For 25 Years, Therapy on the Slopes
DREAM Adaptive gives recreation opportunities to people with disabilities
DREAM Adaptive Recreation volunteer Bob Zahller, center, helps guide Phillip Sotello into a turn while descending Big Mountain under Chair Six at Whitefish Mountain Resort as Ryan McCoy follows closely behind. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon
By Myers Reece, 01-12-10
WHITEFISH MOUNTAIN RESORT – The therapy is in the snow. It’s on the mountains, in the base lodge and on the bus rides.
Once a week during winter, high school students with disabilities head to Whitefish Mountain Resort to ski, train for the Special Olympics and, above all, have a lot of fun. For many of them, it’s unlike any other experience of their lives.
Their ticket to the mountain is DREAM Adaptive Recreation Inc., an organization established in 1985 to give disabled children and adults access to recreational opportunities in the Flathead Valley. DREAM stands for “Disabled Recreation and Environmental Access Movement.”
“There’s a huge amount of emotional therapy involved in being able to finally go out and finally access these things,” said Bruce Gibson, DREAM’s program director.
Twenty-five years ago, a small group of Flathead residents set out to expand accessibility to both recreational locations and activities for people with special needs. This was five years before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Among the earliest leaders of this forward-thinking group were Dottie Maitland, Larry Dominick, Dennis Jones and Jane Lopp. They collaborated with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies to create Glacier National Park’s Trail of the Cedars, a hiking trail that is conducive to disabled access, with a paved portion and a boardwalk.
In addition, they worked on accessibility surveys, along with projects at Foys Lake and Woodland Park, Lopp said. And they created perhaps their most defining legacy, the ski program at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Lopp is pleased to see Gibson continuing and expanding upon DREAM’s vision.
“I’m so glad Bruce is doing all he’s doing,” Lopp said.
The kids who traveled up to Whitefish Mountain Resort last week attend Glacier and Flathead high schools. They represent only a percentage of the total population that DREAM serves. The organization works with roughly 200 people with disabilities each year, Gibson said, about two-thirds of whom are kids.
The nonprofit assists people of many different disabilities, both physical and cognitive. The list includes cerebral palsy, autism, muscle degeneration, Down syndrome, amputees, paraplegics and others. Gibson is the only full-time staff member. The rest are volunteers.
“We have people that can work with about anyone,” Gibson said. “It’s pretty much across the board.”
DREAM Adaptive differs somewhat from the Bozeman-based Eagle Mount program, mostly in the area of professional therapy. Eagle Mount is more therapy based, while DREAM is more recreation based, Gibson said. But Gibson points out: “Therapy comes from getting out and skiing.”
“They’re structured a little bit differently, but for the most part they’re doing the same thing,” Gibson said.
The nonprofit also started a summer program in 2009 with water skiing, tubing and kayaking at Echo Lake. The program will continue, and perhaps expand, in future summers, Gibson said.
The “adaptive” skiing movement started in Colorado in the late 1970s, Gibson said. It has grown exponentially since then. There are adaptive programs in countries such as New Zealand and France, as well as in other states, but Gibson said “almost everything adaptive comes out of Colorado.” DREAM’s program was modeled after one in Winter Park, Colo.
DREAM Adaptive doesn’t charge for any of its services. It relies on community donations, grants and a large fundraiser held each year on the Friday before Valentine’s Day. The event, scheduled for Feb. 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn this year, features live big band music, dancing, dinner and auctions – both live and silent.
Also, the organization negotiates a yearly agreement with Whitefish Mountain Resort. It receives an unlimited amount of lower chairlift tickets for its participants and a fixed amount for the higher lifts. Volunteers who don’t have season passes get free tickets. When their volunteer time is done each day, they are free to use the rest of the day to ski.
The resort also provides DREAM with senior ski instructors and storage space. The required equipment list for skiers with disabilities is fairly large, including both bi and mono sit-skis, outriggers, gadgets that can either help spread legs or keep skis together, and more.
“Sometimes we just invent something based on individual needs,” Gibson said.
