February 18, 2025 • 26 mins
We learn from our Boundless Nurse Practitioner, Carla O'Neal, and friends from the City of Dublin Recreation Center (Mollie Steiner, Recreation Administrator and Meaghan Campbell, Adaptive Recreation Coordinator), how to set realistic health goals this year that set us all up for success. Little changes made consistently throughout the year can add up to huge health improvements! Also hear about some awesome adaptive recreation programs available in Central Ohio like adaptive yoga, adaptive swim lessons, adaptive water dance and adaptive land dance classes.
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Episode Transcript
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Scott Light (00:03):
Okay, to my guests, how about raising your hand?
Okay. No, wait a minute. This isan audio podcast. Let's go with
a yes or a no. Do you like theword resolution? Molly, yes or
no?
Molly Steiner (00:14):
No.
Scott Light (00:15):
Carla?
Carla O'Neal (00:16):
No.
Scott Light (00:16):
Megan?
Megan Campbell (00:18):
Not really.
Scott Light (00:18):
Okay. I think we're I think we've got consensus
there, I'm going to introducethese great guests here in just
a little bit. But first, welcometo another episode of Boundless
Abilities, a podcast brought toyou by Boundless we are the
largest nonprofit in Ohio thatprovides services to individuals
with intellectual anddevelopmental disabilities and
behavioral health challengesthrough residential support,
(00:41):
autism services, primary healthcare, day programs, counseling
and a whole lot more to childrenand adults. Our mission is to
build a world that realizes theboundless potential of all
people. I'm your host, Scottlight, all right, so you heard
my very quick first questionthere. You probably got a sense
of what we're angling for inthis episode. So let's jump into
(01:02):
it. Our guest today, CarlaO'Neill is a nurse practitioner
here at Boundless, and we'rereally excited to have two
guests from the city of Dublin.
Molly Steiner is the recreationadministrator corporate and
community wellness. And MeganCampbell is here as well. She is
an adaptive coordinator for thecity. Welcome everyone.
Carla O'Neal (01:22):
Thank you for having me today.
Megan Campbell (01:23):
Thank you. Glad to be here.
Molly Steiner (01:24):
Good to be here.
Scott Light (01:25):
All right, so we're not all that crazy about the
word resolution, but there issomething about a new year where
people do do some sort of a areset. So Molly, would you start
us off here about kind of goalsetting and and striving to make
some positive changes in a newyear. How should we go about
this?
Molly Steiner (01:46):
I think people set New Year's resolutions
because the start of a new yearcreates changes in our mindset
and signifies a fresh beginning.
We look back on the past yearand our thoughts may drift to
what could have been and what wecould have done better. The New
Year offers a clean slate tobetter ourselves and provides a
goal date to prepare for theplans we intend to implement. I
think it helps us to get psychedup and determined to accomplish
(02:07):
our goals and to think that thisyear might be different.
Scott Light (02:11):
This year may be the one. Okay, so Carla, what?
How do you approach this if it'snot a resolution, what do you do
to maybe, maybe do a reset?
Carla O'Neal (02:19):
In the new year, the reset for me is lifestyle
And we can all start small,right?
changes. So I really support andencourage everyone, because I
Absolutely, yeah.
Scott Light (02:26):
And build on something like you said. Just
look at a resolution, I don'tlike that term, or I'm not the
biggest fan of that term,because once you meet meet that
can have that continual build.
Megan, how do you approach this?
goal, then it's over. And whenyou look at a lifestyle change
that's ongoing, so you can do areset and say, I'm going to make
lifestyle changes this year. I'mgoing to be a better me, and you
(02:48):
set the area where you can makethe changes to help you reach
your fullest potential. And Ijust love the fact that it's
ongoing, and you can build uponit with each new year.
Megan Campbell (03:09):
I think about a lot like Carla does with
lifestyle changes. I think aboutstarting the new year with what
is a sustainable, small habitchange that you can make. And
really it's not even tied to thenew year, but that's a great
starting point. Starting point.
So just making a small habitchange that's going to be
sustainable, rather than aresolution that feels like, if I
miss one day or if I mess up,then it's over. I set myself up
(03:31):
for failure in a New Year.
Scott Light (03:34):
Boy you really teed me up here, like, if you miss
one day, I can I think I'm theoldest one here at the table,
but I can remember going to somegyms not that many moons ago
where it was hardcore, you know,at the beginning of the year,
and people are like, you've gotto get in your cardio, and
you've got to get in someweights after that. And, you
know, are you drinking your 18glasses of water a day? Go, go,
(03:58):
go. And I don't know about youguys, I'm glad that this has
changed. It's about now beingactive and maybe toward an
overall goal of of wellness. AmI heading down the right path
here?
Unknown (04:11):
I think you're right. I think over time, the concept of
fitness and wellness has evolvedsignificantly, moving from where
we focused solely on physicalactivity to a more holistic
approach, and now we encompassnutrition, mental health and
lifestyle factors. I thinkpreviously, fitness often
centered around physicalactivity alone, but now we
(04:31):
consider the body as a wholesystem. We have wearable
devices. We have apps thatprovide real time data. We have
a more personalized approach, inaddition to online workouts and
home fitness equipment, and Ithink we just have a greater
awareness on preventative healthand an awareness of chronic
disease. So I think we're alsogaining a better understanding
(04:54):
of the nutrition side and thefoods that we eat. And I like
the saying when you hear thatyou can't outrun a bad diet.
It's true, you can exercise allyou want, but if the diet
portion is also not undercontrol, and you're trying to do
the right things from anutrition standpoint, exercise
is not going to take care ofeverything.
Carla O'Neal (05:14):
Absolutely. I really like what she's saying
about the holistic approach.
