Traditional Cottage Cheesemaking from Cow's Milk

How to make goat cheese without starter

How to train a goat to be milked

Charlie the Shearing Kid - Behind the News

Summer Hiking Series

Hello!

Summer approaches and Exercise Is Therapy will be offering a hiking/walking series.
The hikes will range from 4 to 8 kilometres and will be held at a variety of locations including Burns Bog (Delta Nature Reserve), Watershed Park, Serpentine River, Tynehead Regional Park.

The benefits of being in the woods and in nature has been well researched. Play in nature provides resounding therapeutic benefits.

Sessions will be approximately 3 hours in length and may provide opportunities to get really wet and dirty!  Playful activities will be introduced to challenge both proprioreceptive and vesitbular systems, physical skills and abilities (balance, coordination, gross and fine motor skills).

Snacks/lunches, and water will be required, as well as a change of clothes.

Times, dates, and costs will be sorted out but the sessions will be offered under social group sessions and behaviour intervention. These sessions will fit under Autism Funding guidelines.


Please contact Malcolm@exerciseistherapy.org  if you are interested and for more information.

Malcolm

CR Slacklining

here is CR working out on the slackline!

DA in the Park

This session gives an idea to the variety of physical movement that can happen in a session.  Balance (slackline, running on concrete barrier), strength (medicine ball), speed/power (going up the slide), coordination (right and left ball hitting), and general movement skills (up and over picnic table).

RL at work!

I don't often get the opportunity to work with adults but I enjoy my time to work out with RL.  RL and I have been working out together for alost a year now and I thought I would share with you what he and I do:

\https://youtu.be/V-94EYB1dn4

Malcolm

MU at work!

Here is one of my clients MU doing a little bit of work!  We work a lot on balance, correcting gait, bending over and picking up heavy objects and giving them a toss.  The video is a little long but please take a look! 
https://youtu.be/wHiAi0AqgFk

Football Skills Camp April 17

April 17 is a Professional Development Day in Delta School District #37 so we have a plan:

Book the date for your elementary school aged children: 

April 17, 2015 for a FOOTBALL SKILLS CAMP with 

Emmanuel Arceneaux (#84 with our BC LIONS) and 

Solomon Elimimian (BC LIONS #56).

Session will take place at Sunshine hills Elementary School in North Delta. To register follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1j1rj7wnnDET-zAQRgIiSgYzuu1uU_6rJ4z2bKFLAWRI/viewform

There are only 30 registration spaces available, 10 of which are designated for children with unique and special needs.

#exerciseIStherapy

IEP Action

Good things on the horizon.  Met with a client parent, mainstream support worker, and principal about implementing a proactive execise break (3-5 times per day) and have it in the student's IEP.

The principal is a huge supporter of being active with kids and often runs with those that might need it it more than just to run a marathon....

Also met with the teacher of the classroom I am running a pilot project in for doing exercise sessions and the school principal.  Looking at running a PD session at the school on the proposed program for the teacher and Educational Assistants!

Positive things happening in SD#37.

IEPs and Physical Activity

Does your child have an Individualised Education Plan (IEP)?

Is prescribed physical activity a part of that IEP?  Not just participation/attendance in gym class because often kids with unique and special needs are not fully integrated.  One aspect of integration is that the child is doing THE SAME THING as the their peers which is often not what is happening.

Integration in gym class may not be possible for your child.

Is your child in a regular stream classroom, but doing their own thing with the help of a full time Educational Assistant?
Why not have the student spend more time throughout the day being physically active.  Advocate to have it written in to their IEP.

Exercise has many more benefits for students in than being stuck in the back of a room with an EA not really participating.  While outside walking, or doing specific exercises EAs have the opportunity to talk with and work on task completion, following instructions, practice speaking (if language is an issue), hand eye coordination, balance, strength (stair climb, bar hang)....all of which can benefit the student's inclass experiences.

Parents need to advocate for more prescriptive exercise in their kids IEPs.

Any thoughts and ideas to add?

Malcolm

Help Us Build a Board

Help Us Build a Board of Directors The Exercise IS Therapy Foundation is ready to move forward and we need some help. We are looking for spirited, like minded, happy people to help us put our mandate in motion.  Yes...we are looking for individuals with specific skills in math (read ACCOUNTANT), curiosity (read as GRANT FINDER AND WRITER), a Chatty Charles or Cathy (read as SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT EXTRAORDINAIRE), and someone with a lot of connections (read as SHMOOZE MASTER).   You could be a parent of a kid with special needs, somebody interested in promoting physical literacy for kids with unique needs, or just that ingenious individual who like to make things happen. Maybe we will meet a couple or few times a year. If we all get along we could meet more often! The mandate of the EXercise IS Therapy Foundation is as follows: develop, fund,and facilitate activities and programs to provide exercise therapy to children with unique and special needs develop and present programs to educate families how to tap into their children's unique needs and facilitate a more active lifestyle for their uniquely abled kids develop and present programs within school districts promoting the use of proactive exercise sessions as an alternative to being removed from the classroom for disruptive behaviours But that is not all..the rest would be up to a collaborative discussion on how to access funding for unique initiatives for kids with unique and special needs. Please contact me with your thoughts. Malcolm Founder EXercise IS Therapy Foundation malcolm@exercise-is-therapy.ca

Fundraising Items Perfect for Christmas

We have some gift certificates and snow goggles left over from our EXercise IS Therapy fundraiser and we would like to offer them up for bids on this site.  Please email us to express interest in these items:

Smith Vice Snow Goggles donated by Comor Sports:
http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/spo/4785529213.html
VALUE: $140
MIN BID: $50
INSTANT WIN: $75

Innovative Fitness Gift Certificates (2) donated by Innovative Fitness Kits/Four Seasons/Abbotsford
http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/for/4785465251.html

**these certificates can be used at any location: Kitsilano, West Vancouver, Whiterock, Four Seasons, Abbotsford, Port Moody

VALUE:  $300 EACH
MIN BID $100 EACH
INSTANT WIN: $275 FOR BOTH

Each Gift Certificate provides 1 consultation and 3 personal training sessions.

