Overview
Employees
11-50 employees
Headquarters
Vancouver,, British Columbia
Category
Recreational Facilities and Services
There is a great need in our community for recreational programs that are tailored for special needs children. While most families have access to publically run aquatics programs, most of these are not suitable for special needs. Their highly structured curricula do not take into consideration the amount of attention, care and flexibility needed when working with children with developmental disabilities. Our Program The team at UBC Splash Kids has been operating in Metro Vancouver since 2012 and we are formerly Making Waves Vancouver. We provide private swimming lessons for special needs children at a local therapeutic pool that is specifically designed for patrons with physical and developmental disabilities. Since Fall of 2014 our hosting aquatic facility is Stan Stronge Pool in the Marpole neighbourhood of Vancouver. Our program is run by a team of volunteers. Most of us are students at the University of British Columbia. Many of us are current or former lifeguards & aquatics instructors and many also have prior experience working with the special needs community. We take a participant-centred approach to our lessons in a safe and encouraging environment. Our instructors do not follow a predefined aquatics curriculum that is based on levels. Rather, they use their first 1-2 classes to get to know their participant, learning their strengths and weaknesses in the water. Over the remainder of their classes together our instructors lead their participant through activities and games which present them with new skills and challenges all at a comfortable pace.
