Via Michigan State University: "Kinesiology is the interdisciplinary study of human movement"
[εїз} I've had many opportunities to work with athletes in adapted sports. The sports can range from biking, tennis, ping-pong, field hockey...
[εїз} I even played wheelchair basketball!
[Jimmy in blue: Coach, played in Olympics in Japan. Piotr in white: Founder of the Adaptive Sports Club, MSU]
"...Competitive sports for individuals with disabilities...often parallel existing sports played by able-bodied athletes...there may be some modifications in the equipment and rules...[and] in order to form competitive teams, disabilities are generally identified into broad groups such as physical, cognitive/developmental disabilities or both."
[Believe in seeing "A"bilities...not "disabilities"!]
{εїз} I have completed my internship at Euro-Pēds, the National Center for Intensive European Pediatric PT.
-Here, I was able to see the major improvements of mobility and muscle coordination in children who have gross motor disorders, cerebral palsy or who have suffered traumatic accidents.
-Families travel to Metro Detroit from all over the country to attend Euro-Pēds.
-The physical therapy is grueling: long hours, many days a week, months at a time. The equipment and techniques are all European, and European methods are applied. For example, a space suit that astronauts use to prevent muscle atrophy is utilized by many patients here, as well as compression suits and bungee-cords in a "cage" to help with body alignment and muscle/joint proprioception.
-As protocol for DPT clinical rotations, as an undergrad intern I was treated as a grad student, presenting an hour long "in-service" research topic regarding ABA Therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis, often a common choice of therapy for individuals with Autism) for the Euro-Peds faculty, along with hand-outs, approved by the CI and CCCE.
-Amongst all, I saw the struggles and the triumphs that each child went through...Whether they were an adorable 4-year-old with low muscle tone, or a fun-loving 23-year old with high muscle tone, I was able to be a friend, a motivator, a listener, a encourager, a learner! With the older patients we would mimic a group training session at the gym, doing planks, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, supermans...you name it. Or, we'd dress up as pretty princesses and practice our gait, our balance, activating our core...or we would do similar exercises oppositely with toy trucks or minion stuffed animals for some of the boys.
[εїз} I have worked with OUCares, giving golf lessons, playing bowling and even helping instruct a John Travolta Film Camp for children with ASD.
We all need to be adaptive in our lives, in many more ways than one. Are you adaptive in your life?
[Hippo-Therapy]
Photo Credits to AchievementCenters.Org
Please check out my good friend Anthony's blog on positive life-style living. Anthony also attends Michigan State University, and his current article is all about living life with a purpose. When you genuinely begin to live life the way you want to, regardless of others, you will be truly, honestly and whole-heartedly happy. What's your purpose? Read here: http://starttheweekstrong.blogspot.com.es/2016/06/start-week-strong-definitiveness-of.html
Sources:
- http://www.achievementcenters.org/adapted-sports.html
- https://www.europeds.org/
- https://www.oakland.edu/oucares
- http://www.education.msu.edu/kin/undergrad/kinesiology/default.asp
