Therapeutic Recreation Featured in Local Magazine

Roanoke County's Therapeutic Recreation Services department for individuals with diabilities received coverage in the February 2010 edition of Our Health Magazine. The story is below, or available online here.

Last February Our Health told the story of Paul Eubank and his mother Peggy Wright and their difficult journey toward Paul’s diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome when he was eighteen years old. Since then, Paul, now 27, takes part in programs offered through Therapeutic Recreation Services (TRS), a division of Roanoke County Parks and Recreation and in doing so has finally found his own niche in the Valley.

As a child, Paul had a variety of labels such as developmentally delayed, ADHD, learning disabled, but his mother recalls there was never a clear diagnosis. When diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together for Paul and his family. Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is a development disorder where an individual has severe difficulty interacting socially because they have an inability to understand social language and cues. A person with AS can exhibit a variety of characteristics from mild to severe. The person often prefers routines to spontaneity. They thrive on sameness and are often preoccupied with a particular area of interest. People with AS usually have a normal IQ and many individuals exhibit exceptional skill or talent in a particular area.

Paul has a solid family support system that love and cherish him. His involvement in his church youth group and music ministry has also been an important part of his development. The only drawback is that Paul’s friends in the youth group would eventually progress on to college, get married and move on while he didn’t. That reality saddened Paul year after year.

Since Paul has begun attending programs offered through TRS he has finally found his own social group. TRS programs are “designed to meet the needs and interests of individuals with developmental disabilities, head injury related disabilities, psychiatric disabilities and those who are blind or visual impairments.” The program’s supervisor, Kari Decker believes this is one of the most important issues the program addresses in the lives of those with special needs.

“Our programs are designed for individuals 18-30 years old. We want to give them something so they don’t feel that intense when they leave high school,” Decker says.

Like many, Paul experienced that sense of loss when he graduated from high school. That loss and pressure to follow those in his peer group that were moving on led to an emotional breakdown. Ultimately, he received the help he needed, but he still struggled to fit in to any social group until he started attended the programs through TRS. Kari uses Paul’s story in Our Health magazine as a tool to remind the support staff of the importance of what they are striving to do.

“It’s sad to me when we meet someone who could have really used our services years ago just finds out about us.” She goes on to say, “We’re all really passionate about what we are doing at the Brambleton Center. I could talk about it for hours.”

Therapeutic Recreation Services programs are held at the Brambleton Center in Roanoke County and foster development, fitness, education and socialization components. Paul signed up for the popular Mingle program. Mingle allows young adults with disabilities ages 18-30 to participate in social, recreational and leisure activities. The group meets every Tuesday from 7pm to 9pm. All staff members have extensive education and training and are well qualified to meet the needs of those with disabilities.

On Paul’s first night in the program, Timmy Broderick, another participant, introduced himself to Paul and the two quickly became friends. Timmy has been taking part in the program for a few years and has enjoyed the activities and getting to meet new people.

“Everyone is very nice and we all get along really well. The leaders are especially great,” Timmy says.

Paul’s mother, Peggy Wright can’t say enough about how enriching the programs have been to her son’s life. She’s also been overwhelmed by the kindness Timmy has shown her son and how their friendship has given Paul, for the first time in his life, someone he can relate to and be completely comfortable around.

“This is really the greatest thing that has ever happened to Paul. They’ve opened up doors not only for Paul to be socially active, but to gain life skills as well. Paul is now more apt to try new things now,” Peggy says. Timmy’s mother, Pat Broderick, has also been a source of support for Peggy. Peggy admits she’s had a lot of questions for Pat and they’ve enjoyed sharing touching stories about their special young men.

Peggy recalls having spent the years of Paul’s life making sure he was always included in family, school and social events. He has a tendency to shy away and retreat to a quiet corner and watch the activity going on without really being a part of it. One of her happiest moments came when she peeked in the room at the Brambleton Center one evening and saw her son right in the middle of everything, interacting and having a wonderful time in a group setting. For Paul to have a new friend in Timmy has also been a powerful blessing for her to see Paul have his own circle of friends.

Timmy and Paul have also been getting together and doing things at each other’s homes and around town. Paul says, “Timmy was the first person to come over and talk to me. He’s really good at games and I like that he takes care of rescued animals.” Timmy is enjoying his new friendship with Paul too. He says, “Paul is a very good friend and has a lot of patience.”

Kari says the Mingle group recently went to the Green Ridge Recreation Center for their evening activity. She recalls the buzz of conversation among the participants as they were interacting with one another. “It’s so exciting to me to overhear them making plans to get together on their own time because that means what we are doing is working,” she says.

Mingle is a year long program that begins in January and ends in December. Other programs include Bingo Night, Water Aerobics and Swimming, Knitting, Latin Dance and Movie Club to name a few. TRS also takes various recreational and education trips throughout the year as well. If you are interested in finding out more about the services of Therapeutic Recreation Services, contact Kari Decker at 540.772.7529, extension 228 or you may email her at
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kecker@roanokecountyva.gov
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