Previously, when you talkedabout fitness, it was just, I
needed to hit those hardcoreitems at the gym, and you fall
off after a couple months. Butwhen you look at the holistic
approach, you need to focus moreon health maintenance, disease
prevention. You can go in you'retalking about nutrition. How can
(05:37):
I fuel my body once you have theproper nutrition and fuel, then
you can do more with yourexercise and your physical
activity again, settingattainable goals so that you can
go out and just say, I need todo because the exercise goals
are important, but it compassesso much more. Now you have to
(05:57):
get your mind mindset, correct?
So, you know, wellness in allareas can lead to overall
wellness.
Megan Campbell (06:08):
Like one of the things that I worked on last
year was getting in the gym andtaking care of some of those
physical wellness, you know,objectives. But this year now,
it's taking that a step furtherand trying to build more healthy
habits with better nutrition andsleep. There's one of the things
that I think we often overlookthough. You know, my user New
Year's resolution might be toget more sleep this year.
Scott Light (06:28):
That's a good one.
I mean, rest and recovery ishuge. That's really, really
good. Carla, let me come back.
Let's set a couple morebaselines here. It's also
important to talk about thispeople with autism and other
disabilities, they face healthconcerns and risks out there
that the broader public does notcan you go into this a little
(06:49):
bit more for our listeningaudience,
Carla O'Neal (06:51):
absolutely, people with autism and other
disabilities are at a higherrisk for several physical and
mental health concerns ascompared to those without any
disabilities, motor skillchallenges, epilepsy, feeding
issues, gastrointestinalproblems, mental health concerns
such as OCD or obsessivecompulsive disorder,
(07:14):
schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHDanxiety, depression and
disruptive sleep. All of theaforementioned health issues can
affect nutrition and wellness.
Of notable concern are thefeeding issues as it relates to
nutrition. Feeding is acomplicated human behavior that
involves sensory systems,including touch, sight, taste,
(07:37):
smell and even sound. Up to 70%of autistic children have
difficulties with sensoryprocessing and experience
atypical eating behaviors, themost common of which is food
selectivity, which leads tochallenges meeting nutritional
goals. These issues can berestricted food habits, like
(07:57):
picky eaters or restrictiveeaters and averisons to certain
food textures and tastes.
Scott Light (08:06):
Also, everything you talked about there can lead
to a lower life expectancy topeople with autism and other
disabilities, right?
That tees up whatwe want to talk about, some of
Carla O'Neal (08:16):
That's correct.
the fantastic programming that'shappening in the city of Dublin,
Megan and Molly too, tell ourlisteners about the adaptive
programming that that both ofyou lead here. I understand you
have everything from adaptiveaquatics to yoga.
Megan Campbell (08:36):
We have programs mostly designed for teens and
adults, adaptive programsdesigned for teens and adults
from social programs. Our mainprogram is called Fantastic
Friday. It's a Friday nightsocial program for adults with
disabilities, many of whom havegone to school together, all you
know, throughout theirchildhood. And then when school
(08:56):
ends, it's, well, where's ouropportunity to find social
opportunities in the community.
So we get everybody togetheronce or twice a month for a
program on Friday nights. Wehave some life skill programs,
like we do cooking classes forteens and adults. Try and build
some life skills andindependence. But you can also
focus on, you know, just socialinteraction and having a good
(09:17):
time while we're there. We havesome fitness programs, including
adaptive yoga, which we juststarted this this winter. We
have adaptive swim lessons,adaptive water dance and
adaptive land dance classes. Ourland dance classes have been
running for a couple of years,but aqua dance is new to us, so
that's been a fun new venture.
Scott Light (09:41):
You've got a lot there. Let's unpack a few of
those, if we could. Let's, let'sbreak it down on on the fitness
side, on the wellness side,what's popular?
Megan Campbell (09:50):
Our most popular fitness or wellness adaptive
program is definitely our allabilities dance class.
Scott Light (09:56):
Okay.
Megan Campbell (09:56):
They meet every week on Thursdays from 5:30 to
6 (09:59):
15. The instructor is a valenmi certified trainer. She
just has a passion for dance.
She's got this incredible bubblyenergy that is contagious where
everybody comes in. So we have agroup of about 10 to 15 teens
and adults who come to thatclass every week.
Scott Light (10:16):
Let's talk about yoga. I'll weigh in here as a
fan, and my lower back willweigh in as a fan, too. But we
also know this when you slowdown, when anyone slows down
their breathing, the benefits ofthat boy are exponential in your
day, in your week and yourmonth, and they just continue to
layer on and on. How are yourparticipants taking to adaptive
(10:39):
yoga?
Molly Steiner (10:39):
Adaptive yoga is new to us, but the instructor
has been phenomenal. She comesin with different adaptations
for every pose. They do visualcards to show people how to do
the poses. And the goal of theclass is not to not to follow a
strict yoga routine to developconfidence balance. They kind of
(11:05):
just work through some of thosebreathing techniques.
Scott Light (11:07):
Yeah, and then the evolution side of this, the life
skills side, cooking classes,get togethers on a Friday night.
Was that going on five, tenyears ago, or is that kind of
again, the new evolution of allthis?
Megan Campbell (11:22):
Yeah, the social programs and the life skill
programs were a couple ofclasses that have existed since
long before I worked in Dublin,they've had a following for a
long time. We've just started toexpand to offering teen classes.
You know, as our adults getolder, there's a whole new
generation of kids who are aboutto age out of school programs,
(11:43):
and we're trying to find ways toinclude them in opportunities
that will extend throughouttheir lifetime.
Scott Light (11:49):
Molly, I know you and I have talked about this.
The Dublin Community RecreationCenters is undergoing a refresh.
Do you see that some of theadaptive programming could,
could possibly get a boost aspart of the Refresh is going on
at the DCRC?