Volunteers must be intermediate skiers or better. Beyond that, they need no prior experience, Gibson said. After signing up, they take a training session. Then they are paired with skiers, with the advanced volunteers taking on more difficult tasks like guiding sit-skiers.
Gibson said his organization also seeks “off-snow” volunteers. These volunteers help with tasks such as grant writing and preparing for fundraisers. Donations are always needed as well, he said.
Last week was Chuck Cassidy’s first day as a ski volunteer, though he has followed the DREAM program for years. His son, Mark, has been skiing since 2004 and was one of the more accomplished skiers on the mountain on Jan. 7, if not the most enthusiastic. The gregarious 18-year-old Cassidy, a senior at Glacier High who has a learning disability, begins preparing for ski days a week ahead of time, his father said.
Cassidy, who saw many different school systems in his travels with the Navy, said the Kalispell school district has the best recreational program for kids with disabilities that he has seen. The district’s collaboration with DREAM is just one example, he said. There are also opportunities for activities such as softball, bocce, track and basketball.
“It’s really an awesome program,” Cassidy said. “The valley should be proud.”
Of the 13 high school students who skied last week, 12 were from Glacier and one was from Flathead, said Jodie McGough, who is the special education instructor at Glacier. A few of the regulars didn’t make the trip because of the cold.
The students ski with DREAM eight days per year to train for the Special Olympics, said Jenny Griswold, who teaches at Glacier and runs the Special Olympics program there.
“A lot of our kids never even have a chance to go fast in their lives,” Griswold said. “That’s why we’re up here when it’s 10 below.”
She added: “DREAM is the only way we have access to this.”
For more information on DREAM Adaptive Recreation Inc., and how to contribute, call (406) 862-1817, e-mail at dreamadaptive@yahoo.comor mail to P.O. Box 4084, Whitefish, MT 59937.
DREAM Adaptive Recreation volunteer Bob Zahller, center, helps guide Phillip Sotello into a turn while descending Big Mountain under Chair Six at Whitefish Mountain Resort as Ryan McCoy follows closely behind. - Lido Vizzutti/Flathead Beacon
By Myers Reece, 01-12-10
WHITEFISH MOUNTAIN RESORT – The therapy is in the snow. It’s on the mountains, in the base lodge and on the bus rides.
Once a week during winter, high school students with disabilities head to Whitefish Mountain Resort to ski, train for the Special Olympics and, above all, have a lot of fun. For many of them, it’s unlike any other experience of their lives.
Their ticket to the mountain is DREAM Adaptive Recreation Inc., an organization established in 1985 to give disabled children and adults access to recreational opportunities in the Flathead Valley. DREAM stands for “Disabled Recreation and Environmental Access Movement.”
“There’s a huge amount of emotional therapy involved in being able to finally go out and finally access these things,” said Bruce Gibson, DREAM’s program director.
Twenty-five years ago, a small group of Flathead residents set out to expand accessibility to both recreational locations and activities for people with special needs. This was five years before the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Among the earliest leaders of this forward-thinking group were Dottie Maitland, Larry Dominick, Dennis Jones and Jane Lopp. They collaborated with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies to create Glacier National Park’s Trail of the Cedars, a hiking trail that is conducive to disabled access, with a paved portion and a boardwalk.
In addition, they worked on accessibility surveys, along with projects at Foys Lake and Woodland Park, Lopp said. And they created perhaps their most defining legacy, the ski program at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Lopp is pleased to see Gibson continuing and expanding upon DREAM’s vision.
“I’m so glad Bruce is doing all he’s doing,” Lopp said.
The kids who traveled up to Whitefish Mountain Resort last week attend Glacier and Flathead high schools. They represent only a percentage of the total population that DREAM serves. The organization works with roughly 200 people with disabilities each year, Gibson said, about two-thirds of whom are kids.
The nonprofit assists people of many different disabilities, both physical and cognitive. The list includes cerebral palsy, autism, muscle degeneration, Down syndrome, amputees, paraplegics and others. Gibson is the only full-time staff member. The rest are volunteers.
