• Physical/Occupational Therapists
• Adapted Physical Education Teachers
• Therapeutic Recreation Specialists
• Special Education Teachers
• Exercise Physiologists
• Rehabilitation Counselors
• Child/Clinical Psychologists
• Prosthetic/Orthotic Technicians
• Pediatric Residents
• Family Practice Residents4th Year Medical Students
• Nurse Practitioners
• (RN) Graduate Nurses
• Social Workers
• Ski Instructors/Ski Patrollers
• Other Health & Human Service Professionals

Benefits

• Professional Training and Clinical Experience
• Complimentary Lift Tickets
• Complimentary Equipment Rentals
• Personal Growth and Fulfillment

We would like to offer you an opportunity to develop some valuable skills and to share the joys of skiing with some of the most dynamic disable individuals of all ages you will ever meet!

I. Leadership Techniques

• Wise leaders expect problems but do not consider them overwhelming. Keep a confidential record of each student for background information. Though you may view the student with a disability as an individual with significant differences, he/she really is not one. All individuals have different needs. The wise leader will recognize this and be prepared to help.
• Leaders should schedule a personal visit with the parents or significant others of a new student to learn about his/her physical limitations, his/her abilities and preferences.
• Many students with disabilities have special physical or health needs. Parents, visiting nurses, special education teachers, physical therapists, doctors, and other agencies can help make you more familiar with the nature of the disability.
• Accept the student as a person and give him/her the same respect that you expect in return. This will be much easier to do if you know the student, his/her parents, his/her background, and his/her like and dislikes. Remember, any behavior of his/hers that presents difficulties is a force that can be redirected into more acceptable pathways--rather than erased and rebuilt.
• Example is a wonderful tool. Demonstrate personal discipline with respect, punctuality, accuracy, conscientiousness, dignity, and dependability.
• Become involved with the student in your care. Let the person know that you care for him/her, difficulties and all. A small word of praise or a pat on the back for a job well done can mean a lot to a child, teen, adult or senior who may receive little elsewhere. Judge accomplishment by what the student can do, not by what someone says he/she must do or by what you think he/she cannot do.
• Remember achievement will likely cause that behavior to be repeated. Reward can be in the form of a thank-you, a recognition made by the group for helping the group perform at a higher level, an award, etc. Focus rewards on proper behavior and achievement.

II. Providing Encouragement

• Reward, reinforce and accentuate the positive in order to build self-esteem. Sandwich your feedback (positive - corrective - positive)
• Praise immediately any and all good behavior and performance.
• Change rewards if they are not effective in motivating behavioral improvement.
• Find ways to encourage the student.
• Teach the student to reward himself-herself. This encourages one to think positively about himself/herself.

III. Giving Instruction

• Maintain eye contact during verbal instruction.
• Make directions clear and concise. Be consistent with instructions.
• Simplify complex directions. Give one or two steps at a time.
• Make sure the student comprehends the instructions prior to beginning the task.
• Repeat instructions in a calm, positive manner, if necessary.
• Help the student feel comfortable with seeking assistance.

IV. Providing Supervision and Discipline

• As a leader, you must be a number of things to each student - a friend, authority figure, reviewer, disciplinarian, resource, and teacher.
• Listening is an important technique that means giving a student an opportunity to express himself/herself. Whether as a part of a group or in a private conversation, be patient, be understanding, and take seriously what the student has to say. Keep yourself attuned to what he/she is saying: use phrases - "Do you really feel that way?" or "If I understand you right . . ."
• Avoid ridicule and criticism. Remember, all students have difficulty staying in control.
• Remain calm, state the infraction of the rule, and avoid debating or arguing with the student.
• Have pre-established consequences for misbehavior for all students.
• When a student is behaving in an unacceptable manner, use the "time out" strategy.
• Administer consequences immediately, and monitor proper behavior frequently.
• Make sure the discipline fits the "crime" and is not unduly harsh.
• Enforce trip rules consistently.
• Do not reward inappropriate behavior. Praise when the student exerts real effort, even if unsuccessful, and/or when he/she shows improvement over a previous performance. Never praise falsely.
• Do not accept blaming others as an excuse for poor performance. Make it clear that you expect the student to answer for his/her own behavior.

