You Matter Nashville

ABLE Youth With Amy Saffell

• Jason and Mindy Hoover • Episode 9

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Welcome to another episode of the You Matter Nashville podcast! On this episode, we’re excited to bring you a conversation with Amy Saffell, Executive Director of ABLE Youth.

ABLE Youth is an amazing organization that empowers kids with physical disabilities to gain independence and confidence through adaptive sports. We dive deep into Amy’s personal journey, her passion for making a difference, and how ABLE Youth is changing lives through programs like wheelchair basketball, independence camps, and more.

Join us as we explore how sports and community can come together to create lasting impact and resilience in Middle Tennessee. Remember, every story we share is a celebration of you — because you matter!

Takeaways

  • ABLE Youth helps kids with physical disabilities learn independence through adaptive sports
  • Sports can be integrated with therapy to make it more engaging and effective for kids with disabilities
  • Participating in road races and traveling to compete against other kids with disabilities can be empowering and help build social connections
  • Providing specialized sports equipment for kids with disabilities can be expensive, and ABLE Youth relies on donations and grants
  • Volunteers play a crucial role in supporting ABLE Youth's programs and activities
  • Amy Saffell's personal experiences with spina bifida and adaptive sports inspired her to join ABLE Youth.
  • Peer teaching is an important aspect of their programs, as older kids who have mastered certain skills can teach younger kids.
  • The organization focuses on changing perceptions of disability and promoting inclusivity.
  • Children with disabilities have the power to change the world by showcasing their abilities and living life to the fullest.


ABLE Youth
https://www.ableyouth.org/

You Matter Nashville YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@YouMatterNashville

The Hoover Team
https://www.thehooverteam.com/

Jason & Mindy Hoover (00:00.098)
Hey, Nashvilleans, welcome to the You Matter Nashville podcast, the place where every story we share is a celebration of you, the heartbeat of our community. I'm Jason Hoover, delighted to be one half of your hosting duo. And I'm Mindy Hoover, joining you alongside Jason to bring the stories of inspiring individuals and unsung heroes making a positive impact right here in our hometown. Every episode is about passions, dreams and actions that stitch together the Middle Tennessee community. So if you're looking to get inspired by the good happening around us,

Or if you want to hear from the change makers who believe, just like us, that you matter, then hit that follow button on your favorite podcast platform. And if you are looking to make a move in the middle Tennessee area, and Dan and I are real estate professionals and would be honored to serve you with excellence. Now let's dive into another episode of You Matter Nashville.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (00:52.13)
Welcome to You Matter Nashville where we love interviewing community heroes making an impact right here in the Middle Tennessee area. I'm Jason Hoover. And I am Mindy Hoover and I'm so glad to have our next guest with us. We have Amy Sefel with Able Youth and we can't wait to hear your story. Hi, I'm so glad to be here. Hey Amy. Hey. Thank you for taking time to join us today and you have a

wonderful, wonderful organization that we are just learning about and can't wait for everybody to hear about it. Would you just share just a little, you know, what is the organization that you are the executive director of and what is it that y 'all do? We are Able Youth and we help kids with physical disabilities learn how to be independent using adaptive sports. And so we have all kinds of programs. We have two adaptive or two wheelchair basketball teams that travel.

We have teams that do adaptive sports meets. We have a yearly independence camp. We do monthly super sports Saturdays. We'll do road races here in town and we help kids learn what they can do in life through adaptive sports. And that even branches out into other areas of life, but through participation, they learn what they can do in life. That's great. And so, you know, I grew up with a therapist. My mom was an OT. So, you know,

just going and doing that, that can be so boring for a kid. So having something like this where they are doing sports that is integrated kind of like with their therapy, know, with their skills to, and the building of their skills. And I think it's so important for our kids to realize when they go to therapy and they do things that that is actually is helping them in real life. Sometimes, like you said, you know, when they're at a therapy session and they're just in a room doing certain things.