Molly Steiner (12:02):
Yeah, I think absolutely, at the DCRC, we
utilize a lot of our spaces formulti programming efforts, and
so we are starting the refreshwith our teen lounge and our
senior lounge areas, renamingthose to be the Hub and the
Lounge, and both of those spaceswill be going through a major
makeover and renovation and sothat, ultimately can enhance the
(12:27):
adaptive programming that we'redoing, if they are utilizing
those spaces in any way.
Scott Light (12:31):
Carla, I'd love to get your thoughts when you hear
about a municipality devotingthose kinds of resources, again
to that holistic approach,mental and physical activity,
wellness.
Carla O'Neal (12:46):
As a clinician, I really enjoy hearing about
municipalities offering thoseservices in all areas. Most
notable are adaptive services,which goes to the population of
patients that we serve. So now Iam able to provide them for a
resource of where they can goout in the community, to be able
(13:09):
to enjoy some of the sportsactivities and just some of the
activities that the generalpopulation, seeing them have
that and then being able toimprove their wellness in all of
those areas that makes a bigimpact on their overall health
outcome. So we're looking at,you know, being able to improve
(13:32):
those numbers, the betterhealth, the longer you live. So
when you look at it, great, it'sfine. Now they get to enjoy
these activities, but look atthe long term health benefits by
having that well roundedservices offered by these
municipalities.
Scott Light (13:45):
Way to go. Dublin.
Nice job. Let's go broad againhere. How can parents, trainers,
those in the IDD world, Carla,how can they set goals in this
new year again, on the wellnessand the nutrition side, what's
the best way to approach this?
Carla O'Neal (14:03):
So the best way to approach is to start by setting
measurable and attainable goalsfor both wellness and nutrition.
For the new year for childrenand adults with autism and
intellectual disabilities. It'simportant to also include that
person in their goal setting,you're going to get more buy in.
(14:24):
They're excited about it, andyou just guide them and help
them set set those goals. Thegoals should be unique to that
person's strengths and areas ofit, of need. For example, many
children and adults with autismand intellectual disability have
challenges with gross motorskills, some more significant
than others. So wellness goalscan include activities to help
(14:47):
improve balance, posture orcoordination, such as, I will
jump on the trampoline for 15minutes on Wednesdays after
school, or I will go to the AllAbilities dance class at Dublin
on Thursdays at six o'clock.
You help them pick the activitythat they're interested in. And
then once this goal is set, youwant to have them do that
(15:07):
ongoing, not just for a shortperiod of time, but this they
love routines. Get that into theroutine and it's ongoing. Then
as far as nutrition goes,nutrition plays an integral role
in living a healthy lifestyle.
Many children and adults withautism face challenges that can
make a nutritious dietespecially difficult. Food
(15:29):
sensitivities, GI issues,restrictive or repetitive
behaviors are just a fewexamples. So again, goals should
be measurable and attainable. Iwill try one new food monthly.
Now, with trying these new foodsis very important that parents
and caregivers expose children,expose their loved one to the
(15:51):
foods at least 12 times beforeyou mark it as a food they don't
like. You want to do things likejust for example, with the
tomato, you give someone atomato they don't like it. A lot
of times its an aversion to thetexture. So we can chop it, we
can blend it, we can make asauce, or we can cook it in our
pasta. You want to also try funthings. Make paint with the
(16:15):
food, you know, let the saucedraw on there. Put eyes using
cookie cutters for fun foods,and again, reward the good
behavior, but with smallrewards, because you don't want
it to be, you know, you couldblow bubbles, you can sing a
song or do something small forto reward, but again, exposing
(16:35):
them twelve times to a new foodwill really help in meeting
nutritional goals.
Scott Light (16:40):
I'm glad you mentioned starting small, and I
would love to get some reactionfrom all of you on maybe an
example of something you'vewitnessed, or maybe a person
that you've seen, maybe comethrough the Dublin Community
Recreation Center, or maybe aCarla, maybe a person that
you've treated where they'vemade some small changes, and
(17:02):
then over time, you've seen somebig results.
Megan Campbell (17:07):
Before I worked for the Dublin Rec Center my
past careers as a pediatricoccupational therapist, so feed,
feeding and sensory issues iskind of one of the things that I
take a little bit of extrainterest in so with our cooking
classes, one of the things thatwe're focusing on is working
with a lot of adults with autismon trying new foods, exploring
(17:28):
textures. So I've told some ofthem, you know, our our goal
every day is that we're going toput everything on the plate, not
going to make you eat everythingon the plate, but we want to try
to at least have it on theplate, explore it, give it a
try. A lot of times it'sencouraging when all of our
friends are also trying the foodand they're interested. So I
(17:49):
like your example with thetomato. I will have people who
tell me all throughout class, Idon't like it, I don't like it,
I don't like it, but we'retrying it in a new form, and
then they end up trying it andliking it. So that's one of my
favorite things about ourcooking classes is kind of
finding low pressure ways toencourage people to try new
foods, try things in a differentway, explore some cooking that
(18:09):
they can take home.
Scott Light (18:10):
Yeah, salsa is a really good icebreaker. I think
in the tomato world, am I wrongon that?
Carla O'Neal (18:15):
You're definitely right.
Scott Light (18:17):
Molly, is there something that you could share?
Maybe, if you've seen somebodyand as a trainer too, I would
imagine you've probably seen alot of folks transform
themselves.
Molly Steiner (18:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
I have been a fitness instructorfor longer than I care to share,
but in the course of that careeror side hustle, I've seen a lot
of participants who have come innever exercising before, always
encouraging them to just startfrom a very low baseline. If
it's a strength class, startwith a one pound weight, start
(18:49):
with a two pound weight, becauseyou want to help them feel
successful. And I've seen peopleprogress where they're
consistently coming to class andthey are getting stronger.
They're upping their weightsover time. And then several
participants that I can think ofhave then taken the journey to
being fitness instructorsthemselves.
Scott Light (19:08):
Wow.
