ski-pal

A snowHead

Has any snowhead seen or used this as a learning aid? It looks like a good idea, if no one has used one yet maybe I will get one anyway. I am going to try to get my son who has down syndrome on skis for the first time this year, he will be just seven.

http://www.ski-pal.com/

I have been looking around the disability snow sport forum and have found some useful information already especially resorts with disability teaching but for me as communication is an issue with my son I think it better I try myself.

A snowHead

When I helped out with teaching a down's syndrome friend one of the issues was inability to point the ski tips in.... I was told this is very common with down's syndrome - they tend to walk more duck like than pidgeon like. It seems it is a muscular issue. We used a 'ski bra' to help compensate for this. I'd look at one of those first thing - as it will keep his skis aligned.... and I'd say it would be preferable that he learns to turn the skis himself than be yanked around a corner... When I was taught we did have a large pole that they use for blind skiers - but did not use it. After some movement work(boots, one ski, straight run,snowplow) I was taught with my instructor snowplowing backwards and me holding my poles up in front, instructor holding pole handles. I was given the task of keeping poles level, and turning myself to follow... actually very easy as I was mimicking him.... the instructor really did little and most of the work was done by me... however there is no chance of a run away and I could not see further than the instructor's face - which helped with attention

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

skimore, As an adaptive instructor, I would hesitate to use the Ski Pal with your son especially as communication is a problem. He needs to learn how to make the movements to ski himself. If you use the Ski Pal with him, you would be able to make his turns for him and he would be dependent on you.
I taught a teenager last winter (he had autism) who had never learnt to ski by himself. His father had always skied with him, holding onto him and making his turns for him - he had had loads of fun, but he had never learnt how to make the moves himself. The problem when they came to me was that he was too big for his father to hold him any more, but he couldn't make a turn or control his speed and, in actual fact, he loved to go fast because that is what he had done with his father. I used a "ski link" ("ski bra") and tethers. The links held the ski tips together which resulted in an instant snowplough as soon as he pushed his feet apart. It's an easy concept/command to tell someone to make their feet wider apart, much more difficult to tell them to push their feet apart but keep their toes together Puzzled

The tethers were attached to the links, allowing me to ski behind him holding the tethers, able to help him turn and help him control his speed as I needed to, but also leaving them loose when he was able to make the movements himself.
( http://www.redpoint.co.uk/disabled-skiing-2-track.shtm Here are a couple of photos of links and tethers in use.)
Gradually, as the week went on, he was able to do more for himself and where it was appropriate I gradually allowed him to ski without tethers. By the end of the week he skied on his own without links or tethers and he realised that he enjoyed being independent and was happy to follow me.

For a 7yr old, links would be too big and heavy. An Edgy Wedgy would be more appropriate ( http://www.lockwoods.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=552 ) To start with though, I'd take him to somewhere completely flat and just get him moving around with the skis on, without the Edgy Wedgy, and then once he was feeling comfortable with that, take him to somewhere with barely a slope to get him sliding. You see it often, when parents are teaching their own children they are more inclined to hold onto their children and hold them upright. What I find that works better in the long run is to try and get them to do as much for themselves as possible. I would be sliding in front of a child and be ready to catch them, I might be holding onto their hands to support them, but I would rarely pick them up or move them around without having the child making some of the movements themselves.
Once he was sliding in a straight line and staying upright, then I would put the Edgy Wedgy on and play some games to trick him into making a snowplough. Once he can snowplough, then the next stage of making turns is easy. I find the biggest hurdle is getting the children to stay upright whilst they're sliding - as soon as they start to move they tend to fall over backwards because their skis are running way from them.

He might take to skiing like a duck to water, on the other hand, wearing big heavy ski boots with skis attached might feel very strange... A big mistake that people make when teaching people with Learning Difficulties to ski is that they bring their own goals to the lesson. By that, I mean, that physically he may be able to ski down a blue run by the end of the week and the instructor is determined that that is going to happen - results in frustration and unhappiness all round. It may be that Day 1 is spent putting the boots on and walking around in the restaurant, Day 2 is putting the boots on and walking around outside in the snow, Day 3 is wearing the boots and having a snowball fight! Hopefully, the progression is quicker but being patient, taking it slowly and having him decide that skiing is fun will pay off in the end.

You say that communication is an issue - don't let that put you off getting adaptive lessons for him. Any good, experienced instructor will have encountered a whole range of communication, or lack of, problems...

I hope this helps...
If you have more questions, just ask.
Good luck - I'm sure you'll have a blast!

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Following on from what I wrote earlier...
The Ski Pal looks like a good piece of equipment which I would consider using with someone who had mobility problems and was struggling to balance. With someone who is physically able though, I would be trying to have them be as independent as possible right from the beginning and so making as much of the movements for themselves as possible.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

little tiger, you are quite right, duck not pigeon, its to do with lack of muscle tone. Very well put. I think from the rest of your reply I will have to get some twin tip skis and ski backwards. SaraJ, The Edgy Wedgy looks really good and I don't have to call it a ski bra. I can't seem to find the photos of tethers, are these for sale anywhere? Your advice is really good it will take time as it always does and I will watch out for the reflex to fall back. It is after all all about fun and I do hope one day my boy will get as much enjoyment from sliding on snow as I do. Thank you both for your helpful advice.

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skimore, Sorry, I thought the link that I'd put in was a montage of pictures with ski links and tethers... I'll have a dig through my photos and see if I can find a clearer one. As to where to buy them... You can spend a lot of money and buy tethers from adaptive ski companies, such as Spokes n' Motion, or you can go to a hardware store and buy webbing... For tethers, I buy webbing!
I probably wouldn't use tethers with a 7 yr old. He is probably too small for tethering to be effective (and too easy to pull him off his feet). Once he's snowploughing and starting to turn, I would most likely to be skiing in front of him, going backwards, able to make eye contact and communicate with him, ready to catch him and steer him if necessary, but far enough away for him to make the movements himself.
You might want to practice skiing backwards before you start trying to do it whilst also trying to concentrate on your son!
And... I can't believe I'm saying this because I detest snowblades with a passion, but if you're not totally confident moving around in any direction at the drop of a hat on skis, then maybe look at snowblades for yourself.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

A couple of points to add to Sara's comments. At 7 you may well find that an edgie wedgie is not strong enough but a ski bra is too heavy, as others have stated. As a substitute a lighter (and far cheaper!) solution is to use two 2 inch G Clamps and a wire/cord/bungie connector in the same manner as an Edgie Wedgie. In this configuration I put the G Clamp on the OUTSIDE of the skis as then the pressure pulls them more on than off. You can still connect tethers if needed.

On the subject of Snowblades they can be very usefull but I would say more for the student than yourself - then you can bypass the wedge altogether and go direct to parallel but preferable just use shorter skis so then your son would have a release binding. More or less as a rule I will use shorter skis than normal in such a case.

In terms of using them yourself the risk is that if you need to bend down to catch the tips of your son's skis you are more than likely to be on your face in a blink! You need a bit of ski length for basic stability. When working Adaptive my "normal" equipment is a pair of 150 twin tips.

I have used the ski-pal extensively and find them very useful BUT you have to be careful not to create a dependence on it, so it is best to mix methods and when on very gentle slopes try to create independence from too much assistance.

After all it is free

SaraJ,
Would you be Sara Jones the girl that taught me to ski many years ago ? If so how are you keeping these days.
Cheers
Steve Wilson.

wilzimm, Hey Steve!
Sent you a PM... Very Happy

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