57 - Jasmine Mathew - Jasmine Mathew and Adapted Dance 26/08/24

People with disabilities want to feel included and be an active part of their communities. Thankfully, recreational therapists are making this a reality! Join Samantha as she chats with Jasmine Mathew about her adaptive dance company, which welcomes individuals of all abilities. This initiative empowers everyone, including people with disabilities, to enhance their self-esteem and physical well-being through the joy of dance! Stay tuned!

Here's what to expect on the podcast:

• What inspired Jasmine to create a dance company that serves students of all ages and abilities?

• What are recreational therapists, and what do they do?

• How does this dance company help children with disabilities build confidence and develop social skills?

• The unique advantages of recreational therapy that might not be found in traditional therapy approaches.

• And much more!

About Jasmine:

Jasmine is a Recreational Therapist with over 20 years of experience working with a variety of populations with disabilities. She founded a company that caters specifically to students of any age and any disability to participate in dance classes, modified and adapted to their needs. She also continues to be an active Recreational Therapist through Home Health Care as well as through community resources, such as speaking on this podcast.

Connect with Jasmine Mathew!

Website: https://jasminesbeat.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasminesbeat

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasminesbeat

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jasminesbeat

Connect with Samantha Foote!

Website: www.boisemusictherapycompany.com

Email: [email protected]

Consultation: https://letsmeet.io/boisemusictherapycompany/30-mi…

Register for Neurodiversity in Harmony: A Summit for Empowered Parenting: https://www.boisemusictherapycompany.com/register.

TRANSCRIPTION

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your child's unique needs? Wondering how to turn daily challenges into moments of growth? Discover answers at the Neurodiversity in Harmony, a Summit for Empowered Parenting, coming on September 13, 2024. Join us for a day filled with expert insights and real life stories from professionals and parents alike.

All dedicated to autism, ADHD, and other neurodivergent diagnoses. Learn about innovative, positive parenting strategies and gain a deeper understanding of how to support your child's unique journey. Connect with a community that understands and shares your experiences. Whether you're seeking new strategies or some reassurance, this summit is your gateway to an empowered parenting approach.

Seats are limited. So don't miss out. Join our waitlist now to receive exclusive updates and registration details, visit www. boisimusictherapycompany. com today to secure your spot. Embrace the journey of neurodiverse parenting with us. This podcast is for parents like you navigating the world of neurodiversity with love and compassion.

I'm a neurodivergent mother of three amazing neurodivergent children and a board certified music therapist. Our mission is to create a supportive space where you feel understood, connected, and inspired. With practical tips, strategies, and resources, we'll help you and your child thrive in your unique way.

Join us as we dive deep into the diverse world of neurodivergent individuals, exploring topics like ADHD, autism, dyslexia, sensory processing challenges, and more. We'll cover it all to empower, educate, and uplift both neurodivergent individuals, And those who walk alongside them together, we'll create a world where every brain is valued and celebrated.

We're excited to embark on this enlightening journey with you. We are your hosts samantha foot and lauren ross, and this is the every brain is different podcast

Welcome to the every brain is different podcast We are here with jasmine matthew and she is a recreational therapist with over 20 years of experience Experience working with various populations with disabilities. She also owns Jasmine's beat and adaptive dance company that caters to students of any age and any disability.

She was recently on NBC on the Texas today show, and she has spoken at Courtland university, recreational therapy, online conference in the past, as well as smart CEU 2024 conference. Welcome to the podcast. We are so excited to have you on. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Can you tell us more about how you're involved in the neurodivergent community?

Uh, yep. Um, so my background is that I have been a recreational therapist for over 20 years. Um, I started in Pennsylvania and worked my way through New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and now Texas. Um, my populations that I've worked with include medical day centers. Uh, Pediatric Rehabilitation Hospital, Medi Psych Hospital, Um, Home Health currently, as well as schools.

