Hi, my name is Anita O'Brien and I am the Sportsnet manager.

I work with a program called Sportsnet that operates through Rochester Rehabilitation, and I work as a certified therapeutic recreation specialist, which means that I do adaptive sports and inclusive recreation as Sportsnet manager, I facilitate a wide variety of programs, many of those that I've mentioned before.

Some of those I directly facilitate by the power soccer coach.

I run the cycling program, so I'm actively out there assessing people's needs and matching them with correct bike.

Other programs where we partner with Rochester Yacht Club or Eagle Vale Golf Course, I don't have to run those programs as much as do the program planning, which means taking registration from people and getting their signups, making sure they know where they're supposed to go.

I'm there on the day of the program and I introduce them to the golf pro, introduce them to the adaptive equipment where there's this technicality of some of the equipment.

That's my role is to help with that assessment and matching the program for a therapeutic recreation specialist.

I had to focus on really learning us as humans under it.

Understand ending our the psychology of how we work, understanding sociology as far as how the community perceives people with and without disabilities.

The concept of disability is interesting in our field, and I think for me I've discovered that and I think therapeutic recreation as a profession says that we're more than just our illness.

So maybe we can get better from certain things.

But as a as a human being, we really we want some of the same things no matter what our body is doing, no matter if our legs move or not, no matter if we have an intellectual disability or we want to play.

My personal feeling about the field and and why I find it so rewarding and I hope that I can do it forever is that when I think about what I do, I don't think that I have a job.

I think that I'm just having fun.

And and that's that's a very rewarding feeling.

And also I think of myself as a facilitator of happiness and I think, wow, what could be better than that?

Therapeutic recreation specialists look for the ways to take a person from not just the physical stretching the arm or using the arm differently, but applying it to what a person wants to do in their day to day life.

Therapeutic recreation specialist tries to assess the needs of the individual because we're all different.

Where you are today and where I am today.

That's what the therapeutic recreation specialist is trying to assess.

I will develop a plan of action that can help you move from where you are today to whatever your goals are, whether it's learning to bowl and then learning how to access bowling in the community.

So my role would be helping you with physically teaching you the game, using any adaptive equipment, but then also teaching you to access it in the communities.

And you can continue to do what you've identified as important to you.

A lot of times our adaptive equipment is is very useful for people with intellectual disabilities or where just where the cognitive processing needs a different approach to it.

Therapeutic recreation specialist uses a modality of play and recreation to meet a person on a social, emotional, psychological, physical.

Any of those needs that they may have.

We are always looking at the the whole being, the whole person.

If you're thinking maybe about exploring therapeutic recreation, I would say it could be a good match for you.

If you want to help people continue to do something like recreating and playing and socializing.

Therapeutic recreation as a profession says that we're more than just our illness, so maybe we can get better from certain things.

But as a as a human being, we really we want some of the same things.

No matter what our body is doing, no matter if our legs move or not, no matter if we have an intellectual disability, we want to play that.