Contact: Paula Wanzer Tel 603-279-7829
Email: osfpw1@aol.com
“...this book succeeds on several levels. It is a story which should interest children, and it contains much useful information for adults. I especially like the fact that although Flynn clearly has serious issues with new situations and experiences, there is no feeling conveyed of her being ‘handicapped’ or ‘different’. The matter-of-fact approach is so refreshing.”
~Jane McCarthy
Retired Special Education Teacher
You Need to Believe in Yourself
So states Flynn, the heroine of Surf’s Up For Flynn. A true story, Flynn, a child with Autism, was diagnosed as moderate to low functioning. At first she was overcome by sensation: the whirring pool fans, the buzzing lights and the moving water. She protected herself from the onslaught of these alien feelings, screaming and flailing her arms and legs or curling into a ball. However, with aggressive early intervention, Flynn has learned to thrive. Paula Wanzer shares the intervention strategies an extraordinary recreation therapist, Nancy Pleiter-Sadowy, uses to support Flynn during her swimming lessons. Through a myriad of playful activity, accompanied by a consistent structured routine, Nancy helps reduce Flynn’s fear and anxiety. As she gains a sense of autonomy, Flynn becomes self confident, learns to swim and begins to assimilate skills that now help her to flourish in school and at home.
Surf’s up For Flynn contains two captivating and instructive sections, one written for children and the other for adults. In the first part, delightful photographs are accompanied by dialogue. They show children and adults alike how Flynn, who was once terrified of the water, teaches Nancy, her swimming instructor, to surf in a pool. In the subsequent section, Paula outlines specific techniques Nancy employs to help Flynn, and other children like her, to become self-reliant and work through the bewildering challenges they encounter every day.
The lessons Flynn and other children learn through play do not stop once they leave Nancy’s program, Choose To Swim. Her innovative strategies not only help children with Autism to become swimmers, they also provide these children with a sense of self-reliance that specifically affects their lives outside the pool. Flynn, for instance, carries the self-assurance she gains into her classroom, the community and her home.
The author of Surf’s Up For Flynn, Paula Wanzer is a certified recreation therapist. She is co-owner of One Step Further, Meredith, NH. She has worked with children and adults of every age and ability for over 30 years. She and Nancy Pleiter-Sadowy, her business partner, continue to create innovative programs in residential facilities, at camps and for community recreation programs. Paula, for example, currently implements these successful techniques in a gym program for adolescents with severe Autism and emotional disabilities. In addition she and Nancy present workshops where they demonstrate these innovative strategies for parents, teachers and other therapists. Throughout her remarkable career, Paula has been instrumental in helping individuals with disabilities develop the skills that lead to successful community inclusion.
Surf’s Up For Flynn is available for $11.95 by calling One Step Further at 603-279-7829 or emailing OSFurther@aol.com
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Surf’s Up For Flynn: How a young girl with Autism overcomes her fear plus Teaching Strategies that promote successful outcomes, by Paula Wanzer, Original Edition, 5 1/2 x 8 ½, 55 pages, 32 photographs, ISBN 0-9778459-0-7. $11.95. Publication: Winter 2006.