SELF AWARENESS THROUGH SELF DEFENSE
Visually Impaired Grade-schoolers Partner with Sighted Peers to Learn Yoga and Self Defense
February, 2005 - On a cold Wednesday afternoon in the 4th floor gymnasium at James Otis School, 525 N. Armour in Chicago, boys and girls in grades first through eighth are developing physical awareness, flexibility, fluidity of movement, and the ability to defend themselves in an exciting program. Once a week for eight weeks, students warm up their bodies with half an hour of simple stretches, yoga postures, gentle breathing and meditation. After that, the excitement begins being grabbed by the wrists, choked from the front or back, held in a head lock and more. These are just a few of the self defense techniques being learned.
What makes this program unique is that its participants have a range of visual impairments from partial to total blindness. Each visually impaired student works one on one with a sighted peer who personally helps them learn the movements and techniques. This extraordinary series has been designed by The Peace School and is being conducted by two of its instructors, Greg Garrett and Jennifer Kim. The program has given students not only the opportunity to learn yoga and self defense, but also to learn more about themselves and their abilities.
Thanks to generous funding from The Oppenheimer Family Foundation, this is the second year of âSelf Awareness Through Self Defenseâ at Otis. Visually impaired students who participated last year wasted no time in lobbying their teacher for the program during the first week of school this past September. Now that the program is underway, many of the sighted sixth graders who are acting as partners are in awe of what the visually impaired students can do. Says sixth grade teacher Beth Valente, âThe confidence level [of the visually impaired students] is outstanding. This program has helped them expand beyond their limitations, and I can see an improvement in self-image.â
It was Beth Valente who first approached The Peace School about the possibility of working with this particular group of students. She and fellow teachers Judy Green and Gloria Moyer wanted an alternative to the limited options given to visually impaired students in terms of group sports. The Peace School designed a program in which the visually impaired and sighted students are on an even playing field. As Greg Garrett observed, âThe visually impaired students are keeping pace with their sighted peers.â In fact, those who had participated in the program last year actually had an edge on their sighted peers during the first few weeks.
Otis Principal Jim Cosme has been impressed with the progress of the visually impaired students. He also finds value in the active involvement of the sighted students, watching them find unique ways to communicate skills to their partners since âshowing themâ is not an option. Another plus, Otis teachers point out, is that the visually impaired students appear to be more comfortable within their bodies as a result of the program. On the academic side, all of the students â both sighted and visually impaired â are required to write about their experience after each weekly workshop.
The Peace School is a non-profit educational organization that has been serving Chicago for over thirty years. Back in the 1970âs, The Peace School adapted its yoga system, called Peace Breathing & Exercise, to suit the needs of nursing home residents in a unique program that continues to this day. When first approached about a workshop for visually impaired students, instructors at The Peace School collaborated once again to adapt Peace Breathing & Exercise as well as Self Defense to successfully meet the needs of this specific group of children.