Focus on Special Populations, Smart Moves

Body Recall instructor Carolyn Wallace has been given a new mission: strengthening Body Recall’s programs for special needs populations and youth.  She began as a Body Recall teacher in 1985, reached exemplary status in 1988 and has been certified in both Special Populations and Smart Moves, the Body Recall lifetime fitness program for children. 

Now as part of the Body Recall staff, Wallace is working on a new model for working with special needs populations, which includes people with mental or physical limitations. The model involves connecting teachers with institutions on a contract basis or providing a teacher/mentor for an institution that wants one of their employees to become certified as a Body Recall teacher. She says a key will be preparing more teachers and trainers for the special needs populations. 

She is hoping to establish a pilot program in an adult day care setting in the coming months. One goal of working in an adult day care setting is to make the patients easier to care for through added strength and flexibility.  “It could have a tremendous impact on the cost of care,” Wallace says.  Alzheimers and stroke recovery patients are other areas that could benefit from the Body Recall program.  

Wallace is hoping to soon establish a Smart Moves pilot program in a school and has also been working on intergenerational activities.  This has included being a part of Second Sunday, which is a Kentucky movement to encourage physical activity. In Madison County, Kentucky, home to the Body Recall headquarters, a Second Sunday parachute activity even drew members of the Eastern Kentucky University football team.  

Wallace is out to reinforce the idea that there is a Body Recall program for everyone “no matter their age or physical condition.”  Body Recall is interested in hearing from teachers who want to get more involved with special needs populations and Smart Moves.