Dr. Laura St. John first became interested in working with neurodiverse people after taking a high school physical education course in which she and her classmates worked one-on-one with a student who had neurodevelopmental disabilities.
“These were students who typically are left out of physical education,” says St. John, PhD. “They’re not included in the classes with students without disabilities because the belief was that they can’t be included in these programs (and that) they won’t be successful in them.
“But what we were seeing is that, by offering them this peer support, they got a lot out of the program. They enjoyed themselves.”
St. John, one of the Faculty of Kinesiology’s newest assistant professors, now hopes to make a big impact on how students approach working with neurodiverse populations at University of Calgary.
Her position in adapted physical activity for neurodiverse youth will consist of conducting research focusing on developing, implementing and evaluating physical literacy interventions for neurodiverse populations for all, but specifically for woman and girls, who are often underrepresented in research. She will also be teaching an updated course on the subject.
St. John has her bachelor’s degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, her master’s from the University of Victoria and her PhD from the University of Toronto, all in kinesiology and exercise science. She has also coached for Special Olympics from 2009 to 2015 and was a program co-ordinator for the Special Olympics Active Start program from 2015 to 2017.
St. John says people with neurodevelopmental conditions, which include autism, ADHD and intellectual disabilities, may not be physically active, which can lead to social isolation and poor physical and mental health later in life. She says there is a breakdown in the way we present physical activity to neurodiverse people that needs to be altered to better include them.
This is why St. John felt so strongly about wanting to join the UCalgary team, because of her connection to the job posting that promised researching physical activity in neurodiverse women and girls, which had been the centre of her prior work. The job was offered in collaboration with the Azrieli Accelerator, which helps to improve research and the lives of people with developmental and neurodevelopmental conditions.
At UCalgary, St. John is teaching Adaptive Physical Activity (KNES 367), an existing course that, for the first time, will focus exclusively on neurodevelopmental disabilities. The course aims to teach students how to work with neurodiverse people in physical activity settings. She hopes the course can prepare students for future careers in which they work with neurodiverse people, while helping them learn how to create more-inclusive environments, especially as not all neurodiversity-related conditions are visible.
“There's this knowledge of, hey, if I'm going to go out in the field and work with clients or be a phys-ed teacher or be a physical trainer or be a physiotherapist or a doctor or a chiropractor or whatever people want to do, there's a very good chance that I'm going to work with someone with a neurodevelopmental condition,” says St. John. “I think we're doing a huge disservice if we don’t prepare students for how to approach those situations.”
Adaptive Physical Activity is offered once a year in the winter semester.
Laura St. John alianza kuvutiwa na kufanya kazi na watu wenye neurodiversity baada ya kuchukua kozi ya elimu ya mwili ya shule ya sekondari ambapo yeye na wenzake wa darasa walifanya kazi moja kwa moja na mwanafunzi ambaye alikuwa na ulemavu wa neurodevelopmental. "Hawa walikuwa wanafunzi ambao kwa kawaida huachwa nje ya elimu ya mwili", anasema St. John, PhD. <unk>Hawajumuishwi katika madarasa na wanafunzi wasio na ulemavu kwa sababu imani ilikuwa kwamba hawawezi kujumuishwa katika programu hizi (na kwamba) hawatakuwa na mafanikio ndani yao. <unk>Lakini kile tulikuwa tukiona ni kwamba, kwa kuwapa msaada huu wa wenzao, walipata mengi kutoka kwa programu. St. John, mmoja wa profesa msaidizi mpya wa Kitivo cha Kinesiolojia, sasa anatumaini kufanya athari kubwa juu ya jinsi wanafunzi wanavyofikia kufanya kazi na idadi ya neurodiverse katika Chuo Kikuu cha Calgary. Msimamo wake katika shughuli za mwili zilizobadilishwa kwa vijana wa neurodiverse utajumuisha kufanya utafiti unaozingatia kuendeleza, kutekeleza na kutathmini uingiliaji wa elimu ya mwili kwa idadi ya watu wa neurodiverse kwa wote, lakini haswa kwa wanawake na wasichana ambao mara nyingi hawawakilishwa katika utafiti. Pia atafundisha kozi ya kisasa juu ya mada hiyo. St. John ana shahada ya kwanza kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Wilfrid Laurier, shahada ya uzamili kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Victoria na PhD yake kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Toronto, zote katika kinesiolojia na sayansi ya mazoezi. Pia amekuwa kocha wa Olimpiki maalum kutoka 2009 hadi 2015 na alikuwa mratibu wa programu ya Olimpiki maalum ya Active Start kutoka 2015 hadi 2017. "Mwanamke huyo alisema kuwa ""watu wenye matatizo ya maendeleo ya neva, ambayo ni pamoja na autism, ADHD na ulemavu wa akili, wanaweza kuwa hai kimwili, ambayo inaweza kusababisha kutengwa kijamii na afya mbaya ya kimwili na kiakili baadaye katika maisha.""" "Anasema kuna ""mvunjiko katika njia tunayowasilisha shughuli za kimwili kwa watu wa neurodiverse ambao wanahitaji kubadilishwa ili kuwajumuisha vizuri.""" "Hii ndiyo sababu St. John alihisi nguvu sana juu ya kutaka kujiunga na timu ya UCL, kwa sababu ya uhusiano wake na kazi ya kuchapisha ambayo iliahidi ""kuchunguza shughuli za kimwili katika wanawake na wasichana wa neurodiverse"" ambayo ilikuwa ni kituo cha kazi yake ya awali." Kazi hiyo ilitolewa kwa kushirikiana na Azrieli Accelerator, ambayo husaidia kuboresha utafiti na maisha ya watu wenye hali ya maendeleo na neurodevelopmental. UC Calgary, St. John's, ni chuo kikuu cha Adaptive Physical Activity (KNES 367), ambacho kwa mara ya kwanza, kitazingatia tu ulemavu wa neurodevelopmental. Kozi inakusudia kufundisha wanafunzi jinsi ya kufanya kazi na watu neurodiverse katika mazingira ya shughuli za kimwili. "Amesema: ""Nina matumaini kuwa kozi hii itawaandaa wanafunzi kwa kazi za baadaye ambazo watafanya kazi na watu wa neurodiverse, wakati ikiwasaidia kujifunza jinsi ya kuunda mazingira ya kujumuisha zaidi, haswa kwa kuwa sio hali zote zinazohusiana na neurodiversity zinaonekana." "Kama mimi ni kwenda nje katika uwanja na kufanya kazi na wateja au kuwa mwalimu wa fizikia au kuwa mkufunzi wa kimwili au kuwa physiotherapist au daktari au chiropractor au chochote watu wanataka kufanya, kuna nafasi nzuri sana kwamba mimi nina kwenda kufanya kazi na mtu na hali ya neurodevelopmental, ""anasema St. John." <unk>Nafikiri tunafanya vibaya sana ikiwa hatuwaandalizi wanafunzi jinsi ya kukabiliana na hali hizo.<unk> Shughuli ya Kimwili ya Kukabiliana inapatikana mara moja kwa mwaka katika muhula wa majira ya baridi.