Autism in Focus with Coach Bruce Porter Jr at Cool Cats Ice Hockey Camp Kettler Capitals Iceplex
NOVA Cool Cats ice skating coach DC’s own Bruce Porter Jr demonstrates stick handling at Kettler Capitals Iceplex
If you are at Kettler Capitals Iceplex this week you may notice as slightly different crowd of hockey players. The large contingent of young ice hockey players, coaches and proud parents in and around the arena are celebrating big milestones, as their Autistic children learn to skate and play hockey. The NOVA Cool Cats are a non profit organization that uses the game of hockey to help Autistic players develop characteristics that will help them be more successful both inside and outside of hockey.
“This is my fourth year coaching the camp and it is amazing how the boys and girls have progressed” says NOVA Cool Cats ice skating coach Bruce Porter Jr.”There may be something to this that deserves a closer look and more research. The kids are genuinely excited about the sport of hockey and seem to be able to focus dramatically better while on the ice than in other situations.”
You can hear the echo of these words across North America and undoubtedly the world as the numbers of Autistic children continues to grow. As more and more parents of developmentally disabled children find themselves looking for positive outlets, organizations like the NOVA Cool Cats are priceless. Every year the camp is also joined by a group of youth volunteers. These kids are drawn from competitive local ice hockey programs, and they spend their last week before going back to school volunteering their time for a noteworthy cause with the Cool Cats Camp.
NOVA Cool Cats Special Hockey warmup led by volunteer Amanda Brawley
Today at Kettler Capitals Iceplex the Washington Capitals Red Rockers are making a special visit and hopefully the Caps mascot Slapshot who is always a big hit with the kids. In years past NHL Washington Capitals John Erskine has joined the camp on ice and demonstrated slap shots, stick handling and passing; while Mike Knuble made all of the campers day last year with an inspirational photo opp appearance.
I want to raise the awareness about the sport of ice hockey helping developmentally disabled children, especially Autistic children focus and excel like never before. This is a truly amazing, timely, and newsworthy story that deserves a voice. With the sport of ice hockey these kids are learning valuable life lessons and how to interact with with their peers and contemporaries. Come out today and show your support, we take the ice at 11am!
Social Networks Manager™
Bruce Porter Jr is the Social Networks Manager™
Email Bruce@EmmeGirls.com 001 202 436 6577
Social Media Management by EmmeGirls Modeling
Kids and Al-Qaeda Using Social Media for Virtual Communication
Bruce Porter Jr the Social Networks Manager (Uses Social Media for advertising and branding)
One of the most e-mailed articles on the New York Times website for the past several days has been one titled, “Don’t Call Me, I Won’t Call You.” My guess is a lot of grown up kids are sending it to their parents to prove that they’re not the only ones who don’t always answer the phone or respond to voice mail messages. The article describes how phone habits have changed over the past five years as people shift to text messaging, email and Facebook to communicate with their friends, families and colleagues. Nielsen Research notes that spending on cellular voice traffic is trending downward and that text traffic spending will exceed voice in the next three years.
I thought about this article last night when I was in a conversation with some old and new friends at a conference I’m attending. Somehow we got into a debate about whether the way people learn new skills and behaviors is changing as a result of the internet and virtual communications technology. On one side of the debate were the folks who were saying that the only real learning is that which comes from a live person teaching one other person or a group of other people in person. I was on the other side of the argument. We spent a good bit of time and energy going back and forth about how quickly the learning styles of the human species can adapt. My point was that disruptive technologies like the phone or the internet cause people to change their learning and working styles pretty quickly. Of course, the great trump card in a discussion like this is to ask, “What research have you read that backs up your point of view?” Darn, I just couldn’t come up with any academic citations on the spot. (Perhaps if I hadn’t had that second glass of wine.)
A guy I’m sitting with this morning just told me that his son is in a good medical school where attending lectures is optional. They’re all online and the students can watch them when they want.
Here’s the thing…
A few years ago I was talking with a client who has a background in what the Army calls information operations. His job is to influence the thinking of allies and enemies. He told me about attending a briefing at the Pentagon on how Al-Qaeda was using one of the new social media technologies. My client said that going into the briefing, he wasn’t that interested because he didn’t “get” the technology. By the time he left the briefing, he realized that it didn’t matter whether or not he “got” it. The enemy was using it and he had to figure out how to deal with that whether he got it or not.
What are you ignoring or arguing against because you don’t get it? What are you doing to challenge your assumptions about how things should be or will always be?
Website Article: http://scotteblin.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/do-you-get-it-or-not-does-it-matter.html
Bruce Porter Jr the Social Networks Manager 202 436 6577
Social Media Management by EmmeGirls Modeling
