Today, I got the opportunity to work with our Adaptive Watersports Program (AWP) in partnership with Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports. Vermont Adaptive helps provide the disabled community access to various activities that most people think are impossible for people with physical or cognitive disabilities. In the winters, they have a presence at ski resorts like Bolton Valley and Sugarbush, and in the summers, we partner with them to operate the AWP and this program serves a vital role in the community.
As a physically disabled sailor myself, I know how difficult it can be for someone with any kind of physical disability to get on the water. It’s not usually the arm or the leg that is the problem, so much as the mindset. For people that have gone through some sort of trauma, taking risks can be hard afterward. For me especially, getting back on the water after my accident was daunting. I knew that, despite any disability, it was important for me to prove to myself that I could do things normally. In cases like this, the disability makes it doubly hard, because the athlete will pretend it doesn’t exist and can push him or herself beyond a usually acceptable limit.
Having worked with other disabled sailing programs in the past, I have seen the benefits that come from getting people on the water firsthand. Whether it’s a returning sailor, back to the water after years of recovery, or someone who has never felt the exhilaration of the wind in their sails, the smiles that I see take me back to when I had that same powerful feeling years ago. Anybody who has been so affected by life’s twists and turns knows intimately the power that a little self-determination can give the mind and spirit.
While overcoming a physical disability is itself a very powerful experience, Vermont Adaptive extends its reach to those with cognitive disabilities as well. Unlike those with physical disabilities, those with cognitive disabilities may not be able “overcome” their disability in the same sense of the word. In my work with this demographic, the goal is usually different. Just to be able to do something different like sailing or paddling can be a life-changing experience. And the smiles I see on these faces show levels of bliss that I believe were previously undocumented by science.
With the benefits of our modern civilization attracting more and more people to pursue inside activities, the access provided by the Sailing Center to people of all physical and cognitive abilities is becoming more and more important. Working with AWP reminds me constantly why programs like this are so important and the life changing effects that they can have on people.
-Chris
