(CortacaToday) — “Neighborhood Heroes,” is a short series of installments on our outstanding community members and unsung heroes—people who are loved by the community, that serve in ways that don’t always receive recognition.

In the second installment, we’ll learn about Joanie Groome, current YMCA Adaptive and Inclusion Coordinator, lecturer at Ithaca College, former Ithaca Youth Bureau employee and recipient of a Town Gown Award. She was nominated by Ithaca and Tompkins County YMCA CEO, Christie Thornton. Her reason for nominating Groome, “Joanie has a long history of making an impact in the Ithaca & Tompkins County area … Joanie serves at the YMCA as our adaptive and inclusion coordinator and has truly made an amazing impact on our community. She spends her days at the YMCA teaching adaptive swim lessons, bringing children together and giving parents respite during KidsClub and giving children new experiences in Adaptive Gym & Swim. She is passionate, kind, and considerate.”

What is adaptive swim?

An adaptive swim program is designed to provide swimming lessons and water safety instruction tailored to the unique needs of children with various physical, cognitive or developmental challenges. These programs “adapt” traditional teaching methods to accommodate different abilities, ensuring that all children can participate and enjoy the water. The focus is on fostering safety, building confidence, and promoting physical activity in a supportive environment. Instructors are trained in adaptive techniques. The YMCA offers lessons one-on-one or in small groups to ensure each child’s individual needs are met.

Quick facts to know:

  • Groome worked at the Ithaca Youth Bureau for three decades as program coordinator for the Recreation and Support Services (RSS).
  • In 2020, Groome received the Town Gown Award, which is granted annually to local leaders in high-profile positions.
  • She’s coming up on her 30th year working at Ithaca College.
  • She’s been affiliated with the YMCA for the past four decades, but started the position as adaptive and inclusion coordinator two years ago.

Why a swim program?

Swimming is a great way stay active. It’s really for everybody, especially here in Upstate New York, where there’s no shortage of public swimming areas. Accessibility to learning water safety can bring great benefits to our community in terms of connectedness and well-being. “Swimming is just such a great form of exercise for your whole lifetime. It’s a social activity. It can be done in a group. It can be done by yourself,” Groome said. Especially being surrounded by natural bodies of water here in New York, it is a necessity that children know water safety. Groome’s adaptive swim programs apply to many ages and ability levels, ranging from 2-year-olds to 19-year-olds. The programs cater to any impairment where a child may need extra support more than a traditional swim lesson, may this be an intellectual impairment, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, anxiety disorders, or others. “Swim instructors by and large are not trained [in specialized lessons]. Typical trainings don’t include working with kids with disabilities … It’s not that they don’t want to. It’s that they don’t have the tools to do so,” Groome said. This is why a program of this kind is being promoted so passionately. Groome not only creates adaptive swim programs and carries them out, but she helps other swim instructors and her students from Ithaca College learn these adaptive techniques, passing along a career’s worth of knowledge.

Working to lower rates of drowning incidents among children with disabilities

“There is a much, much higher statistic of drowning and swimming injuries for kids with developmental disabilities versus kids who are neurotypical,” Groome said. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are more likely to wander away from their parents or caregivers (also known as elopement). They may not perceive risk or danger as readily as their same-aged peers. “Kids, especially those on the spectrum, are really drawn to water and may have some impulse challenges … The statistics of drowning for kids, especially with autism is unacceptable [and] too high.” In fact, children with autism are 160 times more likely to drown than their neurotypical peers, according to Newsweek article, “Why are children with autism at a higher risk of drowning?” And, according to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, “People with seizure disorders like epilepsy are at a higher risk of fatal and non-fatal drowning than the general population. Other conditions, such as autism and heart conditions, are also associated with a higher risk of drowning.”
When it comes to the adaptive swim program, “Safety is absolutely number one,” Groome said. In her program, she emphasizes identifying a lifeguard and requesting permission to swim before entering the water. Through repetition and practice, these safety measures begin to stick with a child and can be the thing that saves them from getting into a body of water unsupervised or from getting into a body if water that is unsafe. The adaptive swim program applies Groome’s career’s worth of specialized knowledge in a curriculum that communicates swim lessons in alignment with how neurodivergent children may process information differently.  

