Good cheer: Kids with disabilities have an advocate in Chattanooga’s Department of Parks & Recreation, whose burgeoning Therapeutic Recreation Division, coordinated by Elaine Adams, gives them an opportunity to participate in team sports, from soccer and basketball to bowling and cheerleading.

“Something for everybody”
By Allison Gorman
Photos courtesy of the Department of Parks & Recreation

Recreational sports are a rite of childhood: kids clustered around a soccer ball, or chasing down grounders, with zealous parents cheering wildly on the sidelines. And sideline worries are a rite of parenthood, as moms and dads watch the proceedings with a critical eye, secretly assessing (and sometimes fretting about) their own youngster’s abilities compared to the rest of the team.
Of course, the main point of rec sports is to have fun—a point that unfortunately can be lost on kids feeling pressured to perform and on parents too focused on perceived shortcomings or inequities.
Imagine, then, the very real challenges that traditional recreational sports pose for children with physical or intellectual disabilities, and for the parents of those children—for whom, in many communities, there’s no such thing as a level playing field.
In Chattanooga, however, these families have an advocate in the city itself. The Department of Parks & Recreation has a burgeoning Therapeutic Recreation Division, coordinated by Elaine Adams, which gives kids with disabilities an opportunity to participate in team sports, from soccer and basketball to bowling and cheerleading. Adams, who has a degree in recreation management/therapeutic recreation, says she helped develop the program in 2002 after several families asked the city for more sports opportunities for their disabled children.
The six-year-old program is thriving, with growing participation by children and volunteer coaches. If those participants are the heart of the program, the backbone is Adams herself, who puts in long hours coordinating, promoting and coaching events. In August, she represented Chattanooga as one of 15 community leaders from across the United States chosen by the U.S. Olympic Committee to attend the Paralympic Games in Beijing, along with a contingent of American student/athletes. The trip was “phenomenal,” she says. “We were talking with one of the parents of an athlete, and talking about whether it’s recreation or a sport, it’s important, and there truly is something for everybody.”

Q. What age children can participate in the city’s therapeutic recreation program?

A. Typically our programs serve a wide range, and the age is dependent upon the program. Parks and Rec in general serves children aged 6 and up.

Q. Do your sports run seasonally, or all year long?

A. Most of our programs run seasonally. Basketball and soccer are both seasonal programs, and we actually have two different soccer programs. Top Soccer is mainly for individuals with cognitive or intellectual disabilities, and our other one is Power wheelchair soccer.

Q. Are these programs relatively inexpensive?

A. A lot of them are free, some of them are minimal cost, and as much as we can, we try to provide scholarships for our programs.

Q. What sort of cognitive or intellectual disabilities do you typically see?

A. It could be anything from autism to developmental delays, any kind of motor function that is associated with another sort of disability. It could be MR (mental retardation); it’s very broad, for sure. And we’re not necessarily looking to say, “We want to know if you fit into our program, based on your disability.” We’re very open. If you feel your child could benefit from our program, we want you involved.

Q. Most people are familiar with wheelchair basketball, so I think they would understand how you might adapt a sport for children with physical disabilities; but how would you adapt a sport to accommodate a child with a cognitive or intellectual disability?

A. Often we’ll modify certain rules, and because we have a lot higher ratio of volunteers, the individuals get more skill development as well as even direction. If you and I are playing a sport and the coach tells us to go do A, B, C and D, we’re more than likely able to follow those directions, while somebody with a cognitive disability might need to have those steps simplified or at least broken out to reach that ultimate goal.

Q. What sort of emotional disabilities might you see?

A. Again, it’s one of those broad spectrums, but it could be a short attention span, impulsiveness, it could be withdrawal. We focus a lot on appropriate social interaction. One of the ultimate goals of our program is for these kids to develop meaningful social relationships, which a lot of times don’t happen for them.

Q. How do you adapt your program to meet the needs of such a variety of children?

A. During registration, we ask some of those questions about specific needs. For example, with our basketball program, if it’s a new individual and we’re not familiar with their ability level, we will assess that, and then through that process we’ll go through different activities and drills based upon the sport. And with basketball, for example, we will divide up based on ability. Typically we have an older group of young adults that we will divide up and play, and then we have a younger group as well. So we’re able to divide them up based upon age as well as ability.

“We’re very open. If you feel your child could benefit from our program, we want you involved.”

Q. Do they play one another, like intramural teams, or do you travel to other communities?

A. That’s based upon the program itself. The Power Soccer program does travel, and the majority of our other programs, yes, we divide up internally. But for instance our golf program that we have going on right now—we have two different groups, a physical disability group as well as a cognitive/intellectual disability group—and with the cognitive/disability group, if they’re interested, there are opportunities like Special Olympics for them to potentially travel to as well.

Q. Where do you find your coaches, and how are they trained?

A. I’m very involved in all of our programs, and I have another staff member, Lizzy Hockinson; we’re both certified therapeutic recreation specialists, so one of us is typically always there to help with those adaptations.

Q. So you’re doing your thing during typical office hours, and then you’re working in the evening because that’s when people have their games, right?

A. That’s why it’s important for us to have those volunteers!

Q. What is the therapeutic benefit of play, both physically and emotionally?

A. Being a part of a team or a group and having success, and being in a comfortable, safe environment—and within that, then you grow. Beyond the social networks that are built, there’s the overall confidence . . . we see kids building independence. A lot of parents want their children to be sheltered, and I think when you have a child with a disability, sometimes that is even more apparent, so we create a safe environment so a kid can become more independent. And there’s the overall physical benefit of play. A lot of times these kids won’t even realize, “Hey, I’m exercising”—they’re just having fun.

Q. Do you see some kids year after year?

A. Yes, absolutely.

Q. Do they develop friendships through the program?

A. Oh, yes, and it always makes me happy. Like during Top Soccer one Saturday morning, two of the girls came with each other because they’d spent the night together. We forget about how important that is.
It also acts as a great opportunity for the parents to develop networks with other parents who have children with disabilities. Last year I had a child who was going to have a birthday party, and typically in the past it was, “Who to invite?” because he hasn’t made lots of friends through school, and then through some of our programs, his parents have been able to really develop those friendships so they are comfortable sending their child to another house for a birthday party.