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A young athlete rolls for a score.

An Appeal For Special Recreation

By
Judy Harris

Editor's Note:
Champaign has a model program for handicapped citizens that other departments throughout Illinois and the Nation should examine.

RECREATION: something for everyone . . . but is it? There are an estimated one million people in Illinois with some physical, mental, or emotional disability.1 Yet less than fifteen per cent of the park districts and municiple recreation agencies in this state operate even one program for the handicapped.2 Most of the same agencies actively serve the senior citizens, the preschoolers, and special interest groups. Why then are the recreational needs of the handicapped being ignored? No longer can the recreation professional bury its head in the sand. No longer can the responsibility be shifted to other shoulders. The facts are all to clear, and the lack of adequate recreation opportunities all to apparent. Can the recreation profession rise to meet this challenge to really serve everyone?

It is a difficult task to set up recreation programs for the handicapped. Problems such as transportation, lack of funds, lack of know-how, seem insurmountable. However, it can be done. One agency in Illinois, the Champaign Park District, has begun to meet the challenge. Year-round recreation activities for the disabled are an integral part of Champaign's programs. Perhaps an account of how Champaign began its special programs will be an incentive for other recreation agencies to develop their own programs.

The Champaign Park District Board of Commissioners believe that people with disabilities ought to be served just like other citizens. Some handicapped people are active, independent citizens who lead happy, successful lives. However, those are sadly few in number. The far majority of disabled people need some special "help" if they are to successfully participate in the community. The "help" that they most frequently need is the destruction of physical or attitudinal barriers which society has placed before them. Physical barriers like stairs, curbs, narrow doors,

Judy Harris was the former Dir. of Special Recreation for the Champaign Park Dist. and is now doing Volunteer work in Billings, Mont. while her husband is in grad school.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 20 November/December, 1972


steep slopes, and attitudes like pity, and even disgust prohibit the disabled person from being a real part of his community.

Commissioners Goal


A volunteer admires the pottery made by a blind adult student.

The Commissioners' goal is to see disabled people given the opportunity to prove their abilities. Through challenging recreational activities the handicapped can learn to use their leisure time effectively. Hopefully, the success and satisfaction achieved here will affect their entire lives in a positive way. Thus, they can enter more easily into the mainstream of life.

In 1970, the Board of Commissioners took the initial step in achieving their goal. A full-time therapeutic recreation professional was hired to plan and develop programs for the handicapped in Champaign.

The new Director of Special Recreation began by surveying the community. Information was gathered on existing therapeutic programs. Valuable relationships were established with knowledgable resource people. Teachers, rehabilitation professionals, nurses, doctors, volunteer health organization directors, and other recreation professionals were contacted. They gave the Director insight into some of the problems in special programming, and good advice on working effectively with special populations. All were eager to see the Park District's new programs established.

Meeting with parents and future participants of the programs proved to be a most valuable source of information. Recreation needs and desires were investigated. The parents had an opportunity to ask questions and discuss potential problems with the new Director. The vital role that an informed, enthusiastic parent group would play in the success of the special recreation programs was apparent.

Armed with the information gathered in the survey, the Director took a hard look at the resources available through the Park District in the areas of leadership, facilities, and equipment. Tentative program plans were designed and studied. Potential problems—transportation, timing, location, accessibility of facilities—were taken into consideration.

In the Fall of 1970, the special programs began with a Swim and Gym Program for fifty mentally retarded children. Since then the Champaign Park District has gone a long way in providing meaningful recreation opportunities for its disabled citizens. By the spring of 1972, twenty different programs were being offered, serving the mentally retarded, deaf and hard of hearing, visually handicapped, orthopedically disabled, and emotionally disturbed.


A mentally retarded child gets last minute instruction before his first horseback ride.

Special Programs

The special recreation programs which have been offered through the Champaign Park District are as follows:

Mentally Retarded: swimming lessons, physical fitness, summer day camp, teen club, "pal" program, adult social club, woodworking, sewing, creative dance, and music.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing: bowling, Caption Films, basketball, creative dance, and a sports and games program.

Orthopedically Handicapped: summer day


Illinois Parks and Recreation 21 November/December, 1972


camp, wheelchair sports, cooking and homemaking, swimming lessons, and a Boy Scout troop for both disabled and able-bodied boys.

Visually Handicapped: creative dance, an adult association for visually handicapped, swimming lessons, and bowling lessons.

Emotionally Disturbed: participation in several of the above programs, adult social program, and a spring day camp.

In providing the special programs, the major problems encountered were in the areas of leadership, transportation, and funding.