they don't realize that it really does have implications for their everyday life. that makes them be able to do things that they actually do want to do in a regular setting. And motivates them to do their therapy. Yeah. Well, the closest I can relate to that is I hate working out. Like, I don't just dislike working out. I just really hate it. But I do it when I need to. But I love sports. I love going out to sports. And you get great activity.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (03:18.633)
And she's laughing at me. I don't know what's going on. I think it's important to make it fun because, you know, another part of our program is making sure that our kids stay physically active. That's so important for everybody, but especially for kids with disabilities who may sit, spend more of their time sitting. Well, you can definitely be active sitting, but you want to make it fun so that people actually do want to do it. And so I think I definitely agree. Kids usually

Black Town does a certain thing and we let them go and let them learn. yeah. So in what you were saying that some of the things that you do, which is a lot, by the way, you said road races. So what is that? So here in town, know, there's 5Ks all the time or 10Ks. We have kids and kids that have done half marathons and marathons and you can participate in that as a wheelchair user, just like anybody else. And so

We encourage kids to do that. Sometimes we have races that we are beneficiaries of or involved in some kind of way. We take a group of kids to be able to do that. And, you know, they love it. think it's great for them to have some kind of competitive thing that they can do, but they can also have their own goals. And so I think that's great. We partner with another organization called Achilles International to have people that can either run with them or a lot of them are faster than

A person can run until they'll have a cycle guide to make sure that they get through the course safely. And so that's something that is great to do locally, but it's something that anybody can do. And you don't have to be a certain age or a certain ability level in terms of speed. know, everybody can participate in those. Right. Well, so with all that you guys do, where does it usually occur? it just here in middle Tennessee?

Yeah, we have most of our activities in either Davidson or Williamson counties. But I can also tell you that our kids kind of come from everywhere. Most of them do come from middle Tennessee. But for things like our wheelchair basketball teams, we play through the National Wheelchair Basketball Association. for them, for teams for them, you have to play on the team with closest to your home. And so it's not like other teams here in middle Tennessee where there's a

Jason & Mindy Hoover (05:41.333)
rec league team, you know, kind of everywhere you go for us, the next closest team might mean that the person was out of state and that's the team that they would have to play in. so, in terms of our kids, most of them are middle Tennessee and we, all of our activities pretty much are in middle Tennessee. So there's kids that we travel. We do travel to things though. And I think that is great for the kids because they're only getting to compete in another state.

And that also means they're competing against kids who look like them. And I think that's really important for them to realize just how many people are out there in the world who you look like them and have the same struggles or maybe have the same joys and love to do the same things that they do when maybe their classmates don't always see it that way. A lot of our kids don't go to school with anybody else with a physical disability. And so I think that's great too when they get to travel and see just how many other kids.

are around and you know might seem like it's and it is you know kind of difficult to always have to travel and not get the opportunity to do sports here in middle Tennessee and stay in town but there's so many benefits in terms of social and then independence building too and learning what it's like to be able to travel so they can do that you know lifelong. There's a lot of expense involved in that too. do parents handle that? So Able Youth provides

anything that our families need. We survive off of donations and grants, but a lot of people don't realize how expensive that is. If you're just playing in the backyard, and like at our SuperSports Saturdays, you don't necessarily need a specialized sports wheelchair. But if you're competing, you do. And those are a little bit different. They look a little bit different. They move differently. They move faster. They turn faster.

And a lot of those wheelchairs are around $3 ,000 a piece. And so we have a fleet of those for our kids to be able to use and to loan out when they play so that they can actually compete and be at the other level with the other kids when they go to play at a tournament or a meet. And so we handle that because other kids, they just go.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (08:01.613)
buy a new pair of shoes and that's all they really need. And so it's much different for us. And insurance doesn't pay for any of those chairs at all. And so we do the fundraising so that our kids can play and then they're all loaned out. So then if their kid grows, which inevitably they will, they haven't spent that $3 ,000 for something they can only use for a year. That chair comes back in our fleet and another kid who is growing goes and gets to use that chair and they get to use another one.

