My little girl put on a pair of skis for the first time.
The boots were heavy.
The sun was shining.
The instructor was perfect.
There were lots of smiles.
And she's excited to go back next week!
Victoria and I only stuck around for the first few minutes to take a some pictures. I'm pretty sure she was the only one on the slope rocking pink shades and striped sock shoes. She played the very concerned younger sister and didn't want to leave Antalya's side.
Jason strapped on his skis and stayed with Antalya for the session to help her feel more secure. He said she did really well, and once the instructor put the leash on her which allowed her more independence, Antalya really loved it.
She's got four more lessons to go. I think by the end of the session she will be pretty confident in a pair of skis!
Now for any of you that live in Utah and have kiddos with special needs I must add that I was incredibly impressed with the National Ability Center. They teach recreational and sports activities to children and adults with all sorts of special needs. This is our first experience with them, but I think after today, this will be an organization we will turn to for many things for years to come.
- I was impressed that they gave detailed directions to their office (including which way to turn when you exited the elevator). It is so frustrating wondering around lost when I'm trying to keep Antalya with me.
- They provided free parking that was really close to ski slope. No battling with the crowds for a spot.
- The lessons are private, so Antalya had one-on-one attention the entire time.
- The instructor was amazing. I filled out pages of information in order to register which included questions about how to best communicate with the child, and how to handle situations when the child is uncooperative. The instructor carefully read over all of it, and used key phrases I had written down that help Antalya stay focused, listen, and communicate.
- They provided all the equipment, including helmet and goggles.
- They are very reasonably priced.
- They offer a ton of classes from skiing, snowboarding, swimming, horseback riding, rock climbing, and so on.
So go check them out!
3 comments:
How fun - I'm glad she loved it! That's awesome that the instructor was so prepared and handled things so well. Now if only we could get a little more snow around here. :)
That is so amazing and so perfect! I love that she was totally okay with doing this, she is going to be an amazing skier for sure!!
What fun! And you have the cutest kids!!!! I love seeing what you guys are up to. I had a question for you...a while back you mentioned a program you were doing with Antalya-something to help her with talking/reading etc. Are you still using that? Do you think it helped and would you recommend it? I think it was something like See and Learn. Let me know what you thought. Grace will be 4 in July and doesn't talk at all really. She signs like a champ though! Hope all is well!
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