School Receives a Lesson on Living Well With A Disability

A teenager and CILCP educate a high school on the teenager’s needs and how she wants to live well with a disability in school.

Whether you’re an adult or a student, you know that summer is about half way over – parents may be happy about this, while students are probably not! One young lady, Nicole, will be entering her first year of high school in September 2008. She is enjoying her summer, but also working with her mom, the Center for Independent Living of Central PA (CILCP), and her soon-to-be high school, in making accessible accommodations for the start of the school year.

Nicole was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) at 15 months old. As she prepares to enter Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School, Nicole wants to participate in activities and attend classes as the rest of the students in her grade do.

In an effort to educate the high school of Nicole’s wishes and needs, Nicole’s mother, Beth contacted the Living Well With A Disability program, which is provided by CILCP. Beth’s attorney recommended that they contact Living Well With A Disability, and request that an evaluation of the high school be performed. Somewhat familiar with the program, Beth called the hot line number, and was directed to a Living Well specialist, Barb. Barb met with Nicole and Beth to discuss Nicole’s wishes, goals, and needs.

“Barb talked about Nicole’s rights and asked Nicole about school and the future. She spoke directly to Nicole, which was great because Nicole was able to answer for herself,” stated Beth.

Barb conducted the Living Well With A Disability assessment, asking Nicole what she believes are things she needs; how she feels school is going; and what she needs help with. While middle school was going well, Nicole identified what she thought she would need for high school, such as help between classes with books and other items. Nicole also told Barb that she was in the Marching Band and would be attending a band camp this summer. During the two week camp, Nicole and her mom needed to make sure someone would be available to help Nicole with instrument setup and tear down, and to take her to the bathroom. During the discussion, Barb also talked to Nicole about the accessibility of lockers and elevator access at the school.

“It was really the first time that someone actually asked Nicole what she wanted and treated her like she has a say in her future,” said Beth.

After the one-on-one assessment, Barb, Nicole and Beth attended a meeting with the high school to discuss some of the expected issues in transitioning from middle school to high school. With in-depth knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Barb represented Nicole’s rights under this law and provided the school with documentation on ADA and her rights.

Nicole and her mom requested that they, along with someone from CILCP, be able to take a tour of the school to make sure Nicole is familiar with the changing of classes, the hallway set up, lunch procedures and bathroom procedures. They also asked the school about accessible tables in all of the classrooms, library and study halls; assistive technology to help Nicole with writing assignments; access to books, such as having two sets - one for the classroom and one for home; and availability of a laptop for books to be scanned into it.

As of early July, Nicole and Beth are still waiting for information from the school regarding the laptop, books, and an aid for band camp. Nicole was able to do a brief tour of the school, but the family is hoping to schedule an additional tour of the school with someone from CILCP to ensure there aren’t any other concerns or issues.

As a mother, Beth explained, “CILCP has been helpful - it seems they are heavily involved in the community. I would recommend to anyone who needs help or just some ideas on services to contact the CILCP.”

Educational Tools for Legislators and People with Disabilities

As most of our subscribers know, the Living Well With A Disability program is an opportunity to educate individuals with disabilities, family members, and others regarding information and resources that exist. To keep you informed on the legislative side, we want to share educational tools that are available to keep you in the forefront of policies being discussed both on the state and national level.

The Policy Information Exchange (PIE) is a team of individuals with and without disabilities, who are funded by the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council to assist the Council with public policy issues. PIE not only educates the disability community and the Council of policies, but they also help policy makers understand the disability community. PIE does not advocate directly, but rather helps people learn about the issues which they might be interested in advocating for. The quarterly PIE newsletter, “Slice of PIE,” discusses policies and updates for the state, as well as the national level.

PIE has worked with the PA Developmental Disabilities Council on publishing position papers on employment, education, criminal justice, and more. At the end of each legislative session, the PIE team provides legislators with a review of bills that focus on issues concerning people with disabilities.

As an additional educational tool, PIE forwards emails to people with disabilities and organizations, sharing timely information and alerts, as well as announcing job notices in the policy making arena.

The PIE team consists of members of the disability community, including the Executive Director of the Center for Independent Living of Central PA, Theotis Braddy; Policy Specialist, Vini Portzline; Consultant and Attorney, Terry Roth; and, Joan Martin.

For more information on PIE or to sign up for “Slice of PIE”, visit http://www.cilcp.org/publications/index.php.

Equine Facilitated Therapy

The Horse As A Therapeutic Modality And A Tool In Education

The horse has been used by humans in many ways - as a means of transportation, for work, in war, in sport, in recreational activities, as a companion, and as a friend, to name a few. There are two other areas in which the horse has become recognized as an integral partner with people: therapy and education.

