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by Lorraine C. Peniston, Ph.D.,
CTRS
How often do you see the following examples occur in campers? Kenny,
a bright ten-year-old, focuses his attention on the counselor's directions
during an activity. He appears attentive, but always needs to ask the
counselor or a peer to repeat portions of the directions. Sue, an impressionable
thirteen-year-old, likes to participate in sports activities, but finds
constant misjudging of distances to catch or hit a ball is embarrassing.
She slowly withdraws from these activities. And Bob, a competitive fellow,
enjoys playing table games except for the ones that require him to spell.
He is not going to show you his words or ask for help. If Bob doesn't
have the slightest chance of winning, he's not going to play.
The examples describe characteristics of learning disabilities that
can interfere with participation in recreation activities.
Most information available regarding learning disabilities focuses on
educational intervention and language instruction, usually in a school
setting. However, learning disabilities do not disappear when a student
is on summer break. At camp, a child is required to read directions,
write a letter, and remember important tasks or chores, just as in school.
Just like teachers, camp directors and counselors should be familiar
with learning disabilities and their characteristics.
Defining Learning Disabilities
The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (JCLD) defines
learning disabilities as a "group of disorders manifested by significant
difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading,
writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities." They are presumed
to be due to a dysfunction of the central nervous system and may occur
across a person's lifetime.
A person with a learning disability may also have problems in self-regulatory
behaviors, social perception, and social interaction. People with other
disabilities, such as sensory impairment, mental retardation, or serious
emotional disturbances, or those with extrinsic influences such as cultural
differences or inappropriate instruction may have learning disabilities
as well; however, the disability is not the result of those conditions
or influences.
Once camp directors and counselors understand how learning disabilities
affect a camper's recreation skills, they can assist in providing accommodations
and/or modifications. They can also teach compensation strategies to
improve the camper's success in camp activities.
Accommodations Level the Playing Field
What is meant by accommodation and why is it used? Accommodation means
making some kind of arrangement or change for the person having learning
disabilities, such as introducing materials, policies and procedures,
or equipment, so that the person has an equal opportunity to fully participate
in the program.
Accommodations can be as simple as having a baseball catcher wear red
gloves under his mitt for administering signals to a pitcher who has
visual-perceptual learning disabilities. Audio recording the directions
to a craft project for a camper who has dyslexia would be another example.
Complex accommodations might consist of breaking down steps and rewriting
the rules of a game. The revised game rules with additional steps would
then be given to the camper to use as a reference guide to follow during
participation in the game.
Modifications Enhance the Activity
What is a modification? This is where an agency reasonably modifies
its policies, practices, or procedures to avoid discrimination, allowing
equal access and participation to persons with disabilities. Unlike accommodation,
modification affects others within the program. For example, Jane, a
participant in a recreation exploration class, has a visual impairment
in addition to her learning disabilities. Slides are used to depict examples
of recreation activities and equipment. Modifications to this program
include moving the slide projector as far away from the screen as possible
to create a larger image of the slide and employing sound effects of
the game in play (e.g., bat striking a ball, racket hitting a shuttlecock,
and cheers of the crowd). The latter modification introduces sensory
awareness of the activity to Jane and the other participants.
Modifications can serve as innovative teaching
techniques for the entire group, not just for the person requiring
a different presentation. Other kinds of modifications consist of allowing
extra time in a timed word game, using bright green tape to create
the boundaries of an inside foul line on a volleyball court, or teaching
all soccer players the following mnemonic to remember a play sequence:
PIFS (Pass ball with Inside Foot to Stationary player) or PIF SAMP
(Pass ball with Inside Foot Slightly Ahead of Moving Player).
Adapting Activities
The following are guidelines to consider when looking at adapting an
activity to the needs of campers having disabilities:
- adapt only if essential for participation,
success, enjoyment, or to reduce failure and frustration.
- adaptations should be considered temporary
or transitional if possible.
- adapt on an individual need and age-appropriate
basis.
- adapt for normalization by keeping the activity
as close to the standard version as possible.
- adapt considering availability and cost in
the agency.
- ask participant, family member, and other
camp professionals for adaptation suggestions.
Various parts of an activity, from equipment to rules, can be adapted
to improve a learning disabled camper's success. Primary types of adaptations
include:
- Materials: the weight and size
of equipment can be altered, target size increased, ball resiliency changed.
- Procedural: expectations can be altered, rules can be modified,
and choices reduced.
- Space: distance from the target or between bases, height
of targets, etc.
- Force: force or speed required for activity slowed or substituted.
- Skill sequence: use of task analysis to illustrate steps.
- Lead-up activities: tasks, exercises, or games that are
prerequisites to activity.
- Communication: taped message, magnification of volume or
print, other audio or visual needs.
The use of accommodations and modifications through adaptive measures
are helpful in improving a person with learning disabilities' success
in recreation pursuits, but another important factor is the use of compensation
strategies to refine recreation skills.
Compensation Strategies
Compensation strategies are useful techniques or methods to effectively
solve problems, approach mastering a task efficiently, learn procedures
within an activity more elaborately, and understand a concept when integration
and assimilation are required. Some individuals learn these strategies
through life experience (the school of hard knocks), while others are
fortunate enough to have someone provide them with guidance. It does
not matter how compensation strategies are obtained, as long as they
are mastered and utilized to render effective participation in an activity
of choice. Some examples of self-learned compensation strategies in children
and youth include:
- Learn from doing
Jim cannot understand the chalkboard plays in football so his
mind frequently "fades out" during chalk talk sessions.
Jim asks the coach if he could first watch the play in action and
then run the play a few times. Jim feels confident of learning the
play since he will run it at least three times out on the field.
- Observe what others do
Sally is always one step behind when the counselor verbally
explains a series of activities for the relay race. Sally chooses
to stand near the end of her relay team line so she can watch her
teammates in action. By the time her turn comes, she can successfully
perform the tasks just like everyone else in her group.
- Develop a buddy system
Keith has a problem interpreting what his camp computer instructor
says during class. During the weekly viewing of computer instruction
videos and demonstrations, Keith may catch only about a third of
what is explained. Keith develops a close friendship with George,
a camper from his leatherwork class. Keith and George get together
for about a half an hour after class to discuss what the computer
instructor wants the class to accomplish for the next assignment.
- Awareness of instructors' expectations
Often in group activities one person's wrongdoings or mistakes
can jeopardize the entire group. April is often tardy to her gymnastics
class. When she is late, her coach makes April and her teammates
run laps around the gym. She immediately becomes aware of timeliness
because she knows her coach expects her to arrive on time.
In Pursuit of Having a Good Time
When camp professionals learn the characteristics of learning disabilities,
recognize these behaviors in campers, acknowledge the need for accommodations
or modifications, and deliver those services in an efficient matter,
then campers can enjoy a quality camp experience. It may take extra work
and special effort to ensure that the Kennys, Sues, and Bobs at camp
can enjoy activities as much as their non-disabled peers, but their smiles
and laugher will tell you it is all worthwhile.
Originally published in the 1999 January/February
issue of Camping Magazine. |