Molly Steiner (19:09):
So they've seen the success. They've found the
joy in what they're doing, andthen they, in turn, want to give
back.
Scott Light (19:15):
That's awesome.
Carla, what about you?
Carla O'Neal (19:18):
I have two amazing examples to share. And I have
one patient that I saw here atBoundless and she had been, over
the years, struggling with alittle fine motor skills, and
she was encouraged to take up anart class in the community. And
with that art class, her abilitywith her fine motor skills just
(19:42):
significantly increased. I amhappy to report she is now
selling her work through theAutism Community through Grove
City, and they have an artgallery. So her skills improved
that much because she went inthinking I didn't want to. Do
it. I can't. And she had a thatmindset, but she was encouraged
(20:04):
to push through, go on, trysomething new. She tried it. It
improved her growth, her finemotor skills, which she was
working on, to go on and todevelop a passion into art, and
now to see that art in thegallery being sold.
Scott Light (20:20):
That's amazing.
That's amazing.
Carla O'Neal (20:21):
That's amazing.
Scott Light (20:22):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Carla O'Neal (20:23):
Yes. And my second one is a patient that I saw here
at Boundless, and it was exactlywhen you were stating what Molly
was stating. She went into thefitness class she really loved
it. Zumba was her passion, andshe did Zumba, and she was
encouraged to go ahead and takethe instructors class. And when
(20:45):
she finished her certificate,she was so happy, and brought it
to her last visit and told meshe we celebrated together. We
were so happy for her, and Ican't wait to see where her
journey goes and takes her.
Scott Light (20:58):
That's great. That is fantastic. I did a little
research as well in terms ofwhat makes a successful
resolution. Now, I know we don'tlike the word resolution, but it
was, it was part of, it was partof a Google search. I'll just
admit it right there. All right.
So there were two things. Therewere two commonalities here. And
the first one was, and I thinkyou hit on this earlier Carla,
(21:19):
and that was, find somethingthat you like. There is
activity, there is wellness,there is fitness. In gardening,
if you're outside and you'reworking in the yard, you know
what you're burning, calories.
So A, find something that youlike when it comes to staying
active. And B, find a buddy or agroup with whom to do it. If you
(21:41):
want to go walk the track at theDublin Rec Center, you know
what? Call up your buddy, orcall up a group and say, hey,
you know what? Let's go do thistogether. You're the experts
here. What do you think aboutthose two pieces of advice?
Unknown (21:53):
I love both of those pieces of the advice. You find
something fun, it's not work.
You, you're doing somethingenjoyable, so you're likely to
continue it long term. Once youdo it long term, you start
seeing the benefits of it. Thenwhen you involve a group, that's
even better. Sometimes, as anindividual, you may say, I just
don't feel like it today. Butwhen you're a part of a greater
(22:17):
community or a group, you'regoing to say, I can't let the
group down. And then you havethose others encouraging you to
go, come on, let's go to thattrack at Dublin. Let's walk.
You're more apt to do it andcontinue doing it.
Molly Steiner (22:29):
I agree. I also think that we have to be picky
about our resolutions and ourgoals. And I think sometimes we
tend to think we have to do somany things and make so many
changes. We have to lose weight,we have to get in shape, we have
to quit smoking, we have tovolunteer more. We have to do
this, this, this. But I thinkinstead of picking all of those
(22:51):
different things that we want toaccomplish, it's better to just
focus on one or two of those ata time and really be picky about
where you're going to dedicateyour efforts.
Megan Campbell (23:02):
I think it's great advice to do something
that you want to do with abuddy. I think kind of like
Carla was saying, it increasesyour accountability for going
every day. You know, some daysyou wake up like this morning it
was negative six degrees. Idon't want to get up and work
out when it's negative sixdegrees, but if I have a friend
that I know is counting on me toshow up makes it a lot more
(23:23):
enjoyable, makes it somethingthat you can stick to.
Scott Light (23:26):
Yeah, I looked at the weather app this morning.
I'm gonna be honest with thethree of you. I said bad words
this morning when I saw it wasminus six degrees.
We always like to leave ourlisteners with avenues to
resources. So Molly, Megan, howcan people find out more a
website address, how can peoplefind out more about everything
(23:47):
you're doing when it comes toadaptive programming in the city
of Dublin?
Megan Campbell (23:50):
You can find more on our website, which will
have information about ourbrochures and all of our
programs, including fitnessprograms, aquatics, social
programs, camps, everything frompreschool age through senior
citizens. You can contact me atmmcampbell@dublin.oh.us. We do a
process called the inquiry ofneeds, where we meet with
(24:12):
families to talk about whattheir interests are, their age
group, what their skills are,and then helping to find a
program that would be good forwhat they're looking for, and
that we can talk about providingaccommodations to make sure they
get the best possible experiencein our programs.
Scott Light (24:27):
And you don't have to live in Dublin to come and
enjoy the programs, right,correct?
Megan Campbell (24:31):
You can be a resident or a non resident.
Residents get registrationfirst, but non residents,
registration begins one weeklater.
Scott Light (24:39):
Okay? And Molly, you've got a phone number for
us.
Unknown (24:41):
Yeah you can reach out to us at the Dublin Community
Recreation Center at614-410-4550, that will take you
to the front desk, and then ifyou are interested in a specific
program or activity, they candirect you to the appropriate
person.
Scott Light (24:57):
Okay, Carla, similar question to you. How can
people find out more about well,all the services here at
Carla O'Neal (25:03):
People can learn more about the services by going
Boundless?
online to iamboundless.org andthey can find out about all the
programs. They can contact usvia phone at 614-505-1724.
People can also call the samenumber and schedule an in person
(25:25):
tour of the facility located at445 East Dublin Granville Road
in Worthington.
Scott Light (25:32):
This has been a great conversation to all three
of you. Have a great new year.
