13 minute read
After School
after school ENRICHMENT
LISTINGS
Indianapolis Art Center
820 East 67th St., Indianapolis, IN 46220 | (317) 255-2464 | IndplsArtCenter.org In Indianapolis Art Center classes, students work with professional artists to explore art, improve their artistic skills, and express themselves creatively! We believe that by participating in the creative process, young artists strengthen many other important skills including their communication, interpersonal and critical thinking skills.
House of Martial Arts
441 S Rangeline Rd., Carmel, IN 46032 | (317) 575-9333 | houseofmartialarts.com Carmel Kids Martial Arts School getting our community's children safer, stronger & more focused. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Hawaiian Kenpo Karate for ages 5 and up.
Ballet Theatre of Carmel Academy Ltd.
1329 W 96th St., Suite A, Indianapolis, IN 46260 | (317) 798-2133 | ballettheatreofcarmel.org The Ballet Theatre of Carmel Academy (BTCA) provides high quality dance education for boys and girls ages 3-18, in a nurturing and supportive environment. Programs include preschool through pre-professional classes. Faculty members come with a rich professional background in ballet. Enroll today to dance with BTCA for the 2021-22 season!
YMCA of Greater Indianapolis
615 N. Alabama St., Suite 400, Indianapolis, IN 46204 (multiple locations)
The YMCA is here when parents need it! With 9 Early Learning programs for kids ages 2-5 and over 100 Before & After School programs across the Greater Indianapolis area, the Y has a program to meet the needs of all families. Learn about the YMCA child care programs near you!
National Flag Football
Multiple locations | nationalflagfootball.com Flag Football program for Boys & Girls Ages 4-14! Practices are held the same day as games. 7-week season with games played on Sunday at most locations (Fort Wayne East plays Saturday). NFL Flag team jersey & flag belt for players to keep. Fall Season begins September 12 (Fort Wayne East Sept 11). Thank you to the Indianapolis Colts for helping make flag football accessible to all youth. Register online atNationalFlagFootball.com or call us at (317) 759-2691.
Six locations across the greater Indianapolis area | wrightsgymnastics.com Wright’s offers NinjaZone, tumbling, preschool, recreational, and team gymnastics in 6 central Indiana locations! Camps, birthday parties, open gym, and private lessons are also available. New 36,000 sq. ft. facility coming to Grand Park in Westfield December.
Indianapolis Suzuki Academy
3959 Central Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46205 | (317) 296-5258 | IndySuzukiAcademy.org Build a strong relationship with your child through the study of music. The Indianapolis Suzuki Academy nurtures beautiful character in every child through excellence in music. Enrolling now for violin, cello, harp or trumpet. Baby / Toddler classes for newborn to 4 years. Centrally located in Indianapolis Meridian Kessler neighborhood.
Dance Kaleidoscope Studios
1125 Brookside Ave., 5D (near Mass Ave.), Indianapolis, IN 46202 | (317) 940-8463 | dancekal.org From the youngest dancers on tippy toes to pre-professional students who want to learn the Graham Technique, Dance Kaleidoscope Studios has classes for students of all ability levels, ages 3 and up. Our state-of-the-art dance center is inclusive and welcoming for the Indianapolis community, and a home for you! Fall classes begin September 7.
Indianapolis Children's Choir
4600 Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46208 | (317) 940-9640 | icchoir.org Do you love music? The Indianapolis Children’s Choir is now accepting new singers for its 2021-2022 season. The ICC has choir programs for children and youth ages 18 months to 18 years at all ability levels. The ICC has locations in various locations throughout the city. Contact us now and come sing with us this fall!
Southeastern Swim Club
13910 E. 126th Street , Fishers , IN 46037 | Southeasternswim.org Southeastern Swim Club is a year round program located in Fishers, IN. We provide professional coaching for swimmers of all ages and abilities and work to create a life long activity out of swimming. We offer a year round lessons program, swim team, and adult lap swim program.
Girl Scouts of Central Indiana
7201 Girl Scout Ln. Indianapolis, IN 46214 | (317) 924-6800 | girlscoutsindiana.org With Girl Scouts she can be herself, have fun with friends, and change the world! Sign her up for a world of adventure at www.girlscoutsindiana.org/join.
