October 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 57

services in an integrated setting, unless
separate or different measures are necessary to ensure equal opportunity. " What
does this mean for adaptive aquatics? It
means that we need to provide inclusive
services as well as special recreation.
Inclusion
Inclusion is just as it sounds: including
people with disabilities in mainstream
programs with their peers. This may
require you to add a paid staff member
or an interpreter in the lesson to ensure
success for the participant. Remember,
Title II of ADA Law says providers
" may not place special charges on
individuals with disabilities to cover the
costs of measures necessary to ensure
nondiscriminatory treatment. " You'll
need to find room in your budget to
provide for the extra staffing. Sometimes
the modification can be met by providing
training to your existing staff on how to
work with individuals with disabilities.
Working with parents and caregivers can
also be helpful in knowing how to best
serve the participant.
Special Recreation
When inclusion is not possible or an
appropriate fit, providing special recreation
programming is an option. These programs
are designed specifically for individuals
with disabilities and may use different
equipment and/or rule changes, and have
peers of equal abilities in the activity. At
Salt Lake County Parks & Recreation,
we have our Otters Swim Club, which is
a group-lesson program for children ages
3-18 who have intellectual disabilities. Our
Adaptive Swim Club is a swim team for all
abilities, including physical, intellectual
and developmental disabilities. Adaptive
Swim Club is designed to be equivalent to
a Masters Swim Team.
Assessments
When deciding if

inclusion or a

These children are participating in an
Adaptive Swim Club, a swim team for all
abilities, including physical, intellectual
and developmental.

special recreation program is best for
a participant, you can conduct an
assessment. An assessment will ideally
be conducted by a coordinator or
instructor. The instructor should look for
three specific areas when determining
program placement: swimming level,
behavioral concerns and physical needs.
When looking for behavioral concerns,
watch for the participant's ability to
follow directions, stay with a group and
any aggression and/or trigger behaviors.
Physical characteristics to watch for
are communication barriers, visual
or hearing impairments and mobility.
Prior to the assessment, create a written
questionnaire for parents to fill out to
obtain the answers to many of these
questions. This questionnaire is useful
to create consistency when there may
be different instructors working with
the participant. An example of the
questionnaire can be found at https://
form.jotform.us/72495724220152.
Best Practices
Teaching someone with a disability how
to swim can be fun and rewarding -
you must remember to be patient with

yourself and your student. Participants
with disabilities can accomplish the skills
you are teaching, but they may require
more time to achieve those skills, and
it may require you to come up with
modified and creative teaching plans. It's
common for individuals with intellectual
and developmental disabilities to have
a harder time paying attention for a full
lesson, especially swimmers with ADHD
or similar symptoms. Shorten lessons to
fit their attention span or take play breaks
often. Use toys and equipment, and make
things fun and interesting. Students feed off
the energy and attitude of the instructor.
Individuals who have disabilities are
part of our communities and can greatly
benefit from adaptive aquatic programs.
By following ADA standards and using
creative thinking to provide modifications, you will be able to successfully
provide services for all members of your
community.
Rebecca Barley (rbarley@slco.org) and Ivy
Hausknecht (ihausknecht@slco.org) are the
Adaptive Aquatic Managers for Salt Lake County
Parks & Recreation. Alyse Whiting is the Adaptive
Recreation Coordinator for Salt Lake County Parks
& Recreation.

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October 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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