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Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities
by Inclusion of persons with disabilities into community recreation programs has seen a dramatic increase in the past decade. For the general recreation programmer, inclusion of individuals with disabilities has or will become another important facet to be considered in the development and implementation of a program. The ability to anticipate and respond to the requirements of both the individual with a disability and his/her non-disabled peers in providing a successful recreational experience will become a standard component in all aspects of programming. The Oak Brook Park District over the years, and on an isolated basis, has integrated a few children with disabilities into its programs. However, the whole concept of integration came into focus when a group of resident parents sought to have their children integrated into the District's recreational program three years ago. Integration of this many individuals at one time with disabilities that included autism, cerebral palsy, and learning disabilities, was a concept that the District's professional staff had not been approached with. However, the staff, as well as the District's Board of Commissioners responded positively to the idea of inclusion and sought to determine how to facilitate these children into its programs. A needs assessment survey was developed for each child. Information on developing a survey was received through input from the District's special recreation association. Gateway Special Recreation Association's professional staff.
In our situation the aides were college-age students who had expressed an interest in working with children with disabilities. Careful consideration must be given when selecting the individual who will serve as an aide. Most of the aides had little or no professional training in working with individuals with disabilities. However, it was important that they demonstrate enthusiasm for the possibilities of the program and the opportunities that would be presented to the child. As with every applicant, a thorough and complete background check is needed. Any positions that the candidate held in the past that would fall under a personal service providing occupation should be noted. The recreation professional must be very specific in regards to the tasks the aide will be required to perform when working with the child. The needs assessment that was originally done on the child will help determine what these tasks will be. Depending on the disability, the aide could be asked to perform certain functions that may include aspects of personal hygiene and helping them to eat and drink. In interviewing these individuals, it is important that they have full understanding of what they will be required to do. An explanation of the disability should be provided at this time as well. It has to be acknowledged that not everybody is capable of working with individuals with disabilities. This is the same as admitting that not everybody can be a teacher or a doctor either. Not everybody has the ability, talents and/or psychological makeup to do the job. In some cases, after the individual has been hired and has been working as an aide, they may find the position is beyond their capabilities. Bearing this in mind, once an aide has been hired, the door should be left open for him/her to decide, for whatever reasons, that they do not want to continue in this position. If it is mutually agreed that the relationship between the aide and participant is not going well, and the aide does not wish to continue, s/he should not be penalized by losing the job. A "safety net" policy was developed so s/he could become a regular leader in the particular program if the aide position didn't work
out. However, it is worth noting that in the three years that we have been hiring aides we never had anybody choose that option.
The aides met with the child and parent a week before the program began. This was done in a one-on-one situation so any stress on either the aide or child was eliminated. During this time, the parents had the opportunity to meet and talk to the aide with whom their child was going to be during the program. This gave them the opportunity to tell the aide about the child and his/her particular individual habits. A Park District professional was on hand during these initial meetings so that any questions the aide, child or parents had about the program could be answered. The meeting also allowed the professional staff person an opportunity to meet both the child and his/her parents if they hadn't before. This introduction would allow the professional staff the ability to relate to the child and his/her parents in any further discussion that might take place later in the program. It is important that this meeting take place before the program begins and not on the day of the start of the program. It is hard to develop an initial relationship with 150 other children running around while the introductions are being made. Second Resource The second resource that was utilized was the local school district's special education instructor. A meeting was arranged with this individual and the aides. This meeting was essentially designed to let the instructor tell the aides about the child that they will be working with. This information included what the child was capable of accomplishing in school, his/her likes and dislikes, favorite subjects and any other individual characteristics. The teacher was also able to provide work sheets consisting of games or coloring pages that some of the children could use during quiet moments. Third Resource The third resource was the staff of Gateway Special Recreation Association. A number of the children we were servicing had participated in Gateway programs, so their staff were knowledgeable about most of the children. These meetings again consisted of learning about the traits of the child as well as learning about the vagarities of the disability. Once the child and the aide enters into the program, it is important that the other children in which the child with the disability would be interacting, are aware and knowledgeable about the disability. This was accomplished by just sitting down with the group along with the child with the disability and introducing everybody and discussing the disability. We have found that if the children know what the child's disability limitations are, they will accept the child, their aide and the situation. Children have an enormous ability to be open-minded towards new situations, much more so than adults. In fact, if a child uses a wheelchair or perhaps can only communicate through sign language, other children are very interested in helping and/or learning some of those skills. The aide can help to facilitate this process. For not only is the child with the disability learning socialization skills, but the non-disabled child is learning as well. They have an opportunity to learn first hand about people with disabilities. This aspect of inclusion cannot be diminished. The attitudes of the future in regards to disabilities and people who have them are being formulated by today's children. Is there a better way to learn about people than to play with them and have the opportunity to be friends with them? One interesting aspect that arose was that the child with the disability was perceived by his/her peers as having more fun with the aide than with the leader. Non-disabled children from other groups wanted to be with the aide and the child with the disability. This in fact helped to reinforce the socialization goals that we were striving for. But in the logistics of the program, the non-disabled children could not always be with the aide and child. The fact that the aide and the child with the disability had a one-on-one relationship could not be discounted. The aide should have continued support throughout their time working with the child. The aides should be made to feel that they are not on their own once the program started. The recreational professional and the aide should meet on a weekly basis to discuss the progress of the relationships. The aides in turn can use these meeting times to express any concerns that they might have. This support system of meetings can be supplemented with input from therapeutic recreation professionals in times when a problem arises or when a question needs to be answered.
The staff who will be working around the aide within the same program will also need guidance in their understanding and acceptance of the inclusion program. This should be done during the initial staff training sessions. Perhaps the biggest hurdle to the whole inclusion program is the staffs acceptance of the concept. It must be remembered that a large majority of today's adults were not exposed to individuals with disabilities on any continuous basis. Before the 1980s, individuals with disabilities were segregated into their own schools and classrooms. Sconce again, the opportunity arises with the development of an inclusion program to educate the non-disabled. A certain amount of resistance should be expected from those who are not informed. But the opportunity to observe and see the benefits an inclusion program can offer to a child with a disability will certainly help to change their preconceived notions. The first summer that we included children with disabilities into our playground program, we had an autistic 7-year-old boy. Though he could communicate, he had a minimal attention span and would basically wander around the site with his aide at his side. The aide had made many attempts to get him involved with the other children. After numerous short-term attempts it did not appear to be working. There did not seem to be any interaction going on, nor did it look like we were making any progress at all. About half way through the summer, all the children went swimming. I came over to the pool that day to observe the program and noted that the boy and his aide were over at the side of the pool. I went over to them and started a conservation. As I was talking to the aide, a couple of non-disabled children came up to the boy and asked him to play. The children jumped into the pool and played a game. I was doubtful that an inclusion program could work until that moment. This was the first tangible proof that it could. These two non-disabled children wanted the autistic child to play with them. In this simple act, they showed that they accepted him on an equal basis regardless of his disability. Does introducing a child with a disability into a program with non-disabled children really work? Or in reality, will the non-disabled children ostracize or completely ignore the child with disability? These are legitimate questions. It cannot be guaranteed that a recreation program will not have these problems. But, as in all program planning, if foresight is used to anticipate concerns orproblems, and it is countered with proper training and implementation, these problems will be minimized. About the Author Thomas S. Suhs is Director of Recreation for the Oak Brook Park District.
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