“We have people that can work with about anyone,” Gibson said. “It’s pretty much across the board.”
DREAM Adaptive differs somewhat from the Bozeman-based Eagle Mount program, mostly in the area of professional therapy. Eagle Mount is more therapy based, while DREAM is more recreation based, Gibson said. But Gibson points out: “Therapy comes from getting out and skiing.”
“They’re structured a little bit differently, but for the most part they’re doing the same thing,” Gibson said.
The nonprofit also started a summer program in 2009 with water skiing, tubing and kayaking at Echo Lake. The program will continue, and perhaps expand, in future summers, Gibson said.
The “adaptive” skiing movement started in Colorado in the late 1970s, Gibson said. It has grown exponentially since then. There are adaptive programs in countries such as New Zealand and France, as well as in other states, but Gibson said “almost everything adaptive comes out of Colorado.” DREAM’s program was modeled after one in Winter Park, Colo.
DREAM Adaptive doesn’t charge for any of its services. It relies on community donations, grants and a large fundraiser held each year on the Friday before Valentine’s Day. The event, scheduled for Feb. 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn this year, features live big band music, dancing, dinner and auctions – both live and silent.
Also, the organization negotiates a yearly agreement with Whitefish Mountain Resort. It receives an unlimited amount of lower chairlift tickets for its participants and a fixed amount for the higher lifts. Volunteers who don’t have season passes get free tickets. When their volunteer time is done each day, they are free to use the rest of the day to ski.
The resort also provides DREAM with senior ski instructors and storage space. The required equipment list for skiers with disabilities is fairly large, including both bi and mono sit-skis, outriggers, gadgets that can either help spread legs or keep skis together, and more.
“Sometimes we just invent something based on individual needs,” Gibson said.
Volunteers must be intermediate skiers or better. Beyond that, they need no prior experience, Gibson said. After signing up, they take a training session. Then they are paired with skiers, with the advanced volunteers taking on more difficult tasks like guiding sit-skiers.
Gibson said his organization also seeks “off-snow” volunteers. These volunteers help with tasks such as grant writing and preparing for fundraisers. Donations are always needed as well, he said.
Last week was Chuck Cassidy’s first day as a ski volunteer, though he has followed the DREAM program for years. His son, Mark, has been skiing since 2004 and was one of the more accomplished skiers on the mountain on Jan. 7, if not the most enthusiastic. The gregarious 18-year-old Cassidy, a senior at Glacier High who has a learning disability, begins preparing for ski days a week ahead of time, his father said.
Cassidy, who saw many different school systems in his travels with the Navy, said the Kalispell school district has the best recreational program for kids with disabilities that he has seen. The district’s collaboration with DREAM is just one example, he said. There are also opportunities for activities such as softball, bocce, track and basketball.
“It’s really an awesome program,” Cassidy said. “The valley should be proud.”
Of the 13 high school students who skied last week, 12 were from Glacier and one was from Flathead, said Jodie McGough, who is the special education instructor at Glacier. A few of the regulars didn’t make the trip because of the cold.
The students ski with DREAM eight days per year to train for the Special Olympics, said Jenny Griswold, who teaches at Glacier and runs the Special Olympics program there.
“A lot of our kids never even have a chance to go fast in their lives,” Griswold said. “That’s why we’re up here when it’s 10 below.”
She added: “DREAM is the only way we have access to this.”
For more information on DREAM Adaptive Recreation Inc., and how to contribute, call (406) 862-1817, e-mail at dreamadaptive@yahoo.comor mail to P.O. Box 4084, Whitefish, MT 59937.
Labels: disabilities, skiing, Therapy
20 March 2009
Natasha Richardson: As her family held vigil, she slipped quietly away
Life support machine switched off three days after skiing accident in Canada
By David Usborne in New York
Natasha Richardson poses during a photocall for the film 'Asylum' at the 55th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin in 2005
© More pictures
Family members confirmed late last night that Natasha Richardson, the luminous daughter of one of Britain's greatest theatrical dynasties, had died in a New York hospital three days after a skiing accident on the slopes of Quebec that had at first seemed like nothing more than a tumble.
