Mom’s idea links sports, special kids

The Autism News | English

By KAREN SUDOL | North Jersey

TENAFLY — The mother of a child with autism who found a shortage of local sports programs for special needs children has come up with a simple solution: start her own program.

Suzanne Schwarz said she applied 18 years of experience as a special education teacher and knowledge gained from raising her 10-year-old son Tristan to create a program that teaches special needs children the skills to learn a variety of sports.

“I wanted to do a program where kids got a lot of physical education fitness and where the children sought the activity on their own, where they weren’t forced to do it,” she said.

The six-week summer program ended on Aug. 20, but plans are under way to host a class in October, said the Tenafly resident.

The idea came to Schwarz after her son participated in a spring intramural baseball program for special needs children in the borough. She and other parents wanted to continue with similar programs in town but couldn’t find any.

Other sports-related classes for children with different ability levels were either located elsewhere in Bergen County or were expensive, she said.

And intramural sports programs?

“The problem with existing intramural sports teams is that some [special needs] children need a slower pace,” she said. “They have varying abilities and their abilities are not accommodated to so they end up sitting out.”

But she said sports are essential for these children because it teaches them to be more flexible and be part of a team.

“One of the problems is children with special needs are very static and used to a routine,” she said. “We need to teach children to learn how to cope with different situations. Sports teaches them to be more adaptable.”

So she pitched the idea of starting the Superstars Sports program to the town’s recreation board.

For one hour on Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Tenafly Middle School during the summer, about 10 registered children learned the basics of how to play sports — but also how to follow instructions and work as a team.

“They’re getting a feeling of belonging in their own town,” she said.

At the last summer class, Schwarz and a Tenafly physical education teacher, David McIntosh, alternated between high and low energy activities with the children including running, passing a ball, hitting a baseball and yoga.

Parents and siblings assisted the children as they worked up a sweat in the school gym, then ended the session outside tossing water balloons.

Maggie Prano said she liked the idea that her 6-year-old autistic son, Matthew, was among a group of peers where no one pointed fingers.

“It was a more comfortable environment for him,” said Prano, of Dumont. “Here they would ask him [if he wanted to participate in an activity] and if he didn’t, it was OK. Sometimes he’d come over and be a part of what they were doing and if not, they kept rolling.”

Carin Friedman’s 16-year-old son, Gabe, who has autism, is involved in numerous programs but many aren’t offered in the summer, she said.

She also said she wants her son to be healthy — mentally and physically.

“As high functioning as he is, he could not get along in a typical gym class because he doesn’t understand all the rules,” said Friedman, of Tenafly. “But in a class like this, everything goes where they accept the kids’ strengths and weaknesses. They are accepted for their abilities as well as their disabilities.”

Schwarz said the class can also serve as a model for adapted athletic programs that the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has been directed to establish as a result of legislation signed by Governor Corzine a few weeks ago.

She’s also pursuing opening a school for children with autism in Bergen County, where the sports class will be implemented, she said.

Source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/Moms_idea_links_sports_special_kids.html?c=y&page=1

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