For Awareness Through Movement® Teachers

 

Coleen Boyle, Ph.D., director of CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities said, “At some point in their lives, most people will either have a disability or know someone who has one.”

This community is currently underserved and Awareness Through Movement can make a difference.

Build these considerations into your lesson planning:

  • It’s About Working With Constraints - which is what ATM teachers do

  • Avoid The Temptation To Be Everything To Everyone - you can’t, but you can alternate emphases to address many abilities over time however, you can

  • Introduce Many Variations and Clear Kinesthetic Cues - to accommodate many abilities

  • Keep It Moving - respect that these goal-oriented athletes want results; try visualizations during rests to keep them engaged and connected

  • Don’t Water It Down - same as above

  • Link ATMs to Sports - same as above

  • Trust the Students - they know their range and limits

These suggestions are based on the experience of the Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country athletes and volunteers. Your group may have completely different interests. Create away!

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Sample Spring/Summer Curriculum

  • Pelvic Clock - Awareness Through Movement Book - get the hips moving

  • Minimal Lifting, Arlyn Zones, Flexible Chest - connecting diagonals and homolateral movement

  • Flexors and Extensors - Awareness Through Movement - coordinating top and bottom, twisting, power from pelvis and shoulder blades

  • Dead Bird - Awareness Through Movement - twisting, shifting weight, focusing

  • Ribbons and Fingers - Alan Questel - elongating the front then back, connecting ‘internal’ diagonals

  • Infinity Hips - Dual Clocks- Alan Questel - weight shift

  • Coachman - Gabby - sidebending, weight shift with twist

  • Quadrant Breathing - Jeff Haller - feeling the front, back, sides of torso, connecting breath with power

  • Rolling Head Between Hands - Andrew Gibbons - connecting shoulders, elbows, head and eyes

  • Shimmy Workshop - Alan Questel - loosening the ribs

  • Three Way Hip - Alan Questel - detailed power from the floor to finger tips

  • Bell Hand lift from Wrist - Alan Questel - soft hands, slowing down

  • Centerline - Andrew Gibbons, Classical Mechanics - centering

  • Stand from Sitting - Alan Questel

Sample Winter Sports Curriculum

  • Sitting to Stand - Alan Questel - getting off the chair lift

  • 3-way Hip - basic weight shift on boards and skis

  • Flexors and Extensors - differentiating hips and torso, moving proximally for sit skiers

  • Ribbons and Gentle Fingers - Alan Questel - finding lift and length in torso, connecting sacrum and sternum

  • Centerline - Andrew Gibbons - Getting clear on center, especially for sit skiers

  • Candelabra - AY 18 - extension and twisting from arm to arm, for skiers and boarders

  • Arches of the Foot - Nick Strauss-Kahn - developing ankle flexibility deep in the boots, shifting weight side to side

  • Front of the Heel - Alan Questel - shifting weight front to back

  • Grabbing the Glutes - Deborah Bowes - finding power in turns

  • Infinity Hips - Dual Clocks - Alan Questel - shifting weight proximally

  • Sweater Lesson - Eileen Bach-y-Rita - elegant apres


Photo Credits: MoveUnited, Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country, Adirondack Explorer