For my community partnership I will be working with Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation.  They are an organization that provides outdoor opportunities with people with various disabilities.  I will be participating in their winter snowboard instructor program.  I look forward to this as I grew up skiing at Loon Mountain, Nh who has had a similar program to this.  I have always been intrigued by adaptive skiing/snowboarding and it’s great to have an opportunity to be part of it.

I do not have experience with patients who have physical disabilities and assisting them with outdoor sports.  I think it’s amazing and have great respect for people who engage in these activities.  Snowboarding is a very physically demanding sport for people of all physical capabilities.  Some of the disabilities that I have seen on the mountain have been the visually impaired and paraplegic individuals.

My two goals for this partnership are 1.) to see what adaptations are needed to meet the needs of the individual to help them reach their goal on the mountain.  2.) To see and utilize the mindset it takes to instruct an individual with these needs to reach their goal.  I feel it will require the patience, empathy, and understanding that we have at nurses to guide the person that is learning to snowboard. 

I would not say that I am nervous about this opportunity, but I do want to make sure I am prepared.  I need to be in good physical condition to be able to assist my student and to meet any physical needs of the day.  I also want to make sure I have a good working knowledge of the tools and equipment we will be using.  I’ll be doing research and working with the people at Maine Adaptive to get well versed on how they meet the needs of the individual.

There are people with disabilities who want to enjoy the outdoor adventure sports that bring so much joy to people.  Maine Adaptive has so many great opportunities such as alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, ice climbing, and snowshoeing.  They have year-round opportunities and fill the Summer with activities like mountain biking, climbing, kayaking, tennis, and many others.  A great organization that helps the disabled participate in outdoor activities.  I am very excited about this!