Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

World of Possibility Bloorview Kids Rehab 2007 Annual Report

Real World: Busy Bodies,
Healthy Minds

Cassidy Sheng

Who:

Cassidy Sheng, 7, ballerina, diagnosed with bone cancer that led to the amputation of her left leg and months of inpatient rehab at Bloorview.

What:

Member of Busy Bodies – a seven-week program designed to get children with disabilities aged seven to 12 hooked on fun, physical activities. Busy Bodies is part of Growing Up Ready, a multi-faceted program at Bloorview that educates youth with disabilities – and their families – about the everyday experiences and skills children need to grow into mature, confident, healthy adults.

Where:

Recreation facilities in the community.

When:

Two hours a week for seven weeks.

Why:

Physical inactivity and obesity have been identified by The Public Health Agency of Canada as a serious health threat to children. Research by Bloorview scientist Gillian King and her team shows that children with physical disabilities take part less in social, recreation and physical activities than their peers. “We need to build awareness of how important physical activity is to our clients’ overall health and happiness,” says Erin Wilkie, therapeutic recreation specialist and Busy Bodies co-developer.

How:

Cassidy and her Busy Bodies friends try out activities like creative dance, yoga, sledge hockey and exercise at a fitness club. “After her amputation Cassidy wanted to dance again, but ballet is hard because her amputation is high,” says mother Carmen. With Busy Bodies, she found an alternative in synchronized swimming. “It’s like ballet in the water,” Cassidy says. The Grade 2 student may not don a pair of skates again, but “now she’s on the ice playing sledge hockey,” her mother says.

The team:

Two therapeutic recreation specialists and one therapeutic recreation student.

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