Inclusion
Inclusion for Families
NWCSRA recognizes & understands that not every person with a disability needs to participate in a special recreation program. Any individual can choose where they would like to participate in programming opportunities. If you feel that a program offered by your park district/recreation department would better meet your needs, NWCSRA can help support that choice through inclusion services.
What is inclusion?
Inclusion is the opportunity for someone to participate in their park district/recreation department program with additional supports put in place to help accommodate and ensure a successful experience for everyone involved. Inclusion can look different depending on the needs of the individual. It may be an observation and working with program staff to implement different strategies or ideas on how to adjust the program to meet the needs of all participants, it may be loaning adaptive equipment to the member agency, or it may be adding an extra staff (inclusion support staff) into the program to work more closely with the individual enrolled in the program.
Inclusion Requests
Whatever the inclusion may look like, the initial request should be done through the park district/recreation department when registering. They will then contact NWCSRA to discuss what the inclusion request and needs are. It is important to understand that even with inclusion support, an individual must still be able to meet the program eligibility requirements of the program.
Register early
If you know that you will be requesting additional assistance, it is important to register early so that staff have time to get everything in place to help ensure a successful experience.
Please note that NWCSRA does it’s best to accommodate all inclusion requests, but due to staffing constraints, if ammpal notice is not provided, the request may not be filled.
For more information on Inclusion, please contact:
Carrie Gascoigne
Recreation & Services Manager
Ext. 9776
cgascoigne@nwcsra.org
Inclusion for Member Agencies
What we can do
NWSRA is an extension of our member agencies (Bolingbrook Park District, Lockport Township Park District, Plainfield Park District, & the Village of Romeoville). We provide support and guidance for our member agencies when an individual is looking to participate in recreation programming within each of their districts. Inclusion is more than just NWCSRA providing an additional staff to support someone. Here are all of the ways that NWCSR can support our member agencies through inclusion:
- Observations of individuals registered in a program
- Trainings – behavior management, disability awareness training, NCI (basic training to de-escalate potential crisis situations), tough conversations, initial conversations with families, how to talk to parents of a child with a disability, etc.
- Equipment sharing – adapted equipment, wheelchair vehicles, wheelchairs, etc.
- Resources for families
How to request inclusion support
If a request if received, the program supervisor should contact the family to identify why the family marked additional assistance was needed. After the initial conversation has taken place and if it is determined that support is needed through NWCSRA, the following form needs to be completed and sent to Carrie Gascoigne.