Just the Way You Are
Susan Miles, director of Champion Athletes of the Ozarks, has devoted her life to teaching the disabled how to help themselves.
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Playing sports is more than running, throwing balls and scoring points. It improves both the mind and the body, and that is especially important for kids and adults with disabilities.
Susan Miles, director of Champion Athletes of the Ozarks, uses sports as a way to enhance the lives of people in the Springfield area who are living with disabilities. “Through sports training and competition, we are building self-esteem, self-confidence and social skills,” Susan says. “We are teaching these individuals decision-making skills, life skills and the feeling of success.”
Susan says that people of all ages need to learn how to relate to others, and playing sports helps some of the area’s intellectually disabled—who may be living with autism, cerebral palsy or Downs syndrome—better relate to the world around them.
Members of the organization can choose from 10 sports to play, ranging from bowling and bocce ball to swimming and soccer, and they are teamed up by age and ability. “Playing sports helps us learn appropriate behavior, how to win and lose graciously, cope with change, work with different authority figures and build upon each others’ success,” Susan explains.
Susan works with Champion Athletes at Sunshine Lanes. |
It has worked for Danny Schmidt, a 27-year-old intellectually disabled man who works at the Springfield Workshop, a manufacturing and light assembly plant that provides work for the disabled. When he’s not working, or spending time with his family, Danny enjoys playing sports with his friends at Champion Athletes.
“Danny participates in bowling, basketball, softball, soccer and golf,” says his mom, Joyce Schmidt. “He keeps really busy and loves every bit of it. He really loves Susan. She is so personable with the kids.”
But Champion Athletes is also about developing the minds of its members. Parents of kids with special needs struggle with many of the same child-rearing issues that other families do, but the concerns are often more exaggerated.
Take, for instance, a simple trip to Walmart. While many families with young children deal with an occasional temper tantrum when parents say no to a request for a new toy or a piece of candy, parents of an autistic child are caring for a person who can’t physically handle all the visual and audible stimulation going on around them. “Listen to all the noise there,” Susan says. “We can filter it out, but autistic kids can’t filter that out. There is so much for them at eye level to see, and it can be too much for them.” To help with these situations, Susan Miles has incorporated a series of life skills classes that cover just about everything the Champion Athletes need to know to get around day-to-day, including reading, banking and what to do in case of an emergency.
