Parkour for Children and Teenagers With Different Needs
What Is Parkour
Parkour is an amazing activity for anyone who struggles with coordination, body awareness, self-confidence, spatial awareness, and participation in traditional sports and activities. Parkour combines fundamental movements so that the participant can fall safely, move through varying environments successfully, maneuver different obstacles easily, and transfer these skills to every other area of their life.
What We Do
IFSN uses parkour as an activity to
supports children and teenagers with disabilities or special needs fully participate in extracurricular activities and programs throughout Boulder County. First, your child is evaluated by the IFSN owner, Natalie McKechnie OTR/L, to determine the best class and instructor fit, assess possible obstacles presented in each class, and establish goals. This information is discussed with the instructor and program before his or her first class. As your child starts a class, the IFSN occupational therapists are available to attend any class upon request to make environmental adaptations, class modifications, provide additional behavioral support, and develop home programs. All IFSN instructors complete regular in-services regarding the details of teaching and coaching this population and are well-equipped with additional resources.
IFSN supports participants by attending classes or lessons to adapt and modify the class environment, structure, and instruction. These “supported classes” can be requested at any time by the instructor or parent.
IFSN supports their instructors and partner programs by consistently providing in-services, resources, and educational workshops to improve and maintain their instruction and programming for this population.
IFSN has partnered with innovative extracurricular programs and instructors who teach art, dance, music, piano, yoga, martial arts, equine therapy, cross country skiing, running, singing, swimming, and theater.
Our Population
We Serve Ages 3-23 with the following diagnoses
Anxiety Apraxia Aspergers Auditory processing deficits Autism Bipolar Disorder Cerebral Palsy Depression
Developmental Disabilities Down Syndrome Dyslexia Expressive/receptive language disorders Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Fragile X Syndrome Learning Disabilities Intellectual Disabilities OCD Pervasive Developmental Disorder Physical Disabilities
Sensory Processing Disorder
Additional Services
Please visit our Social Support page for information on our services that provide social support for our participants.
Please visit our Occupational Therapy Services page for information about our On-The-Go and consultation occupational therapy services.
Activities We Offer
Please visit our Activities Offered page for general information on the available activities.
Please hover over our Partner Programs tab at the top of the page to see what partner programs are offered in your area.
How Do I Start
An initial assessment is conducted before the participant enters the program and then a progress assessment is conducted every six months to assess his or her progress and goals. The level of instruction is typically one-on-one when the participant first joins the program, with the goal of moving the participant to a group of two to three, and then to a larger inclusion group, and then to a typical class or team. Contact IFSN to set up an initial assessment.
Contact IFSN for further information about our programs
and
Take a look at our Partner Programs