3660 Guion Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46222 | (317) 361-0709 | indianapolishealthplex.com Students in grades pre-k through 8 will love the robust after-school programming offered at the Indianapolis Healthplex. Students can look forward to fun and exciting activities that keep them moving and thinking. Activities include swimming, basketball, tennis, taekwondo, soccer, fitness, arts & crafts, and more! A healthy snack is provided.
Roundtrippers Sports Academy
16708 Southpark Dr., Westfield, IN 46074 | (317) 896-2900 | roundtripper.com At Roundtripper Sports Academy, we are dedicated to the development of each individual athlete. Our recently upgraded facilities feature 20 batting cages, an indoor field, 3 outdoor fields, and a fitness center. Roundtripper offers top notch baseball and softball instruction for players from tiny tots to the Major Leagues. Visit roundtripper.com for information on our memberships, classes, camps, practice with the pro's, and private instruction. We are proud to be the home of University High School Baseball and Softball, the Indiana Mustangs Baseball and Softball organizations, and the Colts Baseball Club. If you are interested in group or team training for your organization please call us at 317-896-2900. Proudly serving central Indiana for 28 years!
Actors Theatre of Indiana
510 3rd Ave. NW, Carmel, IN 46032 | (317) 590-7522 | atistage.org Actors Theatre of Indiana was co-founded in 2005 by Cynthia Collins, Don Farrell and Judy Fitzgerald with a mission to celebrate the power of theater and contribute to the quality of life in central Indiana by offering high quality professional theater performances and programs that engage, inspire, educate and entertain.
WORDS BY RACHAEL DUPREE
uring the Autistic Rights Movement of the 1990s, a new term was coined to describe the brains of people with neurological differences. First used by Australian autistic sociologist Judy Singer, the term “neurodiversity” became the springboard of what we know today as the Neurodiversity Movement.
WORDS MATTER
Neurodiversity in and of itself isn’t a new or contestable concept. It’s the scientifically backed idea that there are infinite variations within the human brain and how it functions. When people’s neurocognitive functioning falls within societal norms, they are known as neurotypical (NT), and when they don’t, they are neurodivergent (ND). Neurodivergences can be innate — as in with conditions such as autism, dyslexia and ADHD — or they can be the result of an experience, like a traumatic brain injury or a long-term meditation practice, writes autistic scholar Nick Walker, PhD, in his blog Neurocosmopolitanism. Being neurodivergent, he says, isn’t in and of itself negative or positive, but depends on the person and their condition.
On the other hand, the neurodiversity paradigm — the concept on which the Neurodiversity Movement was built — is an emerging viewpoint that these neurological differences are normal and valuable.
“What this simply means is that those individuals with autism, cognitive impairments, ADHD, etcetera, are simply people with normal human differences,” says Jane Hornett, owner of Autism Companion Services in Indianapolis and mother to a 22-year-old daughter with autism.
While the neurodiversity paradigm is becoming increasingly accepted by those within the neurodivergent communities, as well as within the community at large, it is still a fairly new concept that not all have aligned with.
DIFFERENCE VS. DISABILITY
One of the major criticisms of the Neurodiversity Movement is that by normalizing neurodivergences — by seeing them as just differences — the movement downplays the need for support for neurodivergent individuals. However, as research psychologist and Autistic activist Jacquiline den Houting writes in “Neurodiversity: an insider’s perspective” for the peer-reviewed journal Autism, “neurodiversity advocates generally consider autism to be both a natural variation and a disability.” As a result, they are working toward services for ND people that improve their quality of life, respect their way of being, and are provided at their request and consent. Critics also believe that by moving away from “disability” terminology and instead framing conditions as cultural identities (i.e., an “autistic person” versus “a person with autism”) does a disservice to the communities they indeed view as disabled. den Houting once again points out that the Neurodiversity Movement doesn’t actually deny that ND people have disabilities, but instead puts the onus on society’s inability to adapt to neurodivergences — meaning NTs need to learn to adapt to NDs the way NDs have had to adapt to “normal” society in the past. Those within the movement believe that disabilities often can be minimized or eradicated through proper assistance and a posture of acceptance by the community at large, even for those with high support needs.
