Reaching Out to Children With Disabilities Benefits Ithaca College Students and the Community

“Some of the children have emotional and developmental problems, others have physical disabilities,” said Kennison, a professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. “We know how therapeutic water can be, especially for children with physical disabilities, by providing support and easier movement. Simply working one-to-one with a caring college student can help students with trust and self-esteem issues.”

Although the program is done in the pool, Kennison added, teaching children to swim is secondary to building relationships and helping children gain skills such as counting, colors, and self-help skills such as changing their own clothes.

“During the decade I’ve been teaching this class, I’ve found that introducing our students to these children in one-on-one situations forms bonds that benefit the children and teach students how to react with people with disabilities.”

Once the college students greet their buddies coming off the bus, they take them to the locker rooms to change into their swim suits. (Some students even learn to change diapers for the first time.)Then comes an hour when 40 pairs of swim buddies spontaneously splash, float, bob, toss beach balls, and frolic with inflatable dolphins.

“Many of the children have attachment issues,” said Anne Modlin, one of the teachers from the Franziska Racker Centers who accompanies the children. “They have trouble trusting. This program puts them more at ease and helps them form relationships. It also benefits the collegestudents because often they discover they possess people skills they might not have known they had.”

Not every child, though, arrives happy and excited for a swim.

“One of the children at first refused to put on a bathing suit,” Kennison said. “But the student assigned to him was very patient, found out the child liked trains, and hung a paper cutout of a train in the locker room with the child’s name on it. The child still isn’t in the water, but at least he’s in his suit and lets the student take him up by the hand and walk him around the edge of the pool. It goes along with what I tell the students—the bigger the challenge, the more you’ll learn.”

Kennison’s class also includes class lectures and guest appearances by speakers who share their experiences about living with a disability. To make sure the lessons hit home, Kennison assigns her students to wear earplugs for 24 hours, maneuver their way around campus in a wheelchair, and then write about those experiences.

According to a former student, “I would highly recommend this course to anyone interested in helping people.”

In the fall 2007 semester, the swim component of “Understanding Disabilities” meets most Wednesdays, from 10 to 11 a.m. The class will also be offered in the spring 2008 semester. For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Keith Davis, assistant director of media relations, at kdavis@ithaca.edu or (607) 274-1153.