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HomeMy WebLinkAbout21.06.16 - Minutes, Disabilities Advisory Cmte 6/16/2021 June 16th, 2021 Meeting Minutes for Washington County Disability Advisory Committee Not in Attendance Randy Samu, Amanda Distefano, Heidi Kendall, Deb Condo, Troy Van Scoyoc In Attendance Sarah Thornton, Dave Barnhart, Angie Auldridge, Diane Lewis, Danielle Stahl Meeting called to order at 9:32am New business Jaime Dick, from the Washington County Rec department joined us to hear our thoughts on recreation programming in Washington County for people with disabilities. Jaime shared that the rec department turns no one away, and they do what they can to accommodate the various needs of participants. They currently have a few paraprofessionals on staff but not enough to offer one-on-one support that a child may require. The committee shared that families with children with high needs have difficulty finding suitable summer programming. The question was raised, do community members want special needs camps or more inclusive options, and our response was both. In order to influence summer programming for next year we need to begin planning now. Jaime was open to creating opportunities throughout the year, not just summer. He mentioned that he previously had a staff that organized bowling parties, as well as pizza parties that were very popular. This person no longer works for him and the activities ended. Jaime suggested that they host a special needs swim clinic in August to gauge community interest and need, and use the experience to influence future programming and offerings. UPDATE - The swim clinic has been scheduled for August 7th 2021 9am - 11:30am at Marty Snook Park. Swim instructors and staff with the rec department will be there, along with staff from Achieving True Self, a local ABA company. They will be providing swim staff a brief training that morning at 8am with tips and suggestions for working with students with autism and developmental disabilities. Beyond the swim clinic, what other recreation opportunities do we want to see? What’s not accessible? It was suggested that Unified Sports be the model since they have partners who are properly trained. Dave shared about the Adam Barnhart Inclusive Athlete Fund through the Community Foundation. Families who are looking to participate in sports and need help with purchasing adaptive equipment can find help through this fund. It’s going to be a year before funds will be available. Here’s a nice story about it here: https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/story/sports/2021/05/27/fund-provide-financial-aid- special-needs-students-sports-beyond/7459330002/ A gym in Boonsboro is offering inclusive gymnastics classes, and in response, a suggestion was made that we ask the city and county to put out a call to gymnastics and other recreation groups to see what the inclusive opportunities are. Another suggestion was made to create a page to include programs that are inclusive on the Go For Bold Health Dept site. And another suggestion was that a strategic plan be created on how recreation programs can be inclusive and what does it mean to have qualified staff? A doc could be created that would help them see how they can be. We discussed volunteer opportunities and ways to match volunteers with program needs. Diane mentioned that staff at The Arc are tiered and that they need professional development opportunities to advance. So could the staff The Arc work for the Rec dept in the summer time to gain experience and hours toward their tiers. Old Business Dave is still working on roles for the committee, and we are still waiting on the committee to reappoint someone. Dave has a link to the by laws, and will be reaching out to the town clerks and USMH to get our resource guide on their website. In response to the need for interpreters at the Washington County Board of Education meetings, it was suggested that we research ADA to see what the requirements are in terms of making the content accessible. What do they have to provide when offering remote services? It was also suggested that we reach out to Disability Rights Maryland to get further guidance. Angie will take the lead on this one. Next meeting is July 21st at 9:30am via Google Meet - meet.google.com/eix -vtzr-bkb Meeting adjourned at 10:38am.