All money for these items will go to Canuck Place and 60 Minute Kids Club

Malcolm

Lookin For a Few Good Men and Women

My EXerciseISTherapy Foundation is in place...but it would like some help!

The mandate of the society is to:

• develop, fund,and facilitate activities and programs to provide exercise therapy to children with unique and special needs

• develop and present programs to educate families how to tap into their children's unique needs and facilitate a more active lifestyle for their uniquely abled kids

• develop and present programs within school districts promoting the use of proactive exercise sessions as an alternative to being removed from the classroom for disruptive behaviours

Is this something that you can spare a small amount of time sharing ideas about, adding your perspective to somebody else's ideas?

Would you be interested in helping to find and apply to grants to access funding?

I am discovering that there is a lot to do to be even remotely successful!

If you feel you have something to offer a fledgling non-profit society and would like to become one of those people who were there "right from the beginning" we would love to hear from you!

Malcolm
Founder
Exercise IS Therapy Foundation

 

 

 

 

 

Don't Change Much....

OK!  Here I am sporting my new iPhone 6 I won from the good people at www.dontchangemuch.ca.

I'm stoked!  I use my phone for work when I am on sessions with my clients taking pictures and most importantly I track our workout sessions using www.runkeeper.com.

I simply entered a Facebook.com contest on the Canadian Men's Health Foundation Facebook Page! I have been following the Don't Change Much people for a while.  Lets face it...it is hard to be 20 and perfect when you are in your late 40's and just OK!  Don't Change Much should resonate with a HUGE portion Canadian men because it can provide some guidance for those that need it and some affirmation for those that are doing what they need to do to stay OK and be a little closer to GOOD.

Being OK is just a few steps away from being GOOD....and it doesn't take much.

Check them out here:  www.dontchangemuch.ca

THANK YOU Don't Change Much!

Malcolm

Founder,

EXercise IS Therapy Foundation

How a little exercise can change things....

I met with a 12 year old client the other day...and man was he agitated/excited.  I learned that some of his flappy behaviour when he is mildly agitated become a little more aggressive!  He did not approve of the direction we were going in and kept wanting to stop and turn around.  Every minute or so he would ask to stop and turn around and when I got him walking in the non-preferred direction he would get more flappy and aggressive.

We just kept plugging along...until 25 minutes into our walk...and then I saw the shoulders relax and calmness overcome his body.  My friend was back.

We completed a 6 km walk exploring

a dike along the way.

I am not saying that the science of the walking/exercise had anything to do with settling him down.....I just think that, really deep down, we all know it did!

Malcolm

Science!

If you have access to scholalry articles:

Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity

• Carl W. Cotman^a, , 
• Nicole C. Berchtold^b

 Show more

DOI: 10.1016/S0166-2236(02)02143-4

Get rights and content

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Abstract

Extensive research on humans suggests that exercise could have benefits for overall health and cognitive function, particularly in later life. Recent studies using animal models have been directed towards understanding the neurobiological bases of these benefits. It is now clear that voluntary exercise can increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and other growth factors, stimulateneurogenesis, increase resistance to brain insult and improve learning and mental performance. Recently, high-density oligonucleotide microarray analysis has demonstrated that, in addition to increasing levels of BDNF, exercise mobilizes gene expression profiles that would be predicted to benefit brain plasticity processes. Thus, exercise could provide a simple means to maintain brain function and promote brain plasticity.

!!!

Malcolm

ADHD: Is it a Disease?

Or just a description of attributes that ALL of us suffer from at times?

WebMD:

• Difficulty paying attention to details and a tendency to make mistakes at school or other activities, producing work that is often messy and careless.
• Easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli and frequently interrupting ongoing tasks to attend to trivial noises or events that are usually ignored by others.
• Inability to sustain attention on tasks or activities..
• Difficulty finishing schoolwork or paperwork or performing tasks that require concentration.
• Procrastination.
• Disorganized work habits.
• Forgetfulness in daily activities.
• Failure to complete tasks such as homework or chores.

Dr Bruce Perry recently described ADHD with this statement:

"It is best thought of as a description. If you look at how you end up with that label, it is remarkable because any of us at any given time would fit at least a couple of those criteria."

http://higherperspective.com/2014/10/adhd-not-real-disease.html

There is a lot of research out there that indicates exercise is a fabulous tool in the regulation of many of those listed 'symptoms'.

EXercise IS Therapy

Normal...typical...SN or not.

I have a friend that I have worked with for 2 years now.  The other day he and his sister were over for a visit and we went for a quick trip to a park.  He rode his bike with my other 10 year old friend (who is a master bike rider) and it was completely normal, typical, standard, not really that exciting, something that kids do.....

The difference here is that 11 months ago this boy screamed and yelled when he sat on a bike that I had modified by taking off the training wheels and pedals.

He can now ride with his peers.  That is a huge thing.

Exercise IS Therapy.

Malcolm