A brief statement issued by the family spoke of the devastation felt after the 45-year-old star of stage and screen, and wife of the actor Liam Neeson, succumbed to what had been described in earlier, but unconfirmed, media reports as a severe head trauma that had quickly led to her becoming brain dead.
Richardson, who won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in the 1998 revival of Cabaret in New York, was skiing with her two sons on Monday in the Mont Tremblant resort when she fell on a beginner's run. Though she at first seemed unhurt, she complained an hour later of a headache and was transferred to hospital. She was transferred to the Lenox Hill hospital in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Related articles
Final curtain falls on a love affair begun on the stage
Michael Coveney: Woman who inherited the full expressive talent of Redgrave dynasty
By yesterday, her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, her sister, Joely Richardson, and Neeson were leading a vigil by her bedside as reports suggested that she was indeed in a coma from which there was no hope of return.
Lauren Bacall was also seen at the hospital. News websites were reporting in the afternoon that the actress had already been taken off life support and the end could not be far away.
Richardson was a beloved member of a family that had the theatre and acting in the marrow of its bones. Aside from her mother, she had Corin and Lynn Redgrave as her uncle and aunt while her grandfather was the beloved master of Shakespeare and celluloid romance, Sir Michael Redgrave.
It was a pedigree that she occasionally admitted complicated her own path to self-achievement in the art.
"The names Richardson or Redgrave didn't help," she told an interviewer in 2007. "But the last thing you want is to ride any coattails, because you don't want people to be accusing you of nepotism. You want to be able to learn and practice, and not to be thrown into a spotlight before you're ready for it."
The family statement put an end to what had already been more than 48 hours of excruciating public speculation about the fate of the actress, marked by a throng of cameras and reporters who had been camped out at the entrance to Lenox Hills on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She was flown from Montreal, where she had been receiving emergency treatment, on Tuesday.
"Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," the statement said. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."
The pain for the family – for Liam, for their two boys, and for Vanessa – has only just began. It comes after Vanessa has barely finished appearing in the play The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion tracing the grief of a mother that comes with the loss of a daughter. She and Natasha, meanwhile, were preparing to work together on a revival of A Little Night Music on Broadway.
Even if she was already breathing the trade of the boards before, her commitment to the theatre became even greater after her marriage in 1994 to Neeson. Yet, it may also be true that she never quite attained the worldwide fame that she might have, not for any lack of talent but because she resisted taking mainstream Hollywood projects with the exception of Maid In Manhattan with Jennifer Lopez perhaps.
"You'll have to blame Ralph [Fiennes] for that one," she said once. "He's the most wonderful actor, a good friend; we thought we'd have a laugh." Otherwise she was often attracted to smaller, independent films.
In New York, both Richardson and Neeson had become highly popular regulars on the social and charity season, particular among some Irish-Americans. The actress also secured herself a special place in New York with her scintillating Sally Bowles. She also won wide praise on the Great White Way for performances in A Streetcar Named Desire and Closer.
Upon her fall on Monday she at first stood up, declared herself fit and returned to her hotel room. She was accompanied by a member of the resort's ski patrol, however, and was taken to hospital after admitting to a bad headache one hour later.
She had reportedly travelled to the resort on Sunday with her two boys to ski while Neeson worked on the set of his next film, Chloe, in Toronto. The couple live in New York city and have a country home in the Hudson Valley.
While there was no word from doctors last night to explain her injuries, it appeared she had suffered something close to what is sometimes called "Walk and Die Syndrome", where a head trauma appears at first to have little impact on a person but causes bleeding and brain swelling in the skull that can lead to death.
Although Richardson occasionally admitted to having had a difficult relationship with her mother as a child, in later years they became extremely close. "There's always something unexpected about her work, because she's sort of fearless," Richardson said recently. "When she hits it, then it sort of is just incandescent." She added: "She is a great mother."