Purpose

1. Purposes reflect learner needs
2. Purposes imply program content
3. Clearly Shared and understood purposes

Setting

4. Setting considered realistic by learners
5. A physical or psychological challenge is provided by setting
6. An appropriate degree of risk exists
7. Diverse settings are integrated

Participants' Characteristics Learning Strategies

8. Voluntary participation
9. Diversity of participants
10. Based on an explicit theory of learning
11. Encourage young people to perform tasks normally given to adults in our society
12. Emphasize a balance of action, reflection, application
13. Provide learning experiences that are individualized, sequential, developmental
14. Involve frequent structured interaction between student and instructor
15. Provide opportunities for unplanned learning from new experiences

Student Roles

16. Active student role in planning and carrying out activities
17. Chance to experience various roles - leader, team member, tutor, etc.
18. Assuming responsibilities for one's own actions
19. Opportunities to interact with various adults as well as with peers

Instructor Roles

20. Help students plan and carry out their activities
21. Provide role model as participant in the learning process
22. Monitor progress, assess and feedback information to students
23. Provide motivation and encouragement
24. Model skills in planning, empathy, communication and resource sharing

Outcome of Learning Activities

25. Outcomes of learner activities are perceived as real and important by students and others
26. Students feel ownership for the outcomes

Management and Support

27. Locating community resources for student learning
28. Forming positive relationships with external agencies (such as may be needed in awarding regular scholl credit for program participation)
29. Obtaining funding and community support
30. Recruitment and selection of staff that are committed to using experiential learning strategies

Program Outcomes

31. Increased student self-confidence, independence, and ability to relate to others
32. Staff and students are involved in assessing effectiveness of program
33. Openness to looking at both positive and negative outcomes and in examining areas for program improvement

If a student has any of the following disabilities, these ideas might be helpful.

• Remember that people who use adaptive equipment (wheelchairs, crutches, etc.) often consider their equipment an extension of their bodies.
• Always be cognizant of a person's adaptive equipment needs - structure the learning environment to keep equipment that is required within the person's reach.
• Before you go out with someone who has a mobility impairment, make sure facilitates at your destination are accessible.
• Be aware of how your interactions may be perceived by those with mobility impairments (in a wheelchair or with crutches) - when you don't know someone, patting an adult on the head is a sign of disrespect; a hug may be misperceived as being forward or as a threat to someone who has been abused.
• When helping, ask how equipment works if you are unfamiliar with it.

  Prevent strained necks by either standing a few feet away when talking to someone in a wheelchair or by getting down to eye level.

• Find a place to sit down for long talks.
• Never make assumptions about a person's abilities based on their use of adaptive equipment.

• Make sure the person is looking at you before you begin to talk.
• Use gestures and signs to help make your points.
• Ask for directions to be repeated, or watch to make sure directions were understood correctly.
• Use visual demonstration to assist verbal directions
• In a large group, remember that it's important for only one person to speak at a time.
• Speakers should never stand with their backs to the sun or light when addressing people with hearing impairments.
• Shouting at a person with hearing impairment very seldom helps. It distorts your speech and makes lipreading difficult.

• Identify yourself to people with vision impairments by speaking up.
• Offer your arm, but don't try to lead the person. (blind/visually impaired will grasp the back of your upper arm between the elbow and shoulder)
• Volunteer information by reading aloud signs, news, changing street lights, warnings or general information about the surrounding environment.
• When you stop helping, announce your departure.
• If you meet someone who has a guide dog, never distract the dog by petting or feeling it; keep other pets away.
• If you meet someone who is using a white cane, don't touch the cane. If the cane should touch you, step out of the way and allow the person to pass.

This is a unique program designed to motivate and support all volunteers as they participate in personal development and program development activities which are a function of Massanutten Adaptive Snow Sports MASS. "VIP Points" may be earned for all contributions and professional development activities.