Disabled can ski too!

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 8, 22 July 1986, Page 27

Disabled can ski too!

Disabled people can get as much enjoyment out of skiing as the ablebodied, given the right training and care. This is the message given by Kath Day, the North Island instructor for the New Zealand Association for Disabled Skiers, who is based at Turoa this winter. Kath is a former physical education teacher at Avonside Girls' High School in Christchurch and also worked with disabled skiers there for three years. She is employed by the

association to organise ski weeks, weekends and daily instruction for groups of disabled skiers. Disabled people such as amputees, paraplegics. cerebral palsy victims, the blind and hard of hearing, and those with many other neurological, physical and psychiatric disorders, can enjoy skiing. Even those who cannot walk independently may be able to learn to use a sit-sled. Skiing is increasingly being regarded as physical and psychological therapy for the disabled.

Kath says the aim is to get the disabled person skiing independently. though association policy is for a helper to accompany each skier. Organisations such as the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind or the NZ Society for the Intellectually Handicapped, often arrange groups, but Kath is also available for private bookings. Anyone interested should contact Kath Day at P.O. Box 42 Ohakune, telephone 58-641. The association needs helpers to assist disabled skier learners.