A Day Snow Camp for young adults who are deaf & hard of hearing. Every weekend on Mt. Bachelor a new visitor will often notice a parade of orange and blue. After taking a closer look, they realize it’s a crew of adaptive skiers and/or riders taking part in the mountain experience facilitated by the Oregon Adaptive Sport’s instructors in the blue jackets and volunteers in orange bibs.
On the weekend of February 14-15 OAS will be hosting the second annual day Snow Camp for young adults who are Deaf & Hard of Hearing (HOH) -the only one of its kind in the West Coast. The development of this program comes from OAS Office Coordinator, Cara Frank, who is profoundly Deaf and communicates primarily through spoken language. Growing up, Frank wishes she had more deaf role models when she was a kid, thus the inspiration for putting together this program.
Frank says she chose to work in the recreation field because of a recreational professional (who was also a personal mentor)because they both shared the common understanding of living with a profound hearing loss. “She really altered my perception and made me stop doubting myself. To have someone else in similar shoes tell me that it’s possible made it believable. And that’s exactly the kind of experience this camp is intended to provide” says Frank.
Thanks to the great help of many volunteer athletes who are Deaf/HOH from all over the Northwest and volunteer interpreters, OAS is able to implement the snow camp, which has doubled in size from last year. Everyone will be able to communicate in their primary language with their volunteer coach whether its spoken language or sign language. “It will be a weekend community celebration of who we are without any bias around communication modes or methodology,” says Frank.
Oregon Adaptive Sports has been breaking barriers in Central Oregon since 1996, providing people with disabilities and their families’ opportunities for outdoor recreation. Our goal is to nurture the human spirit and foster self-confidence and independence. We currently offer instructional programs in alpine and Nordic skiing and snowboarding, at both Hoodoo and Mt. Bachelor ski resorts as well as summer programs through throughout the great Bend area.
To prevent cost from being a barrier to participation, we rely on the support of hundreds of volunteers, businesses, donors and sponsors.
Suzanne Lafky, Executive Director
Suzanne@oregonadaptivesports.org
541-306-4774
