SERVICES

---

 Our Aquatic Recreation Therapy Swim Program teaches children, youth and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical limitations how to swim and exercise in an aquatic environment. We create individualized lesson plans for each participant. Using specialized tools, such as "picture cards with picture symbols" we train a wide variety of students in water safety and swimming skills. With our in-depth experience and knowledge, we can help your student become a successful swimmer.

Adaptive Swim Lesson Goals:

· Increase self-esteem and confidence while developing swim skills 

· Increase water safety awareness

· Practice effective communication skills to express desires and   needs

· Develop social skills and build friendships with other swimmers

· Learn and practice effective coping strategies and flexibility in a safe and supportive environment

· Gain excellent swim skills to advance to our Rainbow Racers swim group before joining a community swim team

Community Integration for Developmentally Delayed Adults

Sea Star Aquatics provides each client with customized lesson plans using our holistic approach to meet our client’s needs in an aquatic environment. We give opportunities for joyful play and interaction with community peers, allowing our clients to find commonalities within a diverse population. Clients who spend most of their time in a wheelchair may stand or walk in the water, allowing for eye-to-eye contact with other pool patrons. The freedom our clients experience in the pool is an absolute joy to watch. Many lifelong friendships are built in the pool between people who may never have met in their day-to-day lives. While building relationships and improving overall well-being, clients can also build strength, flexibility, improve circulation and range of motion in warm water.

Aquatic Exercise for Older Adults
 

To meet the exercise needs of older adults, we offer customized exercise programs so that older adults can lead healthy, active lives. We work in a 92-degree therapy pool that soothes sore joints while providing a safe environment for improving daily living skills, such as sit-to-stand and walking. The hydrostatic pressure of the water decreases swelling, and buoyancy reduces weight bearing, allowing for greater range of motion. 

Lori Thein, in her book Aquatic Exercise for Rehabilitation and Training, states that “physical activity must remain an integral part of the lifestyle of older people if they are to maintain functional capacity and good quality of life. But the mode of physical activity must accommodate some of the unfortunate consequences of aging such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, musculoskeletal injuries, and loss of strength and flexibility.” 

In addition to the physical benefits of aquatic exercise for older adults, numerous studies have “revealed that a long-term exercise program significantly enhanced cognition in the older population…Similar results were also found in older adults with cognitive impairments and dementia,” according to Yu-Kai Chang’s article “Effect of Resistance-Exercise Training on Cognitive Function in Healthy Older Adults” in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. 

 Adaptive Aquatic Exercise Goals:

· Increase self-esteem and confidence while developing strength and flexibility

· Increase water safety awareness

· Practice effective communication skills to express desires and needs

· Develop social skills and build friendships with peers

· Learn and practice effective coping strategies and flexibility in a safe and supportive environment

· Practice activities of daily living supported by the buoyancy of water and encouraging instructors

· Transfer skills learned in the pool to land activities