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Old 08-04-2008, 08:15 AM   #11
Angela Dunn
Dojo: Hartlepool/Peterlee/Billingham
Location: Hartlepool,UK
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 69
England
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Re: Special people and Aikido

But is it doing more harm then good for someone to attempt to teach people with special needs without special training?

Obviously that would depend on the special need and your definition of them but I think most people with special needs would be able to communicate if something was harmful to them teaching and learning wise.

I school, there are teachers who have special training to deal with special needs students. So far in my martial arts career, I have never been taught how to teach the blind, mentally handicapped, etc. What if what I think is the right way to help them is really wrong?
And again it is dependant on your location but as far as I gather it is just learning alternative teaching methods to teach them students. Everyone os different, I mean do you have just one method for showing your class a move or do you have to find an alternative method of demonstration if students just are not getting it. Yes there is a lack of awareness and training in martial arts on how to deal with people with alternative needs but does that mean they should be excluded?I am sure someone more qualified will correct me if I am wrong.

Outside of that, I really have a problem with being all inclusive. For example, where I train judo do, we can not go in and wait, because there is a girl there whos religion forbids men watching her work out. What if this girl wanted to train judo? You can't be inclusive to everyone.

Theres many reasons why you would not be able to get into the hall early. For instance there is a childrens gymnastics class in the hall where we train before hand. We are not aloud to go in because of that and that is reasonable. If a persons religion forbids men watching her working out with men watching then surely it would not be reasonable for her to join a group of men. But then it would be her responsibility to find a class that could accommodate that need. Disability and special needs are not religion though so its not a comparrision that could be made. If a person is capable of training and the only restriction on that is other peoples understanding and attitudes then is it fair for a Sensei to exclude that person? Or Could it be used as an opportunity for people to learn how to adapt not only attitudes but techniques, which I thought was part of the point of aikido anyway.

Oh and yes I do say that as a person with special needs. Sometimes people are shocked when they learn that as I look "normal" and seem to be able to cope with techniques well. I am often also the youngest there and can occasionally be the only lady on the mat. It can be frustrating for both sides sometimes, it definitely can be frustrating for me when yet again I am one of the people left struggling trying to figure out what is going on, I suspect it can even be annoying for people when I have rolled into them or have to be shown what to do for the 10th time in the space of five minutes. But maybe that is just another thing to be adapted to in a class with none native english speakers, age differnances, people with various injuries to be aware of and people who have been taught a method a different way I have learnt. Or maybe I got lucky to be in a class with people who accept people for who they are as long as they are willing to learn.
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