Metrics for success

The groups of kids Groome is typically working with may not succeed in standard swim lessons, not because they are a lost cause, but because standardized practices aren’t conducive to their specific needs and way of learning. What’s really important is that swim instructors and lifeguards are becoming involved in trainings to work with people who have developmental disabilities, since it’s not typically required of them or built into standard curriculum, though maybe it should be. According to Groome, “We need to figure out the triggers, the motivators, their skills, what they enjoy, what their boundaries are … It’s a lot of work,” but that work is rewarding, “when you have that connection that happens, I can’t even describe the joy.”  In working with a 9-year-old boy on the spectrum and his family, Groome has seen that tremendous progress can be made when care and patience are exercised and a child is placed in the right setting: “[His] family signed him up for standard swim lessons and it just wasn’t working. The instructor was frustrated. He was frustrated. Long story short. We have worked with him in a one-to-one setting and now he’s in a group setting. He now can swim 75-yards and pass the Boy Scout test.”  There are many more stories like this one, showing that progress is possible when dedicated individuals bring together resources, passion, and knowledge. “I love my staff. It’s like a family honestly,” Groome said. What’s now a team of six mainly retired adults, some of which are former paramedics, began with only Groome and YMCA aquatics director Alyson Murphy. “They’re just brilliant; They’re so dedicated and so committed.” 

Retirement

After her career with the Ithaca Youth Bureau Groome, “wasn’t ready to be done.”
“I’ve always been an advocate for inclusion and getting kids with disabilities involved in recreation programs … I could have called it. I’ve had a great career, but you know what, I’m not done. There’s more work that can be done in this community … I still have the energy to keep going.” 

Moving onto the YMCA

Groome has been involved with the YMCA for the past four decades. After completing her master’s in the 80s’, Groome worked at the YMCA as a fitness instructor before joining Ithaca Youth Bureau and teaching at Ithaca College. Her love for the YMCA is inspired by the commitment it has made to being accessible: “We have a huge amount of scholarships and program supports so that financial obligations don’t prevent people from participating. We have babies six-weeks-old up to people in their late nineties … It’s all different walks of life, which I just love.” The YMCA Senior Director of Operations Gunnar Madison said at the YMCA, “We work to make our adaptive programs—and all our services—accessible to everyone by offering Membership and Program Financial Assistance, so that no one is denied access to these vital resources due to financial constraints.”

Above and beyond

Madison noted what Groome’s work has done for the organization’s success in serving the community. “In 2024, our adaptive swimming programs alone are expected to serve over 60 children, with even more growth anticipated in 2025. Beyond swimming, Joanie has spearheaded Y Kids Club, an intentional inclusion playgroup that brings together children with and without disabilities. Joanie has also built a diverse and skilled team to deliver these programs. Drawing on her experience as a professor at Ithaca College teaching adaptive recreation, Joanie has dedicated significant time to training our aquatics staff on working effectively with children with disabilities, which has greatly improved the quality of our offerings. Moreover, Joanie initiated the certification of herself and some of our adaptive program team in the Swim Angelfish program, a national training for adaptive aquatics. This has further enhanced the credibility and impact of our programs.” Madison said.

Neighborhood Heroes series

The underlying message in these stories is that the actions of one individual can compound and become far-reaching. Think back to something a teacher, coach, family member or even a passing stranger did or said that stuck with you, molded you. These are the stories that matter in our community. Would you like to nominate someone for the “Neighborhood Heroes,” series? Email gcondon@cyradiogroup.com or MCavataio@cayugamediagroup.com with your nomination and summary of why you want to recognize this unsung hero!