INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / APRIL 2, 1991

 

 

 

Slapshots Build Social Skills for Special Needs

Students

At Douglas College, slapshots
are building social skills and
making new friends for students
with special needs.

This spring, Patrick Noel, an In-
structional Assistant in the Con-
sumer and Job Preparation
Program, placed some of his stu-
dents in the College’s intramural
floor hockey league. The result
was a team effort that worked for

cial learning needs for employ-
ment in the community. The pro-
gram allows students like Robert
to acquire the interpersonal and so-
cial skills that will help them

adapt to a work environment.

Noel says that the sports experi-
ence has been a positive one for
Robert. “Robert is coming along
fine. He’s ready to get into job ex-

pressure on them and they’re not
made to feel any different, it’s em-
phasised that they are part of the
student body. Social exposure
gives them the confidence to get
the social skills they'll need in the
workplace.”
Shooting for the net has
given Robert Vatour more that he
bargained for. By developing
friendships and social skills, in ad-

 

all students.

“Intramural sport is a good
outlet for integration because
it’s not highly competitive,”
savs Noel.

Robert Vatour has been in
the Job Preparation Program
since September. He has been
playing with the floor hockey
team called “It’s a Beautiful
ling:

“I like hockey, it’s fun,” says
Robert. “I play baseball, soccer
and football, but my favourite
is hockey. My team is a cool
team!”

Team Captain Glen Sandve,
a second-year university trans-
fer student, says having
Robert join the team has been
a plus. “It’s great that Robert
gets a chance to play,” says

 

 

dition to his slapshot, he is better
equipped for a placement in the
work force.

For more information on
opportunities for integration,
please contact Patrick Noel at
Douglas College, 527-5163. @

 

 

Sandve. “Intramurals are for
everyone. We try to make
him feel welcome, encourage
him to get out there and get
going.”

But, he adds, “Robert is so en-
thusiastic he really doesn’t need
much persuading.”

Being a member of their team is
a good opportunity for Robert to
play organized sports and make
some new friends. “It’s like the
rest of us,” Sandve says. “Intramu-
rals aren’t competitive; they are so-
cial, a chance to have a good time,
to take a break from school and re-
lax.”

Douglas College’s Consumer
and Job Preparation Program is de-
signed to prepare adults with spe-

Patrick Noel, Instructional Assistant.

(Left) Robert Vatour, student and

perience and choose an area for
paid employment, but the hockey
wouldn’t have gone any where
without Glen. His team is great.
They yell from the sidelines and of-
fer him encouragement.”

With the success of intramural
sports, Noel is dedicated to find-
ing more ways for special needs
students to integrate and partici-
pate in their communities. “I’d
like to see more opport..: .:..es for
our students to be integrated.
Other opportunities for integra-
tion are any type of loose social ac-
tivity, because there is no heavy

 

 

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