Here's to wellness and activityand all the things and nothing,
nothing too hardcore out thereagain. Thanks to all three of
you for being here. To ourlisteners, thank you as well.
Don't forget you can be part ofepisodes to come email us your
questions or comments atpodcast. At iamboundless.org.
This is Boundless Abilitiesbrought to you by Boundless.
Okay, to my guests, how about raising your hand?
Okay. No, wait a minute. This isan audio podcast. Let's go with
a yes or a no. Do you like theword resolution? Molly, yes or
no?
Molly Steiner (00:14):
No.
Scott Light (00:15):
Carla?
Carla O'Neal (00:16):
No.
Scott Light (00:16):
Megan?
Megan Campbell (00:18):
Not really.
Scott Light (00:18):
Okay. I think we're I think we've got consensus
there, I'm going to introducethese great guests here in just
a little bit. But first, welcometo another episode of Boundless
Abilities, a podcast brought toyou by Boundless we are the
largest nonprofit in Ohio thatprovides services to individuals
with intellectual anddevelopmental disabilities and
behavioral health challengesthrough residential support,
(00:41):
autism services, primary healthcare, day programs, counseling
and a whole lot more to childrenand adults. Our mission is to
build a world that realizes theboundless potential of all
people. I'm your host, Scottlight, all right, so you heard
my very quick first questionthere. You probably got a sense
of what we're angling for inthis episode. So let's jump into
(01:02):
it. Our guest today, CarlaO'Neill is a nurse practitioner
here at Boundless, and we'rereally excited to have two
guests from the city of Dublin.
Molly Steiner is the recreationadministrator corporate and
community wellness. And MeganCampbell is here as well. She is
an adaptive coordinator for thecity. Welcome everyone.
Carla O'Neal (01:22):
Thank you for having me today.
Megan Campbell (01:23):
Thank you. Glad to be here.
Molly Steiner (01:24):
Good to be here.
Scott Light (01:25):
All right, so we're not all that crazy about the
word resolution, but there issomething about a new year where
people do do some sort of a areset. So Molly, would you start
us off here about kind of goalsetting and and striving to make
some positive changes in a newyear. How should we go about
this?
Molly Steiner (01:46):
I think people set New Year's resolutions
because the start of a new yearcreates changes in our mindset
and signifies a fresh beginning.
We look back on the past yearand our thoughts may drift to
what could have been and what wecould have done better. The New
Year offers a clean slate tobetter ourselves and provides a
goal date to prepare for theplans we intend to implement. I
think it helps us to get psychedup and determined to accomplish
(02:07):
our goals and to think that thisyear might be different.
Scott Light (02:11):
This year may be the one. Okay, so Carla, what?
How do you approach this if it'snot a resolution, what do you do
to maybe, maybe do a reset?
Carla O'Neal (02:19):
In the new year, the reset for me is lifestyle
And we can all start small,right?
changes. So I really support andencourage everyone, because I
Absolutely, yeah.
Scott Light (02:26):
And build on something like you said. Just
look at a resolution, I don'tlike that term, or I'm not the
biggest fan of that term,because once you meet meet that
can have that continual build.
Megan, how do you approach this?
goal, then it's over. And whenyou look at a lifestyle change
that's ongoing, so you can do areset and say, I'm going to make
lifestyle changes this year. I'mgoing to be a better me, and you
(02:48):
set the area where you can makethe changes to help you reach
your fullest potential. And Ijust love the fact that it's
ongoing, and you can build uponit with each new year.
Megan Campbell (03:09):
I think about a lot like Carla does with
lifestyle changes. I think aboutstarting the new year with what
is a sustainable, small habitchange that you can make. And
really it's not even tied to thenew year, but that's a great
starting point. Starting point.
So just making a small habitchange that's going to be
sustainable, rather than aresolution that feels like, if I
miss one day or if I mess up,then it's over. I set myself up
(03:31):
for failure in a New Year.
Scott Light (03:34):
Boy you really teed me up here, like, if you miss
one day, I can I think I'm theoldest one here at the table,
but I can remember going to somegyms not that many moons ago
where it was hardcore, you know,at the beginning of the year,
and people are like, you've gotto get in your cardio, and
you've got to get in someweights after that. And, you
know, are you drinking your 18glasses of water a day? Go, go,
(03:58):
go. And I don't know about youguys, I'm glad that this has
changed. It's about now beingactive and maybe toward an
overall goal of of wellness. AmI heading down the right path
here?
Unknown (04:11):
I think you're right. I think over time, the concept of
fitness and wellness has evolvedsignificantly, moving from where
we focused solely on physicalactivity to a more holistic
approach, and now we encompassnutrition, mental health and
lifestyle factors. I thinkpreviously, fitness often
centered around physicalactivity alone, but now we
(04:31):
consider the body as a wholesystem. We have wearable
devices. We have apps thatprovide real time data. We have
a more personalized approach, inaddition to online workouts and
home fitness equipment, and Ithink we just have a greater
awareness on preventative healthand an awareness of chronic
disease. So I think we're alsogaining a better understanding
(04:54):
of the nutrition side and thefoods that we eat. And I like
the saying when you hear thatyou can't outrun a bad diet.
It's true, you can exercise allyou want, but if the diet
portion is also not undercontrol, and you're trying to do
the right things from anutrition standpoint, exercise
is not going to take care ofeverything.
Carla O'Neal (05:14):
Absolutely. I really like what she's saying
about the holistic approach.
Previously, when you talkedabout fitness, it was just, I
needed to hit those hardcoreitems at the gym, and you fall
off after a couple months. Butwhen you look at the holistic
approach, you need to focus moreon health maintenance, disease
prevention. You can go in you'retalking about nutrition. How can
(05:37):
I fuel my body once you have theproper nutrition and fuel, then
you can do more with yourexercise and your physical
activity again, settingattainable goals so that you can
go out and just say, I need todo because the exercise goals
are important, but it compassesso much more. Now you have to
(05:57):
get your mind mindset, correct?