Um, and currently, I've also started an adaptive dance company called Jazz Speed. Um, and so that way we can cater to recreation therapy clients as well as, um, special needs clients in the community as well. Awesome. I love it. Um, can you tell us what exactly a recreational therapist is and does? Yes. So, um, we are, um, a group of therapists that are certified nationally, um, by NPTRC and we, uh, go to college for therapeutic recreation or recreational therapy, whichever way it's worded.

Um, and we believe in providing, um, health and wellness goal through reaching your leisure pursuit. Um, and. become more well rounded in the process. So you would meet your social, emotional, cognitive, physical, um, and even spiritual, um, skills through recreation and play, um, with us. I love it. So I like to say you're kind of like a music therapist, but you're using a different modality because we do basically the same things, but different modalities.

And exactly. Awesome. Um, yeah. So tell us more about adaptive dance and what you do with that. Um, so, uh, adaptive dance, actually the need for it started in, in my perspective, um, because in working with. Home health clients, they wanted it to see if I could find a class that caters to them. I always taught dance on the side.

My background, Bollywood and classical Indian dance, and I also taught preschool introductory ballet. And so in the process of looking for it. Uh, There were not anything that provided just in general to any disability, they were very specific, either to age group, or the type of disability or location. So, I.

The need for that came from all of that happening. And the more I looked into it, the more that I found out that there wasn't enough being offered. Um, so I actually reached out to this company called active dance company. Um, they. Go around the world and provide an inclusive dance team that performs and and does workshops and teaches different ways of adapting, uh, dance and choreography.

Um, and then also with the knowledge that I've received from working with various clients, um, I also incorporated all of that. And created a dance class format and curriculum. And I also started doing a workshop so that anyone that works with me, we're all on the same page and we keep modifying how we adapt the choreography.

Whether you're in a wheelchair or you have limited mobility, or you need extra break, um, or you need, uh, You know, increase them during the middle of class, um, to get you to focus more or just in general, provide an opportunity for them to just release and be creative and not be judged on how well they're following directions the whole time.

Because the therapist that one of the things that we know is that it's not always going to go the way you plan it, and you have to kind of go with the flow and adapt until you develop that relationship with your customer and that's the whole point of our class and just start with the relationship first.

Yeah, I love that. I have a friend who did adaptive dance. Um, she, she has a class for that and she was like, they just want to move their bodies. They just want to be included. And she said that a lot of dance instructors are intimidated by like adaptive dance or dance with special needs or whatever.

Because they don't know what to do. And she's like, you just have to dance with them and accommodate their needs. Like, like you said, if they need to stem, if they need to step out, if they get too overwhelmed, if they need to wear headphones because the music's too loud, you know, it's, they just want to be included.

And I love, I love that. That's what you do. Um, I know that you have online dance classes, so how can people get involved with that if they wanted to? Um, yeah, so I have a new partnership, actually, um, with Flow Recreation Therapy, they're a rec therapy company that's based in Canada, actually, um, and they have, um, opened up Online classes.

And we provide the classes through them link. Um, we do it every Saturday morning. Um, and you can just drop in or you can, you know, do the entire eight week session and then it'll just repeat again afterwards. Um, and then I also do provide private online lessons as well, and people can just reach out through email and, uh, we can set it up the same way, um, through What do you say to, cause I'm, I'm reading kind of what you wrote on our little profile page.

Um, you, you say a lot of parents, like, it's easy to say, like, that's probably not for my kid. Like, how do you encourage parents and, and individuals in general to give it a try, give it a go? Yeah, so, um, 1 of the 1st things I, uh, tell parents that are on the fence about bringing their kid is we always want to offer a free trial class.

Number 1, uh, you know, sometimes the student has to be equal to the class. And see how it is. Um, and sometimes it's in the process of, you know, just saying hello and making a friend that makes them want to come back again. Um, another thing is that I use some of my past experiences. Like, for example, I gave the story about how I have.