Richardson was cast at the age of four by her father, Tony Richardson, as an extra in his film The Charge of the Light Brigade, but first gained serious recogntion for her performance in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull in a 1985 production in London that featured her mother and Jonathan Pryce. The performance earned her the London Drama Critics' most promising newcomer award. She was 22 at the time.
The statement confirming the death was issued by Alan Nierob, a spokesman for Neeson, who was on set in Toronto until the accident. She leaves behind two boys, Micheal and Daniel, aged 13 and 12. The boys, were reportedly also at her bedside yesterday.
Delay can be deadly: Head injuries
The normal rule in head injuries is that if there is no impaired consciousness at the time, there should be nothing to worry about. Natasha Richardson is the – desperately unlucky – exception. Even minor blows to the head can be lethal.
She had been skiing with an instructor on a "green" run, the easiest, when the accident happened. She was not wearing a helmet but there was no collision and it does not appear that any other skier was involved. She was reported to be laughing and joking after the accident, refused medical care and returned to her hotel room. Only later did she request help, an ambulance was called and she was taken to hospital.
Her condition has not been confirmed but it is likely she has suffered an extradural haematoma, a bleed in the brain that occurs when an artery is ruptured. The brain is like a blancmange inside the wooden box of the skull and a blow to the head can sever a blood vessel with relative ease.
Minor bleeds should resolve naturally but a major bleed creates a pool of blood between the meninges, the membranes that surround the brain, that presses on the brain causing a severe headache. Unless this pressure is relieved, it may lead to permanent brain damage, coma and death.
Neurologists routinely warn patients who come to hospital with head injuries that even though they appear unharmed – being fully conscious and walking around – they must return urgently if they get a headache, start vomiting or feel unwell over the next few hours.
Emergency treatment, which involves drilling a hole through the skull to drain the blood and relieve the pressure, is lifesaving and can prevent permanent damage. But it must be carried out quickly if it is to be effective. Delay can be deadly.
Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
By David Usborne in New York
Natasha Richardson poses during a photocall for the film 'Asylum' at the 55th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin in 2005
© More pictures
Family members confirmed late last night that Natasha Richardson, the luminous daughter of one of Britain's greatest theatrical dynasties, had died in a New York hospital three days after a skiing accident on the slopes of Quebec that had at first seemed like nothing more than a tumble.
A brief statement issued by the family spoke of the devastation felt after the 45-year-old star of stage and screen, and wife of the actor Liam Neeson, succumbed to what had been described in earlier, but unconfirmed, media reports as a severe head trauma that had quickly led to her becoming brain dead.
Richardson, who won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in the 1998 revival of Cabaret in New York, was skiing with her two sons on Monday in the Mont Tremblant resort when she fell on a beginner's run. Though she at first seemed unhurt, she complained an hour later of a headache and was transferred to hospital. She was transferred to the Lenox Hill hospital in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Related articles
Final curtain falls on a love affair begun on the stage
Michael Coveney: Woman who inherited the full expressive talent of Redgrave dynasty
By yesterday, her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, her sister, Joely Richardson, and Neeson were leading a vigil by her bedside as reports suggested that she was indeed in a coma from which there was no hope of return.
Lauren Bacall was also seen at the hospital. News websites were reporting in the afternoon that the actress had already been taken off life support and the end could not be far away.
Richardson was a beloved member of a family that had the theatre and acting in the marrow of its bones. Aside from her mother, she had Corin and Lynn Redgrave as her uncle and aunt while her grandfather was the beloved master of Shakespeare and celluloid romance, Sir Michael Redgrave.
It was a pedigree that she occasionally admitted complicated her own path to self-achievement in the art.
"The names Richardson or Redgrave didn't help," she told an interviewer in 2007. "But the last thing you want is to ride any coattails, because you don't want people to be accusing you of nepotism. You want to be able to learn and practice, and not to be thrown into a spotlight before you're ready for it."
The family statement put an end to what had already been more than 48 hours of excruciating public speculation about the fate of the actress, marked by a throng of cameras and reporters who had been camped out at the entrance to Lenox Hills on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She was flown from Montreal, where she had been receiving emergency treatment, on Tuesday.
"Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," the statement said. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."
The pain for the family – for Liam, for their two boys, and for Vanessa – has only just began. It comes after Vanessa has barely finished appearing in the play The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion tracing the grief of a mother that comes with the loss of a daughter. She and Natasha, meanwhile, were preparing to work together on a revival of A Little Night Music on Broadway.
Even if she was already breathing the trade of the boards before, her commitment to the theatre became even greater after her marriage in 1994 to Neeson. Yet, it may also be true that she never quite attained the worldwide fame that she might have, not for any lack of talent but because she resisted taking mainstream Hollywood projects with the exception of Maid In Manhattan with Jennifer Lopez perhaps.
"You'll have to blame Ralph [Fiennes] for that one," she said once. "He's the most wonderful actor, a good friend; we thought we'd have a laugh." Otherwise she was often attracted to smaller, independent films.
In New York, both Richardson and Neeson had become highly popular regulars on the social and charity season, particular among some Irish-Americans. The actress also secured herself a special place in New York with her scintillating Sally Bowles. She also won wide praise on the Great White Way for performances in A Streetcar Named Desire and Closer.
Upon her fall on Monday she at first stood up, declared herself fit and returned to her hotel room. She was accompanied by a member of the resort's ski patrol, however, and was taken to hospital after admitting to a bad headache one hour later.
She had reportedly travelled to the resort on Sunday with her two boys to ski while Neeson worked on the set of his next film, Chloe, in Toronto. The couple live in New York city and have a country home in the Hudson Valley.
While there was no word from doctors last night to explain her injuries, it appeared she had suffered something close to what is sometimes called "Walk and Die Syndrome", where a head trauma appears at first to have little impact on a person but causes bleeding and brain swelling in the skull that can lead to death.
Although Richardson occasionally admitted to having had a difficult relationship with her mother as a child, in later years they became extremely close. "There's always something unexpected about her work, because she's sort of fearless," Richardson said recently. "When she hits it, then it sort of is just incandescent." She added: "She is a great mother."
Richardson was cast at the age of four by her father, Tony Richardson, as an extra in his film The Charge of the Light Brigade, but first gained serious recogntion for her performance in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull in a 1985 production in London that featured her mother and Jonathan Pryce. The performance earned her the London Drama Critics' most promising newcomer award. She was 22 at the time.
The statement confirming the death was issued by Alan Nierob, a spokesman for Neeson, who was on set in Toronto until the accident. She leaves behind two boys, Micheal and Daniel, aged 13 and 12. The boys, were reportedly also at her bedside yesterday.
Delay can be deadly: Head injuries
The normal rule in head injuries is that if there is no impaired consciousness at the time, there should be nothing to worry about. Natasha Richardson is the – desperately unlucky – exception. Even minor blows to the head can be lethal.
She had been skiing with an instructor on a "green" run, the easiest, when the accident happened. She was not wearing a helmet but there was no collision and it does not appear that any other skier was involved. She was reported to be laughing and joking after the accident, refused medical care and returned to her hotel room. Only later did she request help, an ambulance was called and she was taken to hospital.
Her condition has not been confirmed but it is likely she has suffered an extradural haematoma, a bleed in the brain that occurs when an artery is ruptured. The brain is like a blancmange inside the wooden box of the skull and a blow to the head can sever a blood vessel with relative ease.
Minor bleeds should resolve naturally but a major bleed creates a pool of blood between the meninges, the membranes that surround the brain, that presses on the brain causing a severe headache. Unless this pressure is relieved, it may lead to permanent brain damage, coma and death.
Neurologists routinely warn patients who come to hospital with head injuries that even though they appear unharmed – being fully conscious and walking around – they must return urgently if they get a headache, start vomiting or feel unwell over the next few hours.
Emergency treatment, which involves drilling a hole through the skull to drain the blood and relieve the pressure, is lifesaving and can prevent permanent damage. But it must be carried out quickly if it is to be effective. Delay can be deadly.
Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Labels: accident, brain injuries, skiing