FULL SPECTRUM SUPPORT
And this idea of support circles around to a third major criticism of the movement: that the Neurodiversity Movement caters only to those with low support needs — or to put it in more traditional terminology, high-functioning individuals. However, those in the movement see this dichotomous view of high-functioning versus low-functioning as erasure of the variability within the human brain. “For all humans, there are a number of different cognitive abilities in which we can excel or lack; we are all somewhere on the spectrum of human capability,” Nancy Doyle, an organizational psychologist specializing in neurodiversity, writes in Forbes.
YOU AND YOUR ND CHILD
For parents of neurodivergent children, particularly those who just received a diagnosis, jumping into this conversation can be overwhelming. Parents may find that doctors, teachers and therapists are quick to use labels to explain away behaviors or challenges in their child, making them feel like they are trying to fit square pegs into round holes. However, Hornett says they need quite the opposite.
“It’s often important to meet the individual where they are, provide acceptance and teach them the way they learn,” she says.
While getting a proper diagnosis will help you get your child essential support, it’s not predictive of the future.
“At the end of the day, we all need to be more supportive, respectful and aware of those with neurodiverse challenges,” Hornett says. “It is our communities and connections to help one another that truly provide the support that is needed.”
CONNECTING WITH KIDS ON THE SPECTRUM
Tips for building relationships and connecting with kids on the autism spectrum
WORDS BY RACHAEL DUPREE
Nearly 1 in 59 children have an autism spectrum disorder, meaning there is a good chance that you and your family will meet a child with autism at school or on the playground. While some of the major misconceptions are that people with autism might lack empathy, aren’t affectionate or don’t want friends, this isn’t so. The words “Will you be my friend?” might not come out of their mouths, but people with autism have the same desires of connection and friendship as a neurotypical person. If you are curious about how to be a better friend to a child with autism, here are five tips to get you started.
Adjust Your Expectations
Children with autism or another sensory processing disorder have alternative ways of communicating that could be perceived as shy or unfriendly. They might avoid making eye contact, engaging in make-believe play or even speaking, and depending on how their autism presents itself, they could display behaviors like rocking, pacing or hand-flapping. However, it’s important to remember that just because they may communicate in a way you’re not used to, they are still very well aware of their environment and can be internalizing your interaction with them.
Often, a child’s behavior can be their way of communicating. Talk to their parents about how you can best engage with them, and be prepared to adjust your “listening” technique so you can better “hear” what the child is trying to tell you.
According to Kacy Hopper, area support coordinator for Autism Society of Indiana, you may have to adjust the way you communicate, as well. Speak more slowly, pause between sentences, be more direct and avoid idioms in order to allow the child to better process what you’re saying. There are also a number of different apps and websites available with “visual boards” to help you better communicate with children who don’t communicate verbally.
Practice Tolerance
Sometimes a child with autism will express themselves in a way that might seem rude, when in reality, they might not understand socially appropriate ways to express the things they are feeling. “They feel deeply — sometimes they just can't get the words out,” Hopper says. “They can be very forthright, direct and blunt because they might not understand social norms and when it is OK or not OK to say something.”
This can be a tricky area to navigate with your own children.
Hopper reminds parents to be direct about why a friend with autism may say or do something that you wouldn’t typically condone, and model kindness for them. Don’t stare, call out or do something else that might embarrass your friend.
Engage Sincerely
Don’t be afraid to engage with a child with autism — a sincere desire to be friends is generally well-received. Begin your relationship-building by trying to understand the child and their interests. You can start this discussion by talking to their parents, but if possible, address the child directly and avoid talking about them as if they aren’t in the room. Be curious about their area of interest, even if it’s not something you know much about. Sometimes differences can be intimidating, so engage your own children by noting that while their friend might not like bright lights or loud noises, we are very much the same in wanting to share our passions with friends.
Show Dignity
Showing kindness and dignity can be as simple as shifting the lens through which you view your friend and your relationship with them. Instead of focusing on their differences or challenges, show appreciation for their strengths and unique abilities. By focusing on these things, you can build self-esteem, confidence and self-worth.
Put Fear Aside
Don’t let the fear of saying or doing the wrong thing get in the way of befriending a child with autism or another sensory processing disorder. Simple acts of kindness, such as a warm smile or friendly “hello” can go a long way in making them feel accepted and included.
To learn more about how to connect with children with autism, check out resources available through organizations like the Autism Society (autism-society.org) and Autism Speaks (autismspeaks.org).
