Adaptive Recreation Benefits the Whole Person
By: Cindy Jacobelli
Share this post:Wake up. Use the restroom. Shower. Brush your teeth. Fix your hair. Get dressed. Make your bed. Eat breakfast. Feed the dogs. Don’t forget your coffee. Off to work. Eat lunch. Work some more. Back home. Prepare dinner. Eat. Feed the dogs. Decaf coffee this time. Brush your teeth. Wash your face. Off to bed.
This is a sample day in the life of a typical adult. It gets a bit more complicated if you have children, but that is about it. Where is the fun? Surely this isn’t the whole story?!
People have a biological and psychological need to participate in something recreational or leisurely during their free time. Recreation has long been identified with activities of enjoyment and amusement—in a word: FUN. Without the pleasure component, our lives become dull.
In the disabled community the needs are the same. The mode of transportation might be different, or the degree of independence for self care might be much more involved, but we all have the same basic needs. Recreation is vital to a person’s quality of life.
Adaptive recreation provides an opportunity for individuals with a disability to lead healthy and active lifestyles as independently as possible. Adaptive recreation means making changes to equipment or services so that persons with specific disabilities or special health care needs may actively participate in recreational opportunities along with their peers without disabilities.
Adaptive recreation is accomplished with the use of adaptive equipment, such as … The adaptive equipment enables people to participate in FUN activities with their disabled and non-disabled peers and most importantly with their families. Inclusion in fun activities has been shown to provide vital psychological, emotional and even physical benefits, even helping people with temporary disabilities or health conditions heal faster.
Easter Seals Cardinal Hill strives to offer an assortment of adaptive recreation activities for the community. Activities such as sled hockey, rock climbing, kayaking, hand cycling, wheelchair basketball, skiing and gardening are just some of the options available to local folks.
For purposes of this post, let’s focus in one activity in particular: hand cycling. Who doesn’t love to jump on her bike and take a nice ride around her neighborhood or local park? For many people with disabilities, particularly spinal cord injury, this seems like an impossibility. I have lost the use of my legs, how in the world can I ride a bike? That is the beauty of adaptive equipment, the ability to challenge one’s expectations and even limitations. One of my friends has been using a hand cycle now for several years. His first experience was with a very basic model at Easter Seals Cardinal Hill that had none of the bells and whistles of a high tech bike. The basic model was good for just getting the feeling of what it’s like to pedal a bicycle with your arms. Well, let’s just say, he was hooked! After doing some searching, found a used hand cycle for sale and purchased it. Now he rides in his neighborhood, to the grocery store and anywhere he wants to go! He has even competed in several road races in the community. As enthusiastic as my friend is, however, he will tell you that riding a hand cycle is NOT just as simple as jumping on your bike and hitting the road. It’s quite a task to transfer from his wheelchair to the bike and get strapped in. But once he is on it, it’s time to roll.
One Sunday in October, I decided to call him up and meet at a local park for a ride. We met at 10 a.m. and rode about nine miles—three times around the park—me on my typical bike, he on his hand cycle. As we rode, we talked, like many cycling partners like to do. He’d been riding for about three years, and our ride was the first time he rode with someone on a typical bike. It dawned on me that it was the first time I had ridden with someone on a hand cycle! But it was so natural. Our pace was very similar. I was a bit faster on the uphills, but he flew down the hills. His fears of being too slow or wearing out before I did were wiped away. We were just two friends riding bikes in the park, getting a great workout and fulfilling the need that all humans have of doing something enjoyable in our free time. Adaptive equipment made it possible for us to do it together.
Think about all those things in life we do because we have to, but remember that life is not complete without the things we WANT to do. Our quality of life is so critical to our living as a happy and contributing member to society. Recreation can improve quality of life. And Easter Seals Cardinal Hill is here in our community to provide those opportunities.
Find more information about adaptive sports.