I CAN DO THIS! Thomas (front) does the rings while mom Meagan and her, son Ben, work on the mats at Schafer’s Gym, where free programs will be offered during April, Autistic Awareness Month. (Photo by Shannon Schafer.)
April is Autism Awareness Month, and for the third year, Schafer Gymnasium in Lawrenceville is marking the occasion by offering a series of events that are free and open to the public.
Families with children on the autism spectrum and the professionals who work with them are invited to observe and participate in special gymnastics classes and to hear speakers, including attorneys and occupational therapists, discuss important issues.
“Every year it grows,” reported gym owner Shannon Schafer. “We continue to reach more and more people and to connect with various organizations. We’re always looking for resources.”
Among the special programs is “Calming Kids (CK): Creating a Non-Violent World,” which is coming to Schafer Gymnasium on Saturday and Sunday, April 28 and 29. This award-winning, 14-hour course is intended “to train educators, youth professionals, and parents to learn and implement a yoga-based curriculum that reduces bullying and improves anger management in pre-school through high school aged-youth,” said Director Nicole Calvino.
The Schafer program will cover the pre-school and elementary school portion of the CK curriculum, which features non-violent communication techniques, anti-bullying strategies, physical fitness, team building activities, body awareness exercises, relaxation, and concentration practices to directly empower students in their classes and throughout the day. The fee for those who use the class toward professional development credits is $295.
“In March 2011, President Barack Obama and the First Lady hosted the first ever Conference on Bullying Prevention at the White House to address this national crisis,” noted Ms. Calvino. According to the summit, “a third of middle school and high school students have reported being bullied during the school year, and almost 3 million students have said they were pushed, shoved, tripped, even spat on.” Recent statistics reported by ABC news said that 160,000 kids stay home from school each year for fear of being bullied. Bullying can be physical, emotional, and more recently, cyber-bullying and sexting are on the rise.
Calming Kids, a 501(c)(3) organization based in Colorado, was created in 2004 by Dee Marie, the Colorado representative for Stop America’s Violence Everywhere (SAVE). At the request of the American Medical Association Alliance, Ms. Marie collaborated with the Boulder County Medical Society Alliance to create the CK yoga curriculum. “Comprehensive research of the curriculum was conducted and then analyzed by a Harvard statistician to determine the program’s effectiveness,” said Ms. Calvino. “The results showed a 93 percent increase in anger management and an 87 percent increase in concentration in elementary school-aged children over a six-week period.”
In 2006, the national division of the American Medical Association Alliance recognized CK with the Health Awareness Promotion Award. Since the program’s inception, more than 300 educators have been trained across the country, and an estimated 30,000 students are being taught the curriculum.
Locally, Ms. Schafer reports, she initiated the gym’s April program because: “talking to parents and realizing that they were struggling with trying to find outlets for their children, I just felt that I had to do something.”
Schafer’s Gymnastics is at 1880 Princeton Avenue. For more information call (609) 393-5855.