So, you know, wellness in allareas can lead to overall
wellness.
Megan Campbell (06:08):
Like one of the things that I worked on last
year was getting in the gym andtaking care of some of those
physical wellness, you know,objectives. But this year now,
it's taking that a step furtherand trying to build more healthy
habits with better nutrition andsleep. There's one of the things
that I think we often overlookthough. You know, my user New
Year's resolution might be toget more sleep this year.
Scott Light (06:28):
That's a good one.
I mean, rest and recovery ishuge. That's really, really
good. Carla, let me come back.
Let's set a couple morebaselines here. It's also
important to talk about thispeople with autism and other
disabilities, they face healthconcerns and risks out there
that the broader public does notcan you go into this a little
(06:49):
bit more for our listeningaudience,
Carla O'Neal (06:51):
absolutely, people with autism and other
disabilities are at a higherrisk for several physical and
mental health concerns ascompared to those without any
disabilities, motor skillchallenges, epilepsy, feeding
issues, gastrointestinalproblems, mental health concerns
such as OCD or obsessivecompulsive disorder,
(07:14):
schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHDanxiety, depression and
disruptive sleep. All of theaforementioned health issues can
affect nutrition and wellness.
Of notable concern are thefeeding issues as it relates to
nutrition. Feeding is acomplicated human behavior that
involves sensory systems,including touch, sight, taste,
(07:37):
smell and even sound. Up to 70%of autistic children have
difficulties with sensoryprocessing and experience
atypical eating behaviors, themost common of which is food
selectivity, which leads tochallenges meeting nutritional
goals. These issues can berestricted food habits, like
(07:57):
picky eaters or restrictiveeaters and averisons to certain
food textures and tastes.
Scott Light (08:06):
Also, everything you talked about there can lead
to a lower life expectancy topeople with autism and other
disabilities, right?
That tees up whatwe want to talk about, some of
Carla O'Neal (08:16):
That's correct.
the fantastic programming that'shappening in the city of Dublin,
Megan and Molly too, tell ourlisteners about the adaptive
programming that that both ofyou lead here. I understand you
have everything from adaptiveaquatics to yoga.
Megan Campbell (08:36):
We have programs mostly designed for teens and
adults, adaptive programsdesigned for teens and adults
from social programs. Our mainprogram is called Fantastic
Friday. It's a Friday nightsocial program for adults with
disabilities, many of whom havegone to school together, all you
know, throughout theirchildhood. And then when school
(08:56):
ends, it's, well, where's ouropportunity to find social
opportunities in the community.
So we get everybody togetheronce or twice a month for a
program on Friday nights. Wehave some life skill programs,
like we do cooking classes forteens and adults. Try and build
some life skills andindependence. But you can also
focus on, you know, just socialinteraction and having a good
(09:17):
time while we're there. We havesome fitness programs, including
adaptive yoga, which we juststarted this this winter. We
have adaptive swim lessons,adaptive water dance and
adaptive land dance classes. Ourland dance classes have been
running for a couple of years,but aqua dance is new to us, so
that's been a fun new venture.
Scott Light (09:41):
You've got a lot there. Let's unpack a few of
those, if we could. Let's, let'sbreak it down on on the fitness
side, on the wellness side,what's popular?
Megan Campbell (09:50):
Our most popular fitness or wellness adaptive
program is definitely our allabilities dance class.
Scott Light (09:56):
Okay.
Megan Campbell (09:56):
They meet every week on Thursdays from 5:30 to
6 (09:59):
15. The instructor is a valenmi certified trainer. She
just has a passion for dance.
She's got this incredible bubblyenergy that is contagious where
everybody comes in. So we have agroup of about 10 to 15 teens
and adults who come to thatclass every week.
Scott Light (10:16):
Let's talk about yoga. I'll weigh in here as a
fan, and my lower back willweigh in as a fan, too. But we
also know this when you slowdown, when anyone slows down
their breathing, the benefits ofthat boy are exponential in your
day, in your week and yourmonth, and they just continue to
layer on and on. How are yourparticipants taking to adaptive
(10:39):
yoga?
Molly Steiner (10:39):
Adaptive yoga is new to us, but the instructor
has been phenomenal. She comesin with different adaptations
for every pose. They do visualcards to show people how to do
the poses. And the goal of theclass is not to not to follow a
strict yoga routine to developconfidence balance. They kind of
(11:05):
just work through some of thosebreathing techniques.
Scott Light (11:07):
Yeah, and then the evolution side of this, the life
skills side, cooking classes,get togethers on a Friday night.
Was that going on five, tenyears ago, or is that kind of
again, the new evolution of allthis?
Megan Campbell (11:22):
Yeah, the social programs and the life skill
programs were a couple ofclasses that have existed since
long before I worked in Dublin,they've had a following for a
long time. We've just started toexpand to offering teen classes.
You know, as our adults getolder, there's a whole new
generation of kids who are aboutto age out of school programs,
(11:43):
and we're trying to find ways toinclude them in opportunities
that will extend throughouttheir lifetime.
Scott Light (11:49):
Molly, I know you and I have talked about this.
The Dublin Community RecreationCenters is undergoing a refresh.
Do you see that some of theadaptive programming could,
could possibly get a boost aspart of the Refresh is going on
at the DCRC?
Molly Steiner (12:02):
Yeah, I think absolutely, at the DCRC, we
utilize a lot of our spaces formulti programming efforts, and
so we are starting the refreshwith our teen lounge and our
senior lounge areas, renamingthose to be the Hub and the
Lounge, and both of those spaceswill be going through a major
makeover and renovation and sothat, ultimately can enhance the
(12:27):
adaptive programming that we'redoing, if they are utilizing
those spaces in any way.
