Category Archives: disability awareness
1st Unity Night for Families at Olander Elementary= SUCCESS!
Despite the organizers’ hesitancy about the attendance of the first ever Unity Night at Olander Elementary in Fort Collins, Nick and his team were able to help a great crowd of kids and adults alike by providing them with empathy training to experience movement in a manual wheelchair, navigating through a room with a vision impairment, grocery shopping with a learning disability, and reading colors through the eyes of someone who may not perceive as the experiencers did.
Nick’s favorite part was watching the kids play the games and the awareness they gained from trying these experiences.
In particular, Nick liked watching the kids try to read the correct color on words that were colored a different color. This test, called the Stroop test, mimics a learning disability in which someone struggles with sorting information in their brain (selective attention). Because the brain is trained to read first, it is difficult for someone to name a color rather than read a word on page.
You can learn more about this test here:
https://www.cleverism.com/the-stroop-effect-naming-the-color-but-not-the-word
In this coin game, coins are given different values, and participants are asked to purchase small items using the coins, such as an apple. This game mimics the learning disability dyscalculia (“math dyslexia”), in which a person has difficulty with simple calculations, sequencing numbers, and telling time. You can read more about dyscalulia here: https://www.additudemag.com/what-is-dyscalculia-overview-and-symptom-breakdown/
The kids all did great being brave and trying new ways to think, speak, and move!
We look forward to working with students at Olander elementary again in the near future!
Ignite Adaptive Sports – 2023 Ski Season
Every winter Nick’s favorite activity (besides shopping) is going to Eldora Ski Resort in Nederland, Colorado and hanging out with the volunteers from Ignite Adaptive Sports for a fun day on the mountain. Nick looks forward to skiing all year, and if you ask him what his favorite thing is during the warmer months, there’s a good chance he’ll still answer “skiing.”
Nick has been a participant with Ignite since 2009 and every year the volunteers continue to be supportive, safety oriented, and kind. They always make sure Nick feels safe and check that he had a good time on the slopes.
For the last couple of years, Kevin Wilson has been the scheduler for Ignite. Kevin is also a person who uses a wheelchair, and a few times this season he joined Nick on the mountain in his mono ski. Kevin goes above and beyond to accommodate participants and volunteers, and makes sure everyone is safe and happy. He’s a passionate skier and Nick thinks his hair is pretty cool. Bring him some sushi, it’s his favorite!
Getting Nick prepped to go out is an intense process, but with Nick’s unique needs it’s important his body is comfortably and safely positioned for his lesson. This involves several different types of pads, straps, and usually a bit of duct tape! Once he’s ready to go, he stays out for 2 hours and goes on a ton of different runs, and even goes on black diamonds and the half pipe! Nick says the ski lift can be a little scary, but the volunteers always talk him through the ride and get him safely to the top.
Check out these videos of Nick skiing with some incredible Ignite volunteers!
One of Nick’s favorite parts of the ski season is his trip up the mountain with Adaptive Recreation Opportunities (ARO) with Fort Collins Recreation. Greg Shaner is one of Nick’s favorite people and a long time friend. He drives the ARO van and its participants up to Eldora for a full day of ski lessons and never loses his upbeat and positive attitude.
Karl, one of the volunteers, a veteran who used to be a participant himself, brings his service dog Red up to the Ignite building with him, and Nick loves seeing Karl and Red!
Nick sometimes comes in from his lesson covered in snow and a little worn out, but he never complains because he had a blast! He always talks about how much fun he had on the ride home. This wouldn’t be possible without the volunteers who come back every year.
Nick loves when he gets to go out with Ignite volunteer Brian, because he knows he’s gonna go fast! Brian takes Nick on the half pipe and even plays music for Nick on his bluetooth speaker! Nick loved listening to the soundtrack to one of his favorite movies, Gigi, while he was racing down the mountain! Thanks Brain!
Bobby is another volunteer Nick loved getting to see several times over the season. Nick thought Bobby was so nice, and he made Nick feel very safe every time they skiied together.
Nick and his team want to thank Ignite Adaptive Sports so much for all they do for all of their participants, from people with with vision loss, to disabled veterans, to participants on the autism spectrum, Ignite works with everyone as an individual with their own unique needs and treats participants and their families with respect and kindness.
Donate to Ignite Adaptive Sport’s new facility!
Ignite is breaking ground on their new state of the art facility at Eldora this month, and Nick would like to ask his supporters to consider donating to their fundraiser by clicking this link. You can also follow Ignite on Facebook and find the fundraiser link there.
Awesome in Action, Co 