Reaching Out To Children With Disabilities Benefits Ithaca College Students And The Community
ITHACA, NY — In addition to lecture notes and textbooks, Ithaca College students taking Judy Kennison’s “Understanding Disability” course are required to have access to a bathing suit, squirt guns, inflatable rafts, and a large supply of patience. That’s what serves them best when, every week, the bus from the Franziska Racker Centers pulls up to the Hill Center pool carrying the students’ three to five-year old “swim buddies.”
“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, teaching children to swim is secondary to building relationships; helping children gain skills such as counting, colors; and self-help skills such as changing their own clothes. Kennison also requires her students to develop individual goals for their swim buddies as well as observe, record, and evaluate the child’s progress through the semester.
“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 college students because often they discover they possess people skills they might not have known they had.”
“I now know how important it is to learn about people with disabilities,” said Caleb Campbell ’09, who took the course last year. “It’s important to understand their point of view, and I would take this course again.”
Open to all majors, “Understanding Disability” is required for all students majoring in recreation and leisure studies.
Originally published in News Releases: Reaching Out To Children With Disabilities Benefits Ithaca College Students And The Community.