Scott Light (12:31):
Carla, I'd love to get your thoughts when you hear
about a municipality devotingthose kinds of resources, again
to that holistic approach,mental and physical activity,
wellness.
Carla O'Neal (12:46):
As a clinician, I really enjoy hearing about
municipalities offering thoseservices in all areas. Most
notable are adaptive services,which goes to the population of
patients that we serve. So now Iam able to provide them for a
resource of where they can goout in the community, to be able
(13:09):
to enjoy some of the sportsactivities and just some of the
activities that the generalpopulation, seeing them have
that and then being able toimprove their wellness in all of
those areas that makes a bigimpact on their overall health
outcome. So we're looking at,you know, being able to improve
(13:32):
those numbers, the betterhealth, the longer you live. So
when you look at it, great, it'sfine. Now they get to enjoy
these activities, but look atthe long term health benefits by
having that well roundedservices offered by these
municipalities.
Scott Light (13:45):
Way to go. Dublin.
Nice job. Let's go broad againhere. How can parents, trainers,
those in the IDD world, Carla,how can they set goals in this
new year again, on the wellnessand the nutrition side, what's
the best way to approach this?
Carla O'Neal (14:03):
So the best way to approach is to start by setting
measurable and attainable goalsfor both wellness and nutrition.
For the new year for childrenand adults with autism and
intellectual disabilities. It'simportant to also include that
person in their goal setting,you're going to get more buy in.
(14:24):
They're excited about it, andyou just guide them and help
them set set those goals. Thegoals should be unique to that
person's strengths and areas ofit, of need. For example, many
children and adults with autismand intellectual disability have
challenges with gross motorskills, some more significant
than others. So wellness goalscan include activities to help
(14:47):
improve balance, posture orcoordination, such as, I will
jump on the trampoline for 15minutes on Wednesdays after
school, or I will go to the AllAbilities dance class at Dublin
on Thursdays at six o'clock.
You help them pick the activitythat they're interested in. And
then once this goal is set, youwant to have them do that
(15:07):
ongoing, not just for a shortperiod of time, but this they
love routines. Get that into theroutine and it's ongoing. Then
as far as nutrition goes,nutrition plays an integral role
in living a healthy lifestyle.
Many children and adults withautism face challenges that can
make a nutritious dietespecially difficult. Food
(15:29):
sensitivities, GI issues,restrictive or repetitive
behaviors are just a fewexamples. So again, goals should
be measurable and attainable. Iwill try one new food monthly.
Now, with trying these new foodsis very important that parents
and caregivers expose children,expose their loved one to the
(15:51):
foods at least 12 times beforeyou mark it as a food they don't
like. You want to do things likejust for example, with the
tomato, you give someone atomato they don't like it. A lot
of times its an aversion to thetexture. So we can chop it, we
can blend it, we can make asauce, or we can cook it in our
pasta. You want to also try funthings. Make paint with the
(16:15):
food, you know, let the saucedraw on there. Put eyes using
cookie cutters for fun foods,and again, reward the good
behavior, but with smallrewards, because you don't want
it to be, you know, you couldblow bubbles, you can sing a
song or do something small forto reward, but again, exposing
(16:35):
them twelve times to a new foodwill really help in meeting
nutritional goals.
Scott Light (16:40):
I'm glad you mentioned starting small, and I
would love to get some reactionfrom all of you on maybe an
example of something you'vewitnessed, or maybe a person
that you've seen, maybe comethrough the Dublin Community
Recreation Center, or maybe aCarla, maybe a person that
you've treated where they'vemade some small changes, and
(17:02):
then over time, you've seen somebig results.
Megan Campbell (17:07):
Before I worked for the Dublin Rec Center my
past careers as a pediatricoccupational therapist, so feed,
feeding and sensory issues iskind of one of the things that I
take a little bit of extrainterest in so with our cooking
classes, one of the things thatwe're focusing on is working
with a lot of adults with autismon trying new foods, exploring
(17:28):
textures. So I've told some ofthem, you know, our our goal
every day is that we're going toput everything on the plate, not
going to make you eat everythingon the plate, but we want to try
to at least have it on theplate, explore it, give it a
try. A lot of times it'sencouraging when all of our
friends are also trying the foodand they're interested. So I
(17:49):
like your example with thetomato. I will have people who
tell me all throughout class, Idon't like it, I don't like it,
I don't like it, but we'retrying it in a new form, and
then they end up trying it andliking it. So that's one of my
favorite things about ourcooking classes is kind of
finding low pressure ways toencourage people to try new
foods, try things in a differentway, explore some cooking that
(18:09):
they can take home.
Scott Light (18:10):
Yeah, salsa is a really good icebreaker. I think
in the tomato world, am I wrongon that?
Carla O'Neal (18:15):
You're definitely right.
Scott Light (18:17):
Molly, is there something that you could share?
Maybe, if you've seen somebodyand as a trainer too, I would
imagine you've probably seen alot of folks transform
themselves.
Molly Steiner (18:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
I have been a fitness instructorfor longer than I care to share,
but in the course of that careeror side hustle, I've seen a lot
of participants who have come innever exercising before, always
encouraging them to just startfrom a very low baseline. If
it's a strength class, startwith a one pound weight, start
(18:49):
with a two pound weight, becauseyou want to help them feel
successful. And I've seen peopleprogress where they're
consistently coming to class andthey are getting stronger.
They're upping their weightsover time. And then several
participants that I can think ofhave then taken the journey to
being fitness instructorsthemselves.
Scott Light (19:08):
Wow.
Molly Steiner (19:09):
So they've seen the success. They've found the
joy in what they're doing, andthen they, in turn, want to give
back.
Scott Light (19:15):
That's awesome.
Carla, what about you?
