Children in Motion: Together is Better

Ivan is 18 years old. He has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, and just can't sit still. When Vanya was still a very young boy, his mother sent him to equine therapy, and he learned to mount a horse on his own. At first it was hard, but then everything changed. Vanya learned to stay in the saddle without help at the horseback riding arena. Thanks to the trainers there, he also learned to ride a tricycle. Then, he could ride in his courtyard with his new buddies. In the rehab center, our hero developed a new athletic passion: swimming. Ivan joined a swim team for people with physical disabilities and became a two-time champion of the All-Russian Games. At the moment, his top sport is swimming. The young man swims breaststroke, crawl, and back stroke, but he is not stopping there. His next goal is butterfly. "Vanya didn't have an easy time with this sport because he is not using his legs, but he works very hard. You have to agree it is difficult to swim using only one's arms. Now he has very strong ones - he can even do a handstand! My son dreams of bringing home gold medals from the All-Russian and world championships, and I am sure he will succeed," confides his mother, Elena. Swimming helped him to open up and to become a role model for his classmates. Also, positive lessons and workshops, organized by Perspektiva, helped Vanya become a leader. The young man has gotten to know artists with disabilities and para-athletes, who have shared the secrets of success. For example, Yuri, a master of sports in wheelchair rugby, went to Vanya's school and talked about the sports, which people with disabilities play. Vanya said, he was inspired greatly by Ivan, an IT specialist, who also has cerebral palsy and uses a communicator. He was a guest speaker at a project event where he spoke about the IT program that he developed to help people with cerebral palsy to communicate. "Conversations with famous actors, para-athletes and group training are useful for all students. If you could only see the kids' interest when they ask the guests questions. The kids leave the classes with a spark in their eyes. You can feel their spirits lifting," said Yury, who is a disabled athlete and a staff person at Perspektiva. This year, Vanya graduated from high school. There are no average grades on his transcript. Now he is studying at a teacher's college. His specialty will allow him to work with children both with and without disabilities. Before long, the young man will go to a university to earn a degree in speech therapy. He wants to help children like him and the young man loves to read and can captivate any audience. "If I had not chosen to work with children, maybe I could have worked as a sports announcer. I will take special classes to improve my public speaking skills. I think that I need to work on my voice and diction," Ivan declared.

Links:

• https://perspektiva-inva.ru/istorii/kak-plavat-i-ezdit-verhom-ne-umeya-hodit-istoriya-ivana-glagoleva/?tags=%20