Volunteers Important

Effective leadership has been a primary area of concern. Mature, responsible, dedicated people are always needed. The Park District hires qualified, experienced leaders as frequently as possible, but lack of funds prohibit employing a completely paid staff. Looking to the community, the Park District has recruited numerous volunteers from the University of Illinois, local volunteer organizations, the Red Cross, Scouts, and service clubs. Such groups as the Volunteer Illini Projects from the University of Illinois, and the Volunteer Bureau have been of tremendous assistance to the Park District in providing volunteers.

Volunteers are frequently referred to the Park District from one of the above organizations. Most volunteers are interviewed by the Director of Special Recreation, at which time they fill out an application form. Staff training is an important part of each special program. An orientation meeting is held one week prior to the initiation of the program. All aspects of the program are then reviewed and discussed. Frequently role playing, visual aids, and guest speakers are part of the session. Particular emphasis is placed on staff motivation, and the role the volunteer is expected to assume. An informal atmosphere is encouraged, and the question-answer period is usually lively and stimulating. The goal is to see the volunteers enthused and challenged as they leave the orientation meeting, and more important, to keep them that way throughout the program. Follow-up to staff training is in the form of weekly staff meetings and staff get-togethers. Leaders receive a certificate or a letter of thanks at the end of their work.

Volunteers have proven to be the mainstay of the special programs. In the past two years, more than 350 volunteers have given more than five thousand hours of service to the Champaign Park District.

Transportation

Transportation is a tremendous problem in conducting special programs. The Director of Special Recreation takes a "never say die" attitude on this, and the majority of the time the participants are at the scheduled program. Transportation by the parents is of course the ideal, but frequently the impossible. However, car pools are often used. During the school year the Park District bus is used to transport children from school to the program meeting place, and home if necessary. Volunteer drivers, approved by the General Manager and properly insured, frequently transport participants. When possible, the Park District takes program to the people, which minimizes transportation difficulties. Small group programs can be conducted in the homes; school gyms and multipurpose rooms are ideal for after-school programs.

The Park District has utilized the community in the area of funding for special programs. Park Districts tax monies support the majority of the programs; however donations from service clubs, community fund raising projects, and private contributions provide needed funds for more costly programs. For example, the Lions Club sponsored the creative dance program for the blind, which enabled the Park District to hire a highly qualified dance therapist to conduct the program. A donation from the Crippled Children-Cerebral Palsy Association made possible the summer day camp program for orthopedically handicapped children.

Coordination with other rehabilitation agencies has made several unique programs possible. The Park District, the Developmental Services Center, the Adolf Meyer Subregion Office, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Threshold (a halfway program for the emotionally disturbed) co-sponsor an evening social program for adults who have limited leisure-time opportunities. The Park District's teen center is used one evening a week for the program. Volunteers and participants enjoy pool, cards, table tennis, or just chatting over a cup of coffee. The friendly, relaxed atmosphere of the program has been meaningful to the participants whose lives are frequently devoid of positive social contacts.

A local wheelchair basketball team, the Black Knights, provided the leadership for the wheelchair sports program for the orthopedically handicapped youngsters. The children were introduced to wheelchair athletics, but more important they were exposed to disabled men who are independent, active citizens. Good sportsmanship and team work were stressed rather than competition.

Counseling Available

Leisure counseling is always available to parents or participants. Whenever possible, individual program plans are mapped out, taking into consideration the special needs of each person. Often such plans include involvement in special recreation programs, as well as integration into regular Park District programs. Ultimately, the

Illinois Parks and Recreation 22 November/December, 1972


goal is to see each person functioning in his own community as normally as possible.

Two years of special programs in Champaign have had noticeable positive results. The Champaign Park District has helped educate the public to the abilities . . . not the disabilities ... of the handicapped. Many people have discovered that volunteer work is a meaningful way for them to spend leisure time. The Park District has attained new respect from Champaign's citizens. An ever-increasing number of people with disabilities are becoming involved in regular recreation activities. Park District facilities are more accessible to the disabled. Most important, the door is now open for many people with disabilities to take an active part in their community.

Yet the Champaign Park District has only begun. Many disabled are still not being served. More resources are continually needed. As the programs grow so do the problems; transportation is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with, financial support is needed to expand and improve the programs.

Legislature on the state and federal level for public and municipal programs for the handicapped is desperately needed to encourage the development of programs for special populations in all communities. A dependable source of funding is essential to the continuation of all recreation programs, including special recreation.

It's not impossible . . . The Champaign Park District has proven that it can be done. There are difficulties to overcome, but there are also numerous rewards to be gained. The challenge is there ... will the recreation profession meet it?

1. Peters, Martha. "Recreation for the Ill and Disabled, in Illinois." A study of recreation services for the disabled in Illinois.

2. ibid.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 23 November/December, 1972


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