So you guys handle most of the expenses? We do. And that's through donations and grants? Yeah. And traveling as well. you said, travel is a really big expense because our kids don't have the opportunity to compete against really anybody local. so that's a big expense as well. So Amy, I'm curious, what was your journey like to get to where you're at with

with this organization? Yeah, so you can't necessarily tell right now, but I have spina bifida and I was born with a disability of spina bifida, something you were born with. And so I've used a wheelchair my whole life. I grew up in Atlanta and I was really fortunate to grow up where I did because being in Atlanta, that meant that just by virtue of population, that there were a lot of other kids with disabilities, specifically also with spina bifida like me. And so

I actually made my first friend with spina bifida when I was not even old enough to know what a friend was. So I grew up with that already kind of ingrained in me. And I didn't realize until like much later into my adult life that that's not really that common, that a lot of kids grow up and they don't necessarily see or know anybody else with a disability. then that means that they don't.

necessarily know what is possible for them as kids or for their future. And that was not my story at all. I always had friends with disabilities. I always knew adults with spina bifida or with disabilities in general. I grew up being involved in sports from a very young age in Atlanta. If anybody knows Atlanta at all, tennis is really big in Atlanta. And so I started playing tennis when I was very young.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (10:28.971)
And that also meant that I saw adults that played tennis from when I was very young. And so I always knew that people with disabilities could play sports, but they could also drive and they could get married and they could go to college and they can, you know, live away from home and do all these things. And so to me, that's just how I grew up. I never knew any differently that maybe the outside world didn't necessarily understand that people with disabilities could do these things. And so for me, that was just normal. And so I grew up.

I was tennis and I did some horseback riding and those were my sports when I was very young. But then when I was going into the ninth grade, the 1996 Paralympics came through. And so from that age then, I I saw thousands of people from around the world with disabilities and I got to be in the opening ceremonies. That's so cool. It was just a great experience for me. That's awesome. Yeah.

So fun. And so, you know, I learned so much about just even other countries and people with disabilities in other countries as well. And out of that, there were some other programs that were added in Atlanta for adaptive sports. And two of those sort of centered around kind of multi -sport groups. And one of those was a group that had teams in a bunch of different counties and most counties in Georgia. And they all

played together. So we would play wheelchair handball in the fall and then we would play wheelchair basketball in the spring. And so that was a great experience for me because I got to know again so many other kids with disabilities that were my peers and it was wonderful. And so that was great and just got to do so many things through those organizations. And then after that, I went to school at Furman in South Carolina.

where I went to college and it was so weird because I went from where there was lots of other people with disabilities and I didn't really give a second thought to what Greenville might be like, but I was actually, I I saw three other wheelchair users the entire time I was in college. that was such a change. It was, mean, I don't even think I comprehended what that change would be like until it happened. And so that really gave me the, the knowledge that

Jason & Mindy Hoover (12:55.341)
My story wasn't necessarily like everybody else's, but I'm so glad I had that experience of growing up and being around so many people with disabilities. just their experience and thinking of like people didn't even know anything that with disabilities could do. So that was super interesting. And then after that, I moved here. I wanted to be in the music industry, which I was. I worked for a record label for 12 years. And if you know the music industry, you know there are lots of layoffs all the time.

Took a long time actually, but I hit with one of those. I had been volunteering for ABLE Youth the whole time. I knew after not having that experience of being around people with disabilities that I really wanted that. And I knew that my childhood was really enriched by being around so many adaptive sports, being around other kids with disabilities. I wanted that to be something that I got involved in when I moved to Nashville. And so I did that. And when I got laid off from my job,

It turned out that the founder, who was the only other executive director in the history, was looking to retire. And it just kind of worked out that I got to take on the role as the next executive director. So that was really great. And I've really enjoyed it. I've also gotten to do some adaptive sports of my own here in Nashville. I am the leader of the adaptive rock climbing group here in town that includes our kids, which is great because I can do stuff now.

as an adult that also includes our kids. And so I think that's beneficial for everybody as they learn what they can do as an adult as well. And then I do road racing through participation in the Achilles International group as well. And that's also the group that our kids are involved in. So I've really been always been involved in adaptive sports and it's always been great for me. And so now I'm able to participate and lead other kids in doing that as well. Perfect timing. Yeah, perfect.

