging.

Sledge Hockey: The same rules are followed as in ice hockey, with six players on the ice, including a goalie. Players sit on a sledge, which is a narrow platform with skate blades attached to the bottom, and propel themselves using two specially constructed hockey sticks that have picks on the end. Players wear full hockey gear and are strapped onto the sledges. The sledges can be specially adapted to meet the needs of  each player. 

Wheelchair Curling: Players use their wheelchairs on the ice to play this great sport. Held on Sunday mornings (11am to 1pm) at the Ilderton Curling Club.  All equipment is provided and currently there are no fees.  Plan to arrive 15-30 minutes early to have your wheelchair cleaned and set to go on the ice.

Boccia: This sport is an indoor version of the Italian lawn bowling game bocce that can be enjoyed by disabled and non-disabled players of any age.

 Communicating while participating in sports can sometime be challenging.  Try printing symbols/boards and laminating them for protection.  Attached is an example of a communication board to try out in the above sports.

No-Tech Ideas

• Save your favourite articles from the Olympics to create a remnant book to share with your friends and family.

Light Tech Ideas

• Record a few great cheers on your Step by Step™ to shout out at your next sporting event.

I Can … be a star!

We would like to acknowledge our students’ achievements in using augmentative communication in their every day lives. This month we’d like to congratulate Agata Glowka for learning how to independently program new messages on her speech generating device (SGD).Agata uses a specialized trackball mouse to move the cursor on her SGD and a switch in her left hand as a “mouse click” to make a selection.

If you have a success story that you would like to share in the I Can Newsletter, please let us know. Our contact information can be found at the bottom of the page.

  

Bridges to Learning 2010

Resources:

·        All the latest information about the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games: http://www.disabled-world.com/sports/paralympics/2010/paralympic-games-info.php

·         Did you know that you can download extra Picture Communication Symbols to your Boardmaker library? Create a Dynavox account to access free downloads. The January 2008 symbols of the month include: adaptive skiing, adaptive snowboarding, ball drop, Janus, Times Square and winter sports. http://www.mayer-johnson.com/mydynavox/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/downloads/content/details.aspx?id=180

·         If you prefer to capture the action, how about learning more about the art of photography? Check out the latest in adapted cameras, for example: http://www.rjcooper.com/digital-camera/index.html