Carla O'Neal (19:18):
I have two amazing examples to share. And I have
one patient that I saw here atBoundless and she had been, over
the years, struggling with alittle fine motor skills, and
she was encouraged to take up anart class in the community. And
with that art class, her abilitywith her fine motor skills just
(19:42):
significantly increased. I amhappy to report she is now
selling her work through theAutism Community through Grove
City, and they have an artgallery. So her skills improved
that much because she went inthinking I didn't want to. Do
it. I can't. And she had a thatmindset, but she was encouraged
(20:04):
to push through, go on, trysomething new. She tried it. It
improved her growth, her finemotor skills, which she was
working on, to go on and todevelop a passion into art, and
now to see that art in thegallery being sold.
Scott Light (20:20):
That's amazing.
That's amazing.
Carla O'Neal (20:21):
That's amazing.
Scott Light (20:22):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Carla O'Neal (20:23):
Yes. And my second one is a patient that I saw here
at Boundless, and it was exactlywhen you were stating what Molly
was stating. She went into thefitness class she really loved
it. Zumba was her passion, andshe did Zumba, and she was
encouraged to go ahead and takethe instructors class. And when
(20:45):
she finished her certificate,she was so happy, and brought it
to her last visit and told meshe we celebrated together. We
were so happy for her, and Ican't wait to see where her
journey goes and takes her.
Scott Light (20:58):
That's great. That is fantastic. I did a little
research as well in terms ofwhat makes a successful
resolution. Now, I know we don'tlike the word resolution, but it
was, it was part of, it was partof a Google search. I'll just
admit it right there. All right.
So there were two things. Therewere two commonalities here. And
the first one was, and I thinkyou hit on this earlier Carla,
(21:19):
and that was, find somethingthat you like. There is
activity, there is wellness,there is fitness. In gardening,
if you're outside and you'reworking in the yard, you know
what you're burning, calories.
So A, find something that youlike when it comes to staying
active. And B, find a buddy or agroup with whom to do it. If you
(21:41):
want to go walk the track at theDublin Rec Center, you know
what? Call up your buddy, orcall up a group and say, hey,
you know what? Let's go do thistogether. You're the experts
here. What do you think aboutthose two pieces of advice?
Unknown (21:53):
I love both of those pieces of the advice. You find
something fun, it's not work.
You, you're doing somethingenjoyable, so you're likely to
continue it long term. Once youdo it long term, you start
seeing the benefits of it. Thenwhen you involve a group, that's
even better. Sometimes, as anindividual, you may say, I just
don't feel like it today. Butwhen you're a part of a greater
(22:17):
community or a group, you'regoing to say, I can't let the
group down. And then you havethose others encouraging you to
go, come on, let's go to thattrack at Dublin. Let's walk.
You're more apt to do it andcontinue doing it.
Molly Steiner (22:29):
I agree. I also think that we have to be picky
about our resolutions and ourgoals. And I think sometimes we
tend to think we have to do somany things and make so many
changes. We have to lose weight,we have to get in shape, we have
to quit smoking, we have tovolunteer more. We have to do
this, this, this. But I thinkinstead of picking all of those
(22:51):
different things that we want toaccomplish, it's better to just
focus on one or two of those ata time and really be picky about
where you're going to dedicateyour efforts.
Megan Campbell (23:02):
I think it's great advice to do something
that you want to do with abuddy. I think kind of like
Carla was saying, it increasesyour accountability for going
every day. You know, some daysyou wake up like this morning it
was negative six degrees. Idon't want to get up and work
out when it's negative sixdegrees, but if I have a friend
that I know is counting on me toshow up makes it a lot more
(23:23):
enjoyable, makes it somethingthat you can stick to.
Scott Light (23:26):
Yeah, I looked at the weather app this morning.
I'm gonna be honest with thethree of you. I said bad words
this morning when I saw it wasminus six degrees.
We always like to leave ourlisteners with avenues to
resources. So Molly, Megan, howcan people find out more a
website address, how can peoplefind out more about everything
(23:47):
you're doing when it comes toadaptive programming in the city
of Dublin?
Megan Campbell (23:50):
You can find more on our website, which will
have information about ourbrochures and all of our
programs, including fitnessprograms, aquatics, social
programs, camps, everything frompreschool age through senior
citizens. You can contact me atmmcampbell@dublin.oh.us. We do a
process called the inquiry ofneeds, where we meet with
(24:12):
families to talk about whattheir interests are, their age
group, what their skills are,and then helping to find a
program that would be good forwhat they're looking for, and
that we can talk about providingaccommodations to make sure they
get the best possible experiencein our programs.
Scott Light (24:27):
And you don't have to live in Dublin to come and
enjoy the programs, right,correct?
Megan Campbell (24:31):
You can be a resident or a non resident.
Residents get registrationfirst, but non residents,
registration begins one weeklater.
Scott Light (24:39):
Okay? And Molly, you've got a phone number for
us.
Unknown (24:41):
Yeah you can reach out to us at the Dublin Community
Recreation Center at614-410-4550, that will take you
to the front desk, and then ifyou are interested in a specific
program or activity, they candirect you to the appropriate
person.
Scott Light (24:57):
Okay, Carla, similar question to you. How can
people find out more about well,all the services here at
Carla O'Neal (25:03):
People can learn more about the services by going
Boundless?
online to iamboundless.org andthey can find out about all the
programs. They can contact usvia phone at 614-505-1724.
People can also call the samenumber and schedule an in person
(25:25):
tour of the facility located at445 East Dublin Granville Road
in Worthington.
Scott Light (25:32):
This has been a great conversation to all three
of you. Have a great new year.
Here's to wellness and activityand all the things and nothing,
nothing too hardcore out thereagain. Thanks to all three of
you for being here. To ourlisteners, thank you as well.
Don't forget you can be part ofepisodes to come email us your
questions or comments atpodcast. At iamboundless.org.
This is Boundless Abilitiesbrought to you by Boundless.
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