It all worked out. who is the who was the one that started it? So Rick Slaughter is the founder of Able Youth and he grew up in middle Tennessee and was in a car accident when he was a teenager and that was a big change for him because he was a big athlete and I think like I said, you know, a lot of people haven't been around people with disabilities and so especially when you have an injury in your life.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (15:19.999)
is suddenly differently different than you've ever known, then you don't know what you can do in life. And so he became a not internationally top ranked wheelchair tennis player. And that really helped him just cope with a disability. And so he did that for a long time and then also took on a job as someone who helped fit kids for their wheelchairs. And he's super personable. He's still around.

somebody I talk to all the time and he would ask kids, this is part of hanging out with them, is what do you like to do for fun? And the kids would say, well, I like to go to my sister's soccer game or my brother's baseball game and Rick would be like, well, that's what your brother and sister do for fun. What do you do for fun? And they wouldn't have an answer because nothing existed in middle Tennessee at that time. And that was 2000 and it was a few years before 2003, but Able officially was formed in 2003.

And what a lot of people on the outside world don't know is that our kids are not eligible for Special Olympics, because the Special Olympics is for kids with intellectual disabilities. so our kids primarily just have physical disabilities. So they're not eligible for Special Olympics. So at that time, especially, there wasn't anything for our kids to be able to do in middle Tennessee that had disabilities, that had physical disabilities. And so, right, form something and so.

It's grown a lot and over the time we've existed, we started out with having wheelchair tennis being the prime sport that we did. And now we've grown a lot from there. I mentioned before, we do all kinds of things. So I got to know who's better, you or Rick? Rick for sure. Rick for sure is by far the better athlete. But I really am. I kind of realized over time, you know, that I...

I might not be the best athlete, I really enjoy – the thing that gives me the most joy is giving kids that opportunity that they didn't even know that they could do. That's really the part that I love the most. I love participating along with them as well to my level. I think that's also a great thing for the kids to learn is you don't have to be the best athlete. You don't even have to be like kind of good. It's about just participating and learning and having fun.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (17:44.937)
meeting other people and all of that. And so I think that's also actually a big value that I'm not necessarily the best athlete out there, but just it's about being able to just participate. But I really love the behind the scenes stuff that goes along, which there's a lot of that with having our kids be able to have that opportunities for sure. That's definitely my favorite part. That's great. Now, I know you say to you guys are not professionals, but you actually do have, I say a professional

para -athlete there. So I'd love to hear more about your program director and the person that is over your wheelchair basketball program. Yeah. So her name is Emily Hoskins and she is a two -time Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair basketball. And so she is an interesting story because she also grew up, she grew up in Illinois, but she did not know about adaptive sports until kind of later in her.

childhood and someone mentioned something to her parents about adaptive sports and they were like, what is that? And she's also had a disability from childhood. so she got involved in a team a little later in childhood, but got involved in a team, wheelchair basketball team and tried out some other things, but she knew wheelchair basketball was her thing and was on a team that's similar to the ones that we have in middle Tennessee that

traveled around and things. then from there, she played wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois. And I think a lot of people don't realize that colleges even have adaptive sports, but there are definitely a handful that have a variety of different sports. And so she has such a wealth of knowledge to be able to teach our kids. Because like I said, we want our kids to learn adaptive sports and to find something that they love and be active. But the biggest thing is also

for our kids to learn to be independent and for whatever that means for them. That can mean different things for them. And then to go on to be able to graduate high school and either go into the working world or go to college. And Emily has done all of that. And Emily has not only done all of that, but she's also traveled internationally as part of Team USA. And she's done all kinds of things and was a wheelchair athlete in college. so she's just a great person to be able to teach our kids what

