To us, Ethan has made great progress in the fact that he can actually stand on his own two feet on the ice and balance for 20 seconds without holding onto anyone. Chris is just incredible at how compassionate and friendly he is to Ethan. Ethan has very much warmed up to Chris and looks forward to his skating “practices” with Chris…even though it is truly SOOOOO much work for Ethan. Ethan is 11 years old and tires quickly but Chris gages this and takes multiple breaks and lets Ethan know how good he is doing and keeps reinforcing at how proud he should be. As parents of a special needs child, it melts our hearts to have such wonderful people be part of such programs and essentially a part of our lives.
– S. Dagraca
Our 9 year old daughter Samantha, has Down syndrome. Never knowing what she can and can’t do, we decided to put her into SkateABLE™. By the third week her instructor had her on her feet and coasting as he pulled her around. Every week she became more confident and liked skating even more than the week before.
Samantha proved that kids with special needs, can do the same as your “typical” child, it just takes a bit longer. Her skating skills have improved tremendously since that first week.
My wife and I are completely satisfied with this program and can’t think of what we could have had Samantha do. Canadian kids should all know how to skate and Samantha is no exception. This program is staffed by fully qualified instructors and their skating skills prove that.
Anyone that is thinking about this program for their child with special needs, can just sit back and watch their child develop.
– R. Dunnington
My eight year old daughter Hannah is on the Autism Spectrum. A major part of therapy we do with her involves getting out and being active. We were thrilled to find the SkateABLE™ program and had Hannah signed up on line very easily. When I took Hannah to her first lesson it was amazing to see all of the other children with special needs given one on one help. I sat on and watched as the children went through the program and could see how much fun everyone was having while learning to skate. These programs mean so much to families of special needs children, the instructors were well experienced and motivating for the children, they learned, exercised, were social and had fun all at the same time (what more could you ask for).
This program is an incredible opportunity for families to improve/enrich their child’s life and give them something to look forward too. Everyone at SkateABLE™ was so helpful and had so much encouragement for the children.
Thank you so much for running this program! I’ve forwarded the information on upcoming classes to other parents in similar situations as ours and they were so happy to hear about the program.
– B. Felker
Our 5-year-old son loved the SkateABLE™ program. He gained so much confidence on the ice, completely due to the one on one assistance he received, along with all of the assistive devices that were available for him to use.
– A. Stuebing