Jay and his Achievements

The attached is a story about Jay which appeared last year in the NoticeBoard magazine - (Assoc for Children with a Disability).
**I have now updated this post since my blog does not allow for attaching a pdf.  I have now attached the information from the above article in a document format.  Does not look as pretty but I hope you get gist of it.

Jay had a tumour on his hypothalamus which has been there since he was 7-9 weeks gestation.  The tumour was benign but affected his balance, coordination, and motor skill development.  When he came to the Heartwell Foundation in 2004 he had recently had surgery to remove the tumour.   At that time his skill level was basic and he had quite poor self-esteem. 

It is now wonderful to hear from his Mum, and know he is doing so well.  Please read on.......

From: April James 

Sent: Thursday, 29 April 2010 3:11 PM

To: scott@heartwell.org.au

Subject: Jay Ellis-James

Hi Scott and Julienne,

Jay at Run for the Kids 2010

I wanted to drop you a line because, although I'm sure the 3 years Jay spent with you guys is now a distant memory, the time he spent with you has never been far from our minds and I wanted you to see the lasting impact you've had in our lives. The time Jay spent with Heartwell taught him skills and discipline that continue to serve him well all these years on. 

Jay and I have done the Run for the Kids for 3 years now and this year we upped our participation from the little run to the big one. A massive ask for Jay, who still plods along at his own pace and could only run just over 1 km when we started training. But his pace was pretty impressive by the time the big day arrived, he ran 14.38kms in 1:48:51! Not only did he finish the race still jogging, but he told me that he only walked when he was having a drink stop, he even managed to keep up his pace over the Bolte Bridge!

As you can see from the pic, he looks pretty comfortable with his stride and happy to be there. I really think that this photo would never have happened without the skills Jay learned during his time at Heartwell. Without the lessons you taught him I don't think he would have had the confidence to get in there and give it a shot. 

And he already has a new goal, next year he wants to complete the course in under 1 hour 30.... I don't think that's going to be a problem at all.

He's still not very interested in sports, but he does participate in PE now and he still gets out on his bike and rides around, another skill I'm sure he only picked up because of the confidence you taught him. 

So I wanted to thank you again and let you know that we'll be forever in your debt.

Regards,

April James

Heartwell celebrates 15 years

The Heartwell Foundation celebrates its 15^th birthday this year.  Established in 1997, Heartwell has provided its specialist physical education and rehabilitation services to many hundreds of Victorian children with varying levels of need.  Co Founders and service providers, Julienne Espenschied and Scott Taylor have wide ranging experiences in physical education, working with children in this unique field, in and out of the school setting.

Their real passion is to assist children with illnesses and disabilities to access quality designed programs to increase their general health and fitness, fundamental sports skills and self confidence.

“The Heartwell philosophy is a simple one” says Julienne.  We see access, opportunity and participation as the cornerstone of our programs.  We deliver physical education programs to equip children with special needs with the skills and confidence for greater participation in school and community based activities”.

“We established the Foundation based on our work as a service provider with the Transport Accident Commission and the programs we conducted for children involved in road accidents.  Insurance covered the cost of many services including Heartwell, but we were getting referrals for many children who had similar needs but were not covered by insurance.  Children who had fallen from trees, had cerebral palsy, spina bifida or brain tumours received little in the way of compensation, so the Heartwell Foundation was established to meet this discrepancy in health care”.

Children involved in Heartwell range from 4-21 years of age with wide ranging needs and abilities.  Access to Heartwell programs occur at any time of the year via referral from a member of a child’s medical team or school.  Children undergo initial evaluations of fitness parameters and skills performance which form the foundation for their program and assessments are conducted regularly to monitor progress.

Seeing improvements in fitness levels and skills development is rewarding for all at Heartwell, but the biggest thrill comes from witnessing confidence and self-esteem increases.

“Having a child with a disability can present many intricate and interrelated health issues for parents and certainly decrements in cardiovascular fitness, strength, endurance and flexibility are high on this list.  We know how important general health and fitness levels are for children generally, but certainly for those with special physical needs, education about the benefits of long term exercise involvement is paramount”.

Heartwell Co-Founder, Scott Taylor puts it more succinctly.  “Heartwell programs are special and unique.  All kids need to be active and the benefits extend far more than just in physical gains. Parents will regularly say to us - thank you for giving my child the skills and confidence to participate in activities that they wouldn’t have necessarily attempted to be involved in beforehand”.

We have an unshakeable belief in the benefits of physical activity and have worked with some amazing children and families over our 15 year history.  The walls of the Heartwell gym are covered in the faces of smiling children each with their own life story to tell.  We at Heartwell feel very lucky to have worked with some amazing children who have taught us a lot about ourselves.  We look forward to continuing to offer Heartwell programs to many more families during the next 15 years.

For more details on the Heartwell Foundation you can visit www.heartwell.org,.au or contact directly on 9842 0396, email info@heartwell.org.au

Jay and Scott Taylor in 2006