Therapeutic is defined as: "of or relating to the treatment of disease (dis-ease) or disorder (dis-order) by remedial agents or methods."

Educate is defined as: "to provide schooling for or to develop mentally."

Through the Capital Area Therapeutic Riding Association (CATRA) individuals ages two to 92 with physical, emotional and/or developmental disabilities visit CATRA’s facility in Grantville, PA to experience horseback riding through an individualized training program. The people and animals work together to become all they are capable of being.

In Equine Facilitated Therapy (therapeutic horseback riding) and therapeutic driving activities the horse is viewed as a tool in therapy, sport and education for people who have physical and/or mental disabilities (ref. Therapeutic Riding Classifications).

You are most aware of the exercise the rider is receiving when properly mounted on a sound horse. At the walk the horse is providing symmetrical input to the rider, very similar to the motion required in human ambulation. The three dimensional movement of the horse at a walk (side to side, up and down, and front and back) is transmitted to the rider. Imagine if you will the value of riding to someone who cannot walk, or has difficulty in walking. The rider is not only receiving the physical benefits of the horse, but also fun and mental stimulation.

If you will stop to recognize the number of skills and the amount of mental preparation required by a rider you will be quick to recognize the value of this activity to someone who has difficulty in learning.

Skills And Experiences Associated With Riding And Equine Management:

• Exposure to a non-traditional environment: For someone who has a disability, a trip to the farm or horse barn may be quite an excursion and a break from his or her normal routine. Many people are not accustomed to being around animals and more especially something as big as a horse.
• Visual experiences: Many scenes associated with animals are new and exciting when seeing them for the first time.
• Auditory experiences: Describing the sounds associated with horses and "life" around the barn is difficult to do if you've never heard them before. (To some, there is nothing more soothing than the sound of contented horses chewing their hay.)
• Olfactory experiences: Everyone will agree that the smells of new hay, of mixed sweet feed, a new foal, and just the horse itself are very special. There are other smells too!!
• Tactile experiences: While around the horses we learn the meaning of coarse, soft, hard; the feel of a mane or tail; a short smooth summer coat or the feel of a heavy winter coat; the textures of hay and grain; the feel of leather; the feel of saddle pads, etc.
• Physical involvement: The use and strengthening of muscle groups, reactions, balance and coordination that occur during equine related activities may be different than at any other time.
• Psychological experience: The horse presents many challenges that, when mastered by the rider, enhance our psychological profile. Many people benefit by being able to lead a horse where they want it to go.
• Expanded vocabulary and identification skills: The words used when referring to the horse and its surroundings are sometimes different (i.e. saddle, stirrup, hoof, bridle, hoof pick, curry comb, mare, gelding, stallion, stall, pasture, foal, filly, colt, girth, saddle pad, withers, mane, etc.).
• The "risk factor": The ability to work and move around horses, at ease, takes skill and courage. There is risk involved and we need a certain amount of risk in our lives to be healthy, and to develop other skills.
• Eye-Hand coordination: The experienced "horse-person" utilizes an incredible amount of dexterity and skill to accomplish seemingly simple tasks. Analyze the entire process from locating the horse you are going to ride, to catching it, haltering, tying, grooming, doing a quick health examination, tacking up and riding - it should be amazing.
• Life skills: Many of the activities associated with horses and around the stable are transferable to the everyday activities in our lives. Equine activities and riding activities involve: stop and go, up and down, right/left, color identification, experiencing various textures, circles, short brush strokes, long brush strokes, back and front, top and bottom, body parts, etc. The ability to know where you are in space does not come naturally to everyone. When mounted on a horse you are required to develop your spatial awareness skills. Therapeutic riding instructors will also incorporate educational goals into the riding process. They will place numbers, letters, shapes and assorted pictures around the arena to utilize in the lesson. Riders learn the parts of the horse, tack and uses of the horse. If appropriate, riders will learn all equine management and riding skills to the best of their ability.

All this, and it is fun too!

The activities associated with proper breeding, training, management, riding, driving and utilization of horses are very technical and highly specialized. The use of the horse in therapy and education also requires special knowledge on the part of the riding instructor. Penn State is proud to offer educational opportunities in many of these areas.

If, for some reason all of the things that we may take for granted became impossible or very difficult for us to do, we might have a better appreciation for the value of the horse and its environment.

Come discover what these amazing animals can provide by contacting CATRA at 717-469-7517. Lessons are provided by CATRA throughout the year, but for specific times and dates, visit the Web site (www.catra.net). Interested riders and volunteers must complete a form, which is available at the Web site. We hope to see hear from you!

Author: Ben Nolt, Jr. - Coordinator, 4-H Animal Science Programs The Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences