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It's Sunday morning. I like Sunday mornings now that Sunday school (CCD in the Catholic world) is done for the year. Ken and Stephen attended the evening classes on Sunday night this past year. They would often walk to church and sometimes walk home. This may not sound like much, but 5 years ago I couldn't leave them out of the house alone. Now they walk the neighborhood, ride their bikes and play and have fun.

Part of the change is the fact that a certain neighbor has moved out of the area. He was evil through and through. He hated me, my kids and did everything he could to force us to move. He lied , even slandered our family. My Joe called him "Grandpa", Joe is just a loving kind of kid. I wasn't about to try and stop Joe from loving other people, that's what we're all called to do, but it was difficult.

For the past nearly two years our family has delivered the papers in our neighborhood. Sue takes Joe and Devon and does a circle that covers part of the development and I take Ken and Stephen and do the other part. I walk about 2 miles per day. The paper delivery is different on weekends than it is weekdays as some people only get the paper on weekends. The boys, who I was afraid to allow out of the house, now walk the neighborhood and know who gets a paper and who only gets a weekend delivery versus those who get 7 day a week service. Not bad for kids who the local IU said could only hope to maybe bag groceries for a living if they were supervised!

What I have learned from my kids is that people with Autism DO NOT learn gradually. You try to teach them a skill, they don't get it, you keep trying, maybe for days, weeks and months, and yet they still don't get it. Then one day, a switch is turned on and they understand everything you have tried to teach them. It's like the brain has been rewired with new connections. Before there was no connection and so the circuit was completely off, now it's connected and it's completely on. I have seen this too many times to count with my own kids. This is different than how the "normal " population learns and also different than how persons with MR exhibit learning.

Anyhow, back to Sunday mornings. I and my wife taught 7th and 8th grade CCD the past two years. Joe and Devon were in our classes, we combine the two groups. Since we homeschool all our kids, they enjoyed going to school and meeting other kids and making friends there. They are not the only special needs kids in our class. A few of the other kids are also special needs, it seems to be a large and ever growing group, larger than what I remember as a kid. But it is nice to be able to relax on Sunday mornings, we usually do Church on Saturday evening at the Vigil Mass.

The paper route has been a really good thing for us. Sue and I work together with the kids on it, although some of them will sleep in some days leaving mom and dad to go it alone (how normal is that!). It got the boys out of the house, gave me an opportunity to teach them traffic safety, responsibility and a chance for them to earn money. The time I spend with them each day is great as well, we get to talk and keep in touch, something that is too easy not to do with our hectic lives.

It also gave the neighbors a chance to get to know our family and who we really are, as opposed to the lies that were spread about us. Some of the neighbors really look forward to seeing my kids in the morning and getting the paper from them. There are the people who are up walking their dogs, going for a morning walk or run, the milk delivery guy, and the other early risers who we often say "Good Morning" to. They are getting a better understanding of who my kids are and who we are. There are also people who are rushed and hurried and rarely wave as they go by, but hey life can be challenging for all of us.

Sunday mornings,time to read the paper, eat breakfast, plan the day, blog on the computer, read the posts. Soon I'll get my fishing license and start taking the boys to the streams. My older boys will hopefully join us when their work schedules permit.

Dennis

Well the summer came and went all too fast. It's not that I like hot, humid weather, in fact I hate it. I prefer the spring and fall of central PA. Winter is not too bad although I'm usually glad to see springtime arrive. No! Summer is too short because the busy days of Fall are here. Now my wife homeschools the kids through the summer with shorter days and breaks interspersed. It works better for them. And the kids were busy enough in the summer with Baseball games on Saturday, church and family trips. But Fall brings all the activities back like C.C.D., Hapkido class, and other scheduled stuff that prevents me from being a happy, lazy lump in front of the keyboard or TV.

In this post I want to talk about teaching M.A. to people with mental and physical disabilities. The topic often brings up strong opinions, often from people with little experience in the subject.

One common concern is the danger of teaching of potentially lethal techniques to a person whose judgment may not be fully mature. Well, I absolutely agree that this is a valid concern. However, mature judgment is NOT measured by IQ points. The prisons of our country are full of many so called normal people who committed violent acts. And yes many convicts also test below normal.

To deal with this objection you need a teacher who knows his or her students. Such knowledge does not come quickly, so the beginning lessons in whatever art you teach, judo, karate, etc., should stress basics that often will NOT result in severe injury. Also the teaching environment NEEDS to be one where self control, respect for others, humility and virtue are stressed. All learning of techniques must be couched within these principles and the principles repeated as a regular part of training. It could be said that such repetition is good for any class of MA students.

An example of what I am talking about will help to illustrate. In a judo class, the first thing to be taught should be ukemi so that the students can safely learn the throws of judo. Most special needs populations whose deficit is mental will be able to physically handle this training safely. One population that needs extra caution is those persons with Downs Syndrome. Persons with Downs Syndrome (DS) may have a condition known as atlantoaxial instability. This is a condition where the neck bones are more prone to movement and possible injury to the person, even death. Not all DS persons have the condition or to the same severity. But all persons with DS should be cleared by their physician prior to training. Also for a person with atlantoaxial instability care must be taken when they are subjected to holds around the neck. In severe cases, chokes and hold slike kesa-gatame or kata-gatame should be prohibited.

There are other skeletal problems that may be present in the student. Of course this can happen in the normal population as well. Older non-disabled persons may have osteoporosis which could cause difficulties with training. The teacher should require that a physical is completed prior to training. Also an interview with a family member who knows the student best is well advised concentrating on questions of limitations of movement, fears of close contact, prior injuries, illnesses, etc.

Getting back to judo, provided that the student is cleared for practice, training can begin with ukemi which can be used as an easy warmup. Students start by laying on the mat and learning back and side breakfalls from the ground. They can be introduced to back breakfalls from a sitting position as well and maybe side breakfalls where they raise their legs and fall side to side. The teacher will decide how fast to move the class along.

After ukemi a sugestion I have is to teach atemi to the students, something most judo classes ignore. Why? Well punching and kicking is fun, it is part of judo and it offers another component to teach to fight boredom. It will assist if and when self defense training is covered.

As for throws, basic first set throws are the obvious place to start. I prefer Ippon-Seoi-Nage as a first throw as it is relatively easy to maneuver into the proper position with a cooperative uke and it is easy to control both tori and uki, NO throwing just move into position and maybe pick them up under sensei's watchful eyes.

Other throws to add are De-Ashi_Harai, O-Soto-Gari, O-Uchi-Gari and O-Goshi. Holds can be limited to Kesa-Gatame and Yoko-Shiho-Gatame with the above cautions for neck safety.

The above is sufficient material for a class to study over 20 to 30 weeks. Add to this some terminology and a sensei has plenty to use test students on for their first 2 ranks.

The testing should be a real test with real expectations. Of course in most classes the real testing is done each class and when the teacher tells the student they are ready to test is most often means you are now ready for your next rank. But I highly recommend that the test be a bit stressful physically for the students. The teacher will know their and will know how much to push, but at the end of the test if the student is sweaty and winded and maybe a tad achy they will know they earned their rank. This is in my opinion the most important part of the test.

Students with mental disabilities have the same needs as the general population. A sense of accomplishment is important for self esteem for all and that accomplishment should be real not fake. So the student should be pushed a bit in the test to make it real. How far they are pushed is an individual matter based on the students abilities.

In my next post I want to cover other physical abnormalities and how a teacher can deal with them.

Dennis