Students that have joined me for years and it's taken them years to actually follow along with how I would like the class to go. Um, but initially, you know, I had students that just like to take a lap around the entire class while we're, uh, going forward with, you know, the routine. And then, As classes progress, they'll join in to different parts of the class, like, you know, getting to know each other or the warm up or the choreography part, um, but in different small little increments and it's something that's built up.

Um, and then, um, there's another client who has Come and they would be typically petrified of being on a stage. Um, but they will actually come, they have come on stage with us because I'm standing right there next to them. Um, and they've developed a relationship with us over the year of working together.

Um, and so that surprised the family and surprise, um, you know, everyone who's watching, but we know that, you know, they're comfortable because of, you know, having this working relationship. Going. That's awesome. I love that. Um, can you, uh, talk about some other types of like recreational therapy type things that you do?

And just like the benefits overall of, you know, maybe why choosing recreational therapy over, um, something different like. Yeah, absolutely. So recreational therapy, the one thing that pulled it for me, uh, towards it is, um, you know, there's no one way to go about something. So if you want to try art, we can try different types of art, um, arts and crafts, we can try finding Um, a place in the community, like the, you know, Recreation Center and trying out different groups and activities there.

Um, 1 of the other things that we do as a recreational therapist. Encourage financial literacy and doing things on your own independently going to the movies, making positive healthy choices at a restaurant, trying to figure out how to pay for yourself and trying to figure out how to socialize and introduce yourself when you're meeting with other people, preparing for job interviews.

Um, going to, uh, different recreational activities like, you know, outdoor sport or dance or, um, listening to music or singing, um, the theater troupe that I work with, they go hand in hand with what I do because, you know, it's a little singing, dancing, acting, reading, memorizing, it's all. All over skills. Um, but you might not want to do any of that.

You might want to just do all the technical stuff. So I have students that I work with that just want to work with the lights and sound. Um, but that, uh, not only recreational activity, but something that can work into them being employed somewhere for the for those same skills. I love that and I love that you mentioned because, you know, you think like recreational like, oh, I'm going to go to the movies, whatever.

But I like that you talked about like, okay, how do we pay for the movie, what's that process and like learning those skills that all come with it that we kind of like don't think about so I love that that is a part of it. And then you get all those. Benefits of learning those skills and being able to, to be, uh, in society and stuff like that.

So that's awesome. I love that. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to figure out how to eat healthy while you go to the movies. Yeah. Well, I think I think it was, you get a small popcorn instead of the big one and maybe water. Exactly. I just get a huge popcorn and I'm not healthy, so I don't get soda though.

Does that help? My wife always wants the big popcorn and they'll like be like, get larger and you can get a free refill. And he's like, yeah. And I'm like, you're never going to eat that full to get the free refill. like, what are you doing? Yes, my kids have spoil, have made me get spoiled and now I have to have a slushy every time I go, even though that never used to be the case.

So yeah, I totally understand. Do you have any resources that you recommend for parents? Um, well, from us, um, I can tell you the resources that we offer. Um, on our website, we have a blog, um, where we talk to a variety of people. different types of professionals. Um, I have an occupational therapist that provides, um, resources in, uh, working on different skills, um, with hand eye coordination or fine motor skills.

Um, I also have, um, a post about You know why sleep and stretching is important, things like that so variety of ideas and topics are talked about there. We also partner with people who spit, I mean it could be open to anyone but it. For us, we're trying to focus on being more inclusive to people with disabilities, so I encourage people who want to maybe, you know, I have one that sells jewelry.

She makes her own jewelry and sells it and I have it as part of my website where, you know, they can, Help their business thrive a little bit and get some exposure. Um, so there's, that is an example of one of the extra things that we provide. We also provide workshops for other recreational therapists, um, and other, um, Adult that want to provide, um, and become an instructor within our organization.

Um, we do that all virtually. Um, we also provide music OT and therapy services, um, and our dance classes are part of that as well. Um, and then. If there are any other, um, questions that they have with regard to obtaining services in the state of Texas anyway, um, you know, anybody can feel free to reach out to us and discuss with us further, we're more than happy to look into further, uh, services as well.