Jason & Mindy Hoover (20:10.593)
is what is important to learn in independence and how that can help you really do what you want to do in life. And so she's great at working with the kids and is such an asset to our program for sure. Now, aside from you three, how many volunteers are needed in order for you guys to have like, like your Saturday, your super Saturdays that you guys have to make that flow? We do need volunteers for a lot of things that we do.

and they can be in different roles. have volunteers that are more physical therapy and occupational therapy focused that work with our kids more on that side of things. But sometimes we also need people to carry the equipment or to bring in snacks or things like that that are more like logistic things. And so we definitely, we only have two employees. It's only me and Emily and Emily is part -time. She's a psychologist.

full -time gig. And so if we didn't have volunteers to be able to do things, we wouldn't get by very easily. So that's something that we're really grateful for our volunteers that help us for sure. Now, do you guys have like a lot of teen helpers or is it mainly adults that come and help? What kind of volunteers do you need? It's actually all ages. just have had a brand new partnership with a teen group, the high school group that is helping to actually

It's really neat. They're helping us to add to our Super Sports Saturday different sports that we do by having them teach our kids how to do some of the things that they like to do that maybe we don't have a team for yet. There are lots of adaptive sports teams that exist internationally, but some of those things may not be something that a lot of kids participated in, they can look at getting involved in later.

you know, things like volleyball or lacrosse, you know, all those things. A lot of times there are adult things on a team level, but there are things that our teenagers can help that they might be involved in those sports and love that. And so that's something that we have kind of started as a new group. But also, like I said, the PT and OTs, a lot of times those are college students that are on a doctoral track a lot of times at either Belmont or at TSU. And so they're great.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (22:34.593)
But other adults are great too. And so we have some parents that chip in. We have all kinds of ages. And I think all kinds of ages are great. We also have a wheelchair basketball tournament that we do every other year. And that is great as well for all ages. We have a lot of different roles in those. And sometimes kids that are involved in sports, especially on the high school level, will want to be either time keepers or score keepers and things like that. So I think that's.

It's a great opportunity for our volunteers to come and also a lot of times they might not have been introduced to wheelchair sports either. And so that might be their first opportunity to learn what our kids can do as well. So how do they progress? I know you start at a young age and they kind of move through the program. how do they start out and then progress on? So it's a little bit different for everybody, but almost everybody starts at SuperSport Saturday and that's

all ages and so we usually start, if we can get kids to come in as soon as they get their wheelchairs, which for kids that are born with a disability and by and large, most of our kids are born with their disability. But if we can get them in at two years old or sometimes kids get a bit younger than that, then that's great because that will mean that they will grow up never knowing what it's like to not be able to do things or have other people do They only know to do. They'll know. Yeah. So everybody tries to tell them.

they can't do whatever and they're like, well, I've already done that or I've already seen my peers do that. So they'll always have that confidence. Yeah. I think too, if you try to learn a skill a certain way and that's not really the ideal way, it's so much easier for those kids to learn the skills the first time the right way. And I think too, another huge asset to our program is that our kids learn from one another. so parents...

because they don't, they're not a wheelchair user. They might not know how to teach their kids how to do something, our other, their peers can because they've been through it and they know how to do things. So our younger kids usually start with SuperSport Saturday. And then that's actually how a lot of kids start is SuperSport Saturday. then, you know, a lot of times they try to develop what they really like. And so sometimes they might come in knowing if they want to specialize in a sport, but we kind of look and

Jason & Mindy Hoover (24:57.803)
help them know what we do and give them the opportunity to say like, you can try anything you want. And so, but if you already know that you want to be on our basketball team, then