6J February 17, 2008 Sunday Gazette-Mail

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TOM HINDMAN/Sunday Gazette-Mail

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Free program offersseniors way to stay fit

By Charlotte Ferrell Smithcharlotte@dailymail.com

A free fitness program forsenior citizens is thriving.

Healthways SilverSneakersFitness Program has been of-fered throughout the countrysince 1992 with some health in-surance companies paying forseniors to have fitness clubmemberships. The program be-gan in West Virginia in 2005 atfour fitness centers and hasexpanded to 17 facilitiesthroughout the state, said Mol-ly Kluemper, West Virginia ac-count manager for HealthwaysHealth, Inc.

Among participating fitnessfacilities in the Mountain Stateare the Charleston YMCA onHillcrest Drive, the YMCA inCross Lanes and the Tri-Coun-ty YMCA in Scott Depot.

Cindy Boggs, fitness coordi-nator for the YMCA on Hill-crest Drive, said her Silver-Sneakers students seldom missa class. Her students range inage from 65 to 95 with the ex-ercise class focusing on mus-cular strength and range ofmotion. While the class hasmore than doubled in size, shebelieves more people wouldtake part in SilverSneakers ifthey realized it is free.

“I think a lot of people don’tunderstand it’s a free member-ship,” she said. “I think peoplethink that can’t be true. Theyare always waiting for thecatch. As a SilverSneakersmember, they can come to anyfacility that is a SilverSneakersprovider. Health clubs post it onthe door.”

Participating insurance com-panies in the area include Hu-mana, Highmark Blue CrossBlue Shield, and MountainState Blue Cross Blue Shield.The program is for seniors 65and older. In some cases, indi-viduals with disabilities alsoqualify.

Those who qualify and wishto join the SilverSneakers pro-gram may simply take proof ofinsurance to the YMCA and fillout some paperwork. Partici-pants are then full-fledgedmembers who may participatein any activity they choose anduse all equipment.

Marty Bavetz, physical andwellness director for Tri-Coun-ty YMCA in Scott Depot, saideveryone wins with Silver-Sneakers.

“I believe it’s a wonderfulprogram,” he said. “It’s a na-tional program done by a lot ofinsurance companies to getmarketing out. They can use it

as a selling point for insur-ance. It’s great for individualson a fixed income.”

He said seniors benefit phys-ically, socially, and mentally.

For more information aboutSilverSneakers www.silver-sneakers.com or call (888) 423-4632.

TYLER EVERT/Sunday Gazette-Mail

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Program eases rite of passageBy James RicciLos Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — The barand bat mitzvah ceremoniesmark Jewish children’s publicpassage into a new identity aspeople responsible for their ac-tions and for living in accor-dance with their faith.

What about autistic children,however, whose identities seemlocked away inside them? Howcan they profess themselves re-sponsible members of a com-munity?

Such questions sometimesoccupied Elias Lefferman, chiefexecutive of Los Angeles’ Vistadel Mar Child & Family Ser-vices, a nonprofit agency withroots in the Westside Jewishcommunity, and he went look-ing for answers. He found themin Elaine Hall, a tiny womanwith an outsize reputation forcoaxing autistic children out oftheir sequestered worlds usingmethods she developed workingwith her own autistic son.

Hall had trained youngstersfor theatrical productions. Lef-ferman wondered if she mightapply her methods to prepareautistic youngsters for bar andbat mitzvah ceremonies. Hallleaped at the opportunity.

On a recent afternoon, threeboys in the program demon-strated how they train for theceremony — Hall’s son Neal,who is nonverbal; 12-year-oldWyatt Isaacs, a highly func-tioning, keenly articulate boy;and Dov Shestack, a lanky 15-year-old who is nonverbal andseems disconnected from theworld around him.

Wyatt and the adults sang asong titled “Because of MyBrothers and Friends,” whileNeal danced with his motherand intermittently hummed.Dov sat on stage with his aunt,who kept one hand on hischeek to help him maintain eyecontact with her and the otherhand on his throat to feel thevibrations that indicated he wassinging.

Such moments are a constantsource of encouragement.

Hall started the program inOctober 2006. Working with agroup of five children, she andher volunteers taught prayersby having their students singthem, dance them, act themout, and, for the profoundlynonverbal, beat drums to showthey were sharing the experi-ence. To teach Hebrew letters,they had the nonverbal chil-

dren form them with their bod-ies or bake them as cookies.They had the youngsters maketheir own yarmulkes and re-hearse in Vista del Mar’s sanc-tuary where they would even-tually perform.

Last May, two of the boys, in-cluding Neal, had their bar mitz-vahs, appearing before an au-dience of 92.

With the help of his speechtherapist, Neal had written along speech, which was spokenby his stepfather. One of Neal’scoaches, Cantor Steve Puzarne,had recorded songs and prayersinto an electronic device, andNeal had to push the right but-tons at the appropriate times inthe ceremony to play them.

At one point, Neal grew dis-couraged and left the sanctuary,but two friends, one of them amore highly functioning fellowtrainee, went to him and helpedhim return to complete the cer-emony.

Rabbi Jacqueline Redner wasstruck by the effect the unusu-al rite had on the audience. “Wewere dancing and runningaround,” she said. “When kidsget bar mitzvahed, they havethe opportunity to teach some-thing, and these kids did. Theyhad no pretense, and it wassuch a lesson for all of us.”

Hall has noticed a change inNeal since he underwent therite.

“All the big decisions aboutwhat to do were Neal’s thatday,” she said. “He’s been thislittle mensch ever since. He’s re-

sponsible for his own actions,and he knows it. He helpsaround the house; he cleans up.He’s present 100 percent andhas a sense of self he never hadbefore.”

Hall’s methods have theirroots in her adoption of Nealfrom Russia a little more thana decade ago. He proved to beseriously autistic, unable tospeak, averse to eye contact,given to flapping his hands,spinning in circles, banging hishead.

Hall grew frustrated with con-ventional therapies, whichsought to restrict Neal’s inap-propriate movements. Inspiredby the methods of Dr. StanleyGreenspan, a psychiatrist andpediatrician, she tried a radicallydifferent approach.

It involved her entering Neal’sworld and gradually drawinghim into hers.

“If Neal would flap his hands,I’d flap my hands and we’d flyaround the room like birds,” shesaid. “If he spun around, I’d spinaround with him, and we’d turnit into ring-around-the-rosie.He’d have me doing it all day,and whenever he made even asecond’s eye contact, it waslike, wow!”

Over time, the initial goal oftrying to “get him into ourworld” for 30 seconds of a two-hour period expanded to thepoint where, at 13, he attendsa full day of middle schoolmainstream classes, augmentedby two classes for the learningdisabled.

Los Angeles Times

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