See It! Events to help those with disabilities imagine taking their first steps outdoors

Can seeing the specialized equipment and programs available to those supporting people with developmental disabilities help them begin to believe that they too might enjoy walking and biking on local paths and trails... Or kayak? Or even ski?

As captured in previous posts on Kennett Outdoors and Kennett Ability Network, it can be hard for those supporting people with Intellectual / Developmental Disabilities and/or Autism (IDA) to imagine enjoying the outdoors. Almost fifteen years after our first forays outdoors, Margot is still so thrilled by new adventures we discover every year. This past summer, for example, we added a twist to our daily kayak on the St Lawrence River... we found a set of rocks that we could paddle to where Margot could loll about in the water (see above) while others floated in the shallows nearby. It was one of the highlights of our annual vacation to the Thousand Islands!

But for those supporting someone with IDA, there can be so many barriers, so many other challenges to be faced every day, and so many memories of outings gone awry... how do you start believing that such adventures might be possible? So we are exploring a couple of ways to help people imagine and then take those first steps. In this post, we describe See It! - events that provide opportunities to see and touch some of the specialized equipment and programs that can help, and just talk with us face to face. Other posts will describe some other ways to help people with IDA try this equipment on a path through the woods for the first time using a specialized stroller or pedicab with the help from a coach.

Our goal this fall is to host several See It! events at parks that offer paths, and others at programs that help people with disabilities (see right or download a sample flyer below). We held our first See It! event this past Saturday at Willowdale Chapel in Kennett Square to coincide with monthly respite night offered to people with IDA. Next week, we will host See It! events at the CCIU's CHAAMP Program in Downingtown and at the Kennett Bikefest. Check our Events page regularly for the latest schedule of events that will be updated weekly as we confirm more venues this fall!

At See It! events, we bring specialized equipment that people can see - a stroller/ bike trailer, tandem bike, pedicab, and skis. We point parents and professionals to other resources they might take advantage of - like our Chester County Outdoor Access Guide, and our Fresh Air Self Care FOR ALL program. We are available to answer questions about how all of these might work for a particular person with IDA. We also hope to stage some Try It Events at parks next month, where we will have additional staff who can accompany a parent or professional on a walk or ride to see exactly how this might work for them!

Touch It Events handout 9-11-26.pdf

Download PDF • 16.06MB

Why do all this? One of the lessons we learned from our adventures getting Margot on skis is that is really helps to see and touch the kinds of specialized equipment that might help us. Seeing the right equipment can sometimes help us make the shift from just dreaming to actually planning, because we might start to see that the stress and effort involved for ourselves and for the person we might be getting outside is manageable. Take the Wike specialized strollers, for example: these require so little effort to set up and push, and can so easily accommodate most people with IDA, we think that just seeing a Wike can help some people imagine the possibilities.

In addition to the Try It! Events we hope to add, we are already considering other steps we might take in helping people with IDA get outdoors depending on the response to these first events, so stay tuned!

1. Those supporting people with IDA might need more than one outing with a coach before they can strike out on their own, so we are arranging to make up to 3 individualized coaching sessions available to persons in the region who attend a Try It! event

2. Those supporting people with IDA might need more time with the equipment before committing the funds needed to acquire their own, so we will be setting up a program to loan Wikes to parents or programs who have completed (1).

3. A Wike might just be out of reach for some families, so we are working on partnerships and funding to offer a limited number of Wikes at - or maybe even below - cost to eligible families who have completed (1) and (2)...

4. We are exploring an adapted version of the Cycling Without Age program for people with IDA in our region.