Awesome. And in the state of Texas, do you do virtual like therapy services or do you just do in person therapy services? Both. Both are awesome. Okay, cool. So where can people find you online if they want to learn more? Um, if they go online, they go to jasminesbeat, J A S M I N E S B E A T dot com. Um, and they can look up, uh, classes, partnerships, workshops, all those services.

Um, and we also Uh, poked on there from time to time, different therapeutic being game and, uh, worksheet that they can provide also. That is awesome. You have so many resources for people. I love it. And you will also be a speaker at our upcoming summit on September 13th. So if people want to know more information about that.

They can go to Boise music therapy company. com and Jasmine will be one of our panelists. So she recorded a 20 minute presentation that is available for people to upgrade to the VIP ticket. Um, the summit is free to attend, but if you want to view her presentation. Um, you can upgrade for 27 and then you will also be doing a five minute presentation and hosting a breakout room for people to come and ask you more questions.

So I am super excited to have Jasmine as one of the speakers. Very excited about that. And our last question is what do you do for fun? Well, speaking of movies, I love movies. I love to dance. I am definitely a dessert foodie, and, uh, I love showing my kids how to do some self care, and hanging out with them is one of my top priorities.

Awesome. Can I just ask, what do you do with your kids for self care? Like, how do you teach them that? Um, I'll actually make like a mother son date or, you know, go to a restaurant or just take a day and have mommy daughter time and we'll go do our nails or we'll just go in the pool, you know, go for swimming lessons or go in the pool and, you know, just hang out.

It's way too hot in Texas right now. Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah. We, um, in Idaho, Two heat waves that were a week apart and it was like over a hundred degrees, which usually we get like a hundred degrees maybe for a week in July. And it was the whole month of July was over a hundred degrees and went into August.

I'm like, what is happening? I, this is why I live here because I don't, I don't do this, you know? So, um, yeah, I, it's, it's hot. So I love how you show your kids the importance of self care though, because as they grow older, it's going to, you know, Just help them as a girl there. So they won't go into burnout.

Like so many people do. And so many kids are going into burnout too wild. So, yeah. Um, well, thank you for coming on the show. We really appreciate your time. Cool. Anytime. Yeah. Yeah. And we will see you at the summit. Glad to be there. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. So, okay, Lauren, what'd you think? What were the highlights?

I love it. I love what she does. I don't, I've heard of lots of therapies and I don't know like recreational therapy. Like, I don't know if I've heard it or if it just never really clicked in my brain. So I think that's really cool. Um, and I love, I love what she's doing. I went to the Jasmine Beats website and I was looking at the pictures and it looks awesome.

And all of the students look like they're having a really great time. Um, I think one of the things she kind of mentioned, like the people are afraid to. Kind of work with these individuals because they don't necessarily know what to do and like you said like they just want to be included they just want to be a part of it and I think something that can help with that is to remove the expectations from your mind of what, like, what is dance or like what, like the formality of it all and just like, let loose and have fun and almost anything can be adaptive.

And, you know, to fit somebody's need, you just have to be open minded to kind of let go of the rules and the standards. Um, and we can open up a lot of things to a lot of different people if, if we're more open minded like that. So I love what she does. I, I think it's great. Um, so yeah. I think it's so important to have adaptive dance for those that want to participate, but they can't participate in the typical classes due to Teachers not, you know, being too strict and not allowing differences or, you know, not adapting to their needs.

Um, I love it. Flexible. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, she's awesome. I'm super excited for her to be at the summit. And once again, if you want information about that, just go to our show notes. Um, we have registration open now. And once you register, if you upgrade to the VIP, you can get immediate access to all the trainings from our 15 speakers or 15 panelists.

And then at the summit, we will have two keynote speakers also. So, yeah. Love it. Thank you all for listening. We will see you next week. Bye. Thank you for listening to this episode. We hope the discussion on neurodiversity has provided you with support, understanding, and inspiration. If you found our podcast valuable, please share it with others who may benefit from our insights and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

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