April is Autism Awareness Month, and during this time period, US Sailing has begun working with Spectrum Sailing to update content on autism and neurodiversity for US Sailing’s Adaptive Instructor Workshops. In the United States, 1 in 31 children have autism. Our goal is to provide the participants in these workshops with some fundamental information on autism awareness and to introduce them to some tools/resources that they can begin to apply when they start teaching sailing in the upcoming and future sailing seasons to best accommodate all kids.
Spectrum Sailing was born out of necessity. When Founder and Executive Director, Scott Herman, searched for a sailing camp that would accept his autistic son, there was none to be found. Wanting to change exclusion of kids with autism from sailing, Scott created an inclusive program that headlined “Autism Sailing Camps,” with the very first being launched in 2018. This first camp proved so impactful and created so much interest that more camps followed. With that success came a bigger vision: to ensure autistic kids across the country could have the same opportunity.
Today, Spectrum Sailing has grown exponentially and stands as the only national autism sailing program in the United States. They are an autism-centered organization that uses sailing to build lifelong skills and wellbeing.
US Sailing created the Adaptive Sailing Instructor Workshop that covers many aspects of creating and managing an adaptive/inclusive sailing program. Topics Include facility requirements, disability types/populations, breaking down barriers to participation, safety requirements, volunteer/staff training and a detailed overview of how to correctly adapt your equipment (or what equipment is available to purchase). A heavily interactive course, the participants take part in a variety of hands-on interactive exercises to help them better understand what’s required to teach sailors with disabilities including physical, intellectual, vision impairments, autism/neurodiversity and more. The goal is for instructors, program managers, and volunteers to develop an awareness of different abilities and to help all sailors, regardless of personal challenges enjoy the sport of sailing. This partnership with Spectrum Sailing provides us an opportunity to expand upon neurodiverse junior sailors to give them a safe, inclusive experience.
Sailing offers the sailors the opportunity to be in control: to create shared experiences; to build self-confidence; and focus on possibilities. Just like the world of adaptive sailing, these two programs, Spectrum Sailing and US Sailing’s Adaptive Workshops will continue to evolve and serve sailors across the country. By working together, sharing information and resources through collaboration, the sailing community will continue to become more inclusive and more accepting.
To learn more about Spectrum Sailing, https://spectrumsailing.org/
To learn more about the Adaptive Instructor Workshops, https://www.ussailing.org/education/adult/adaptive-sailing/instructor-workshop/