dance has become<\/a> his way to communicate and connect with others, his mom, Nicole Vester, said. <\/p>\nClaire Graham, the founder of Dance Abilities, got the idea for the program in high school after realizing while she was studying dance, she was never able to connect with her sister with Down syndrome while she took part in her own activities. The program has grown in three years from a summer camp for eight youngsters to year-round classes for about 20 people.<\/p>\n
Dance Abilities has separate classes for children ages 18 months to 4, ages 4-7 and 8-12, teenagers, and for adults, too. A successful day for Graham, who has a degree in dance and a master’s in recreational therapy, is when everyone has had fun and been challenged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not looking for perfection of position and not looking for a perfect performance,\u201d Graham said. \u201cOnly a performance that they can feel confident about.\u201d<\/p>\n
These dancers are not the only ones performing through challenges. Ezra Frech, a two-time gold medal paralympian, is competing on this season’s \u201cDancing with the Stars\u201d on ABC. Frech, a track and field athlete, has a prosthetic leg. <\/p>\n
Finn’s mom values her son\u2019s confidence-building that will help him be able to go into the world and learn new things, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire teaches him at his level. She teaches him a little slower. She teaches him a couple more extra times. And he feels proud and he feels accomplished and he feels like he\u2019s part of a group,\u201d Vester said.<\/p>\n
Accommodations at Dance Abilities include slowing down, using more visual cues than verbal instruction, and teacher \u201chelpers\u201d who physically guide students through the movements.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, we\u2019ll add something new that they can work on to make it a little harder,\u201d said one helper, Catherine Benko, 16.<\/p>\n
Dance is good for the body, too, with different needs for different students.<\/p>\n
For students with Down syndrome, who tend to be naturally more flexible and less strong, Graham emphasizes developing muscle tone. Students with autism, she said, often need more help stretching.<\/p>\n
Abigail MacGregor, who has Down syndrome, loves to dance through an obstacle course and to perform her latest moves for friends and family after she\u2019s been practicing all week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love dance,\u201d Abby said. \u201cThe best thing of dance is having fun, being with all my dance crew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tucker McGarrell, 13, who has Down syndrome, doesn\u2019t walk but runs into his dance classes, his mom Amanda McGarrell said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not speech therapy or physical therapy or occupational therapy appointments. This is actually something he enjoys doing,\u201d McGarrell said.<\/p>\n
McGarrell loves to see her son have an accepting, accommodating place.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just such a huge thing that Tucker\u2019s given a space and a stage to be himself and get to be with friends and learn new things,\u201d McGarrell said. \u201cIt just like fills me with joy knowing that he\u2019s getting to do something that he loves too just like typical kids do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whoever her students are, Graham said, \u201cif you give them the chance to succeed and meet them where they are, they can 100% grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeing her students smile is the ultimate metric of success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt warms my heart to hear my kiddos saying, ‘Look, Mom, I did it!’\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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