The lobby of the ice rink in Baltimore, MD, hums with excitement as children laugh, talk while their parents, and lace up their skates. In one corner, a little boy grins from ear to ear as his dad helps him to his feet and his mom snaps photo after photo. Across the room, another mom keeps a careful eye on her son as he practices walking in his skates, one hand on the wall for stability. These moments are familiar to anyone who has taken a child ice skating, but for these families they are especially poignant. Many of the parents never imagined their children would get the chance to skate, because simply walking was challenging enough.

But thanks to Dorothy Hamill, Olympic gold medalist and figure skating icon, that is all changing. It was after a visit to the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an organization renowned for research, treatment, and special education for children with special needs, that Hamill knew she had to find a way to help. “My breath was taken away by the work done at Kennedy Krieger,” says Hamill. “It was impossible not to want to do something.”

Her interests and talents provided a perfect opportunity for the creation of a unique program that would allow children with physical disabilities the chance to enjoy ice skating. Dorothy met with Gerry and Gwena Herman, who run the Institute’s Physically Challenged Sports and Recreation Program. At the time, the program already offered sled hockey, for which they had reserved time at a local ice rink, says Gerry Herman, a Boston native who learned to skate as a child and grew up playing ice hockey. Ice skating, he says, had always seemed like a natural addition.  And so, after just a few months of research and planning, I-Skate was a reality. With equipment purchased, rink time secured, and students enrolled, all that remained was to step onto the ice.

Program Logistics

The program is organized to provide several levels of participation, with each session starting with a set of land exercises, followed by an on-ice warm-up of slow skating and light calisthenics. Over the course of the program, skaters pursue levels of certification through the United States Figure Skating Association Adaptive Program, which promotes achievement and skill development with or without adaptive equipment. The program directors lead the sessions, first as a large group, and later in individual sessions with trained skating instructors and volunteers. Using adaptive equipment, such as walkers, allows instructors to face the skaters on the ice, while they provide feedback.

These resources also reduce physical demands upon the staff who previously would have had to provide a great deal of physical support, and allow trainers to work with larger and taller individuals with more physical involvement. “I’ve given different ice skating clinics throughout the years,” notes Hamill, “but it’s a dream to be doing this at Kennedy Krieger and working with the Hermans, who have such amazing dedication to these children.”

On the Ice for the First Time

“We’re almost there, Ruby,” Dave Elbert assures his daughter as he laces up her skates, which have been specially designed to fit around her ankle braces. Eight-year-old Ruby is a cancer survivor—at just 4 months old, a neuroblastoma tumor crushed her spinal cord and she was never expected to walk again. But she defied expectations, and today she will go ice skating for the first time. Ruby joins the other children who stare in wonder as Dorothy Hamill glides around the ice, turning and spinning so gracefully that it’s almost as though she is flying. When she asks if they’re ready to take a turn, they nod eagerly, ready to test out their skates.

Each child has been given a special walker adapted for use on the ice and, with help from Gerry, Gwena and some dedicated volunteers, they get their own chance to glide across the ice. They take to skating slowly, but after a few turns around the rink, their confidence grows. Dorothy takes turns helping each child and offering words of encouragement.

As a community program, I-Skate operates without the individualized educational program (or IEPs) expectations of more official school programs. Even so, as in a special education classroom, instruction and learning is designed especially around each participant’s unique needs. Depending on their disabilities, for instance, skaters may require varying levels of adaptive equipment, more personal instruction, or a longer learning curve.

A wide variety of adapted equipment is utilized to maximize each individual’s ability and plays a crucial role in their successes (see Table 1). For instance, skates designed to allow the skater to keep his or her orthotics on while skating can make a world of difference by lending to the ice the stability and movement that orthotics supply on land. Meanwhile, standard walkers allow individuals with reduced strength or balance to begin skating with extra confidence. As the level of mobility impairment increases, the program may utilize bar walkers, which have frames surrounding the skaters, allowing them to sit down immediately when they need to recuperate. These walkers allow individuals, such as power wheelchair users, to experience the movement and sensations of standing on the ice, but with a full support system. This last option can be raised or lowered to increase utilization of legs in a bilateral or unilateral fashion.

Success is gauged more by a child’s increased confidence and ability on the ice than by any set of measurable criteria. Meanwhile, as skaters gain better balance and stability, they might transition to less restrictive adaptive devices—such as an open-ended walker, instead of a fully-supported walker with a seat. The bar walker with the seat attachment can be adjusted to provide various levels of support from almost 100% at full extension to various heights increasing or decreasing the use and stress on leg muscles.

For participants and their parents, the experience is more about achieving something no one thought possible than anything else. Indeed, the idea of ice skating might reasonably never cross the mind of a parent whose child has cerebral palsy or a spinal cord injury.  “Families of children with physical challenges sometimes think that recreational activities and sports just aren’t something their families can do,” says Gerry. “But with support and encouragement, they can. I-Skate is an example of the limitless potential of these children.”

Even for individuals with severely limited mobility, exercise plays an important role in health and well-being, Herman says. And, he continues, once they embrace the idea of one new activity, the desire to try others often follows. “As kids are exposed to an activity like skating, sometimes we’ll realize that swimming or another activity might also be a great adjunct to their physical fitness efforts, especially in the off-season, when skating opportunities are limited,” he explains. “And there are definite inherent physical benefits to getting up and standing for half an hour on the ice, versus sitting in a wheelchair. It definitely changes people’s perspective about what these kids can do.”

As Dorothy helps Ruby around the ice, Dave watches from the sidelines. He’s a little nervous, as any parent would be, but he’s also thrilled. He cheers Ruby on and is greeted with a smile that won’t stop. “These kids don’t get many chances to play,” Dave says, “But they need to. It’s such an important part of their development.” At Kennedy Krieger, children like Ruby have those opportunities, boosting their confidence and making them stronger. For Ruby in particular, the new ice skating program is exciting for another reason entirely. “Lots of her friends have ice-skating birthday parties,” says Dave. “Now Ruby will actually be able to go and enjoy skating with her friends.”

Table 1
Individual Skater Issues and Equipment Needs

Making the Impossible Possible

Just down the ice, Keith watches his daughter Samantha laugh with delight as she finds her feet. Though they live in Cecil County, Keith is more than happy to make the two-hour round trip down to Baltimore for the I-Skate Program.  “She enjoys this so much that I don’t blink an eye,” says Keith. Samantha has cerebral palsy and it’s a challenge for her to get the exercise she needs. I-Skate is a fun way for children like Samantha to be physically active, while learning new skills like skating backwards or even falling safely on the ice. Best of all, it’s an activity many can enjoy for the rest of their lives. “This is the first time I had ever thought of this as a possibility,” Keith says of the I-Skate program. “She wants to participate just like other kids. It’s so rewarding for us that she’s able to do that now.”

And that is just what I-Skate was meant to do. Hamill and the Hermans wanted to let the children and their families know that skating was not impossible.  “When I step on the ice, I almost feel like a bird. I can feel the wind in my face, and it’s just exhilarating,” says Dorothy. “I want these children to feel that.” The feeling of freedom that ice skating brings is beyond compare for children who have cerebral palsy, paralysis, and other disorders and injuries that make it hard to move.

Children like Samantha and Ruby are living proof that with just a little bit of help, every child who participates will be able to say, “I can skate.” After just a few sessions with the Hermans and Dorothy, many of the participants were able to skate without support from a volunteer, and several are on their way to skating without walkers. They’re also planning an end-of-season show to share what they’ve learned with their friends and families. Samantha is even planning an ice-skating party for her upcoming birthday. And Ruby is invited.

Biographical Sketch

Lauren Manfuso is a writer and editor at Kennedy Krieger Institute, where she develops content for a range of mediums, including the Institute’s magazine, Potential. Meredith Purvis is a former writer at Kennedy Krieger who now works for the University of Maryland—Baltimore County.