On Monday last week, Ren-Ai Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Lujhou District held its first-ever winter fun sports day for the children who attend its special needs class. The special needs class teachers arranged eight sports challenges for each student to get through, designed according to their individual conditions. The activities allowed the special needs children to enjoy physical activity and competition in the course of getting through the challenges and let them know that “I am really great — I can overcome the challenges.”
A total of 13 children from the special needs class took part in the fun games, with themselves as their main competitors. They had to use their hands and feet in coordination, stretch their limbs and rely on their own strength to get through one challenge after another. For example, for the “sticky notes prince” event, they had to twist and shake their bodies vigorously to shake off the sticky notes that were stuck to them, and in the “balloon bursting king” event they had to apply their physical strength to burst balloons by sitting on them.
The little athletes from the special needs class exerted themselves on the sports ground, with some exclaiming “This is great fun” and “Three more challenges and I’ll have got through them all. I’ll keep trying.” Meanwhile, their parents cheered passionately from the sidelines, filling the sports day with laughter.
Photo courtesy of Ren-Ai Elementary School
照片由仁愛國小提供
Chen Chao-hung, Ren-Ai Elementary School’s head of guidance and counseling, says that each child in the special needs class has different conditions, so, in preparing for this sports day, the special needs class teachers put a lot of thought into various aspects such as making props and setting up the sports ground. Special needs class students spend most of their time doing sedentary activities. When given the opportunity to do physical activities that are within the range of what they can complete, getting through one challenge after another, their sense of achievement and self confidence wells up spontaneously, and it lets them know that there are lots of things that they can do and finish for themselves. “This first fun sports day has been great fun, so we will arrange a second one at some point,” Chen says.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
新北市蘆洲區仁愛國小上週一為特教班學童舉辦「第一屆冬季趣味運動會」，由特教班老師根據各個學童不同的狀況設計八個運動關卡，讓特教班學童在闖關過程中享受運動和競賽，也讓他們知道「我真的很棒，我會闖關成功」。
趣味運動會計有十三位特教班小選手出賽，最大的競爭對手就是自己，手腳並用、伸展肢體，八個運動關卡要靠自己的力量一關關地闖過，例如，「便利貼王子」需要使勁地扭動身體，把身上的便利貼甩掉；「氣球爆破王」則要利用身體力量將氣球坐破。
特教班小選手在運動場上努力，直說「好好玩喔」、「還有三關就全部闖完了，我會加油」，爸媽則在場邊熱情加油，運動會充滿笑聲。
仁愛國小輔導主任陳昭宏說，特教班學童每個人的狀況不同，為了籌備這次的運動會，特教班老師們花了相當多的心思，包括道具製作、場地布置等。特教班學童大部分時間是從事靜態活動，此次運動會讓他們在能力範圍內擁有運動的機會，一關闖過一關，成就感和自信心也會油然而生。這也讓他們知道很多事情都是自己可以完成的。校方表示：「首屆運動會過程非常歡樂，會再籌備第二屆。」
〔自由時報記者李雅雯〕
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