Giving the special-needs population the freedom to explore activities
By Clarence Thomas
In 1996, when her daughter graduated from Central High School in Macon, Ga., Jean Denerson was concerned that her teen with special needs wouldn’t have enough to do anymore. And then the retired educator discovered her town’s adaptive program provided by the Macon-Bibb County Department of Parks and Recreation. “I was overjoyed,” says Denerson, “because” it gave her a chance to develop her own circle of peers and move towards greater independence.”
This is just one of the activities the program is designed to do. The bulk of its offerings are 20 programs that mirror Special Olympics and include bowling, bocce, softball, volleyball, and basketball. Macon-Bibb’s adaptive program started in the 1970s as an annual athletic activity in partnership with Special Olympics. It became a year-round program over time. The program serves special citizens of all backgrounds from among metropolitan Macon’s 229,000 citizens.
Michael Johnson is the supervisor of Macon-Bibb’s Delores A. Brooks Recreation Center—the program’s base of operation. He served as adaptive coordinator for three years and says that, at the heart of any good special-needs program, is inclusion, always making sure a recreation agency is operating with special-needs citizens in mind. “What we want to do is get them as close as possible to being fully functional through recreation. A lot of them haven’t previously been able to do the things we offer. We’re providing them opportunities to do what they really want to do,” adds Johnson.