NEADS Conference 2004 - Right On!

Speakers

Heidi Keller

Biography

Heidi Keller is a 2000 graduate of The Ohio State University. While obtaining her degree in Exercise Science, she honed her skills in working with people with disabilities through employment and volunteer activities. Upon graduation, Heidi received the position as Director of the Adapted Recreational Sports Program at The Ohio State University. Inclusion and independence for individuals with disabilties in recreation and physical activity have been her focus since the beginning of her career at OSU, winning her the OSU Dick Maxwell Award that recognizes one OSU faculty member as making outstanding contributions to students with disabilities at The Ohio State University.

Synopsis

The need to include students who have disabilities in recreation and physical activities at The Ohio State University.

This presentation will explore how to form an inclusive model to be used within recreational and physical activities at the collegiate level.

The Ohio State University encompasses 50,000 students, 2000 of whom identify themselves as having a disability, and another 10,000 students who, according to current statistics, are on our campus with unreported disabilities. Due to the diverse student population at The Ohio State University, the Department of Recreational Sports, housed in the division of Student Affairs, has made a commitment to serving people who have disabilities through the Adapted Recreational Sports (ARS) Program. Inclusion is an anchor component of the ARS program philosophy. The program strives to accommodate the individual needs of any participant, regardless of the type of disability, in order that the individual may be incorporated into the mainstream recreational environment.

In less than 8-months, The Ohio State University Department of Recreational Sports will open its doors to a new recreation and physical activity center. The design of the new facility is fully accessible and state-of-the-art and will be able to comprehensively meet the needs of individuals who have disabilities. The new Department of Recreational Sports facility is expected to open in Spring 2005 and will be equipped with fitness equipment, pool accessories and other accommodations that are adaptable to those with disabilities. The new facility will allow for the support of expanded development of the quantity and quality of the inclusive programming available to individuals with disabilities.