Overcoming Barriers (OCB)

Coach Tom brought his sports clinic program closer to home!

On Fridays, we'll be going to OCB until the end of the school year. It's a 30-minute drive...this is a little bit of a tall order, but we're making it work. I take both E and Viv. The program is for families, with the focus of helping SN kids work on sports skills in a very welcome environment. E LOVES IT.

The staff (Mr. Rich, Coach Tom, and helpers including our own Jimmy!) help the kids work on throwing, catching, kicking, picking things up, rolling, running, and stopping. There are children in wheelchairs, who are blind, who have behavioral disorders, etc. etc. and EVERYONE has a great time, EVERYONE is included, and EVERYONE is welcome. It's really wonderful. And, did I mention it's free?

Here is E working on some skills:









Last week, she wanted to ditch her crutches after using them for the first 5 minutes. She did the rest of the session--nearly 50 minutes--largely without assistance! Including standing up, getting up from falling, throwing, catching, kicking, running, etc. She did sit on my knee during one teaching moment, and held a hand here and there, and touched a wall here and there. Still--that's probably the longest E has been on her own, upright, without devices, while being super active. She was sweating, which is a relatively rare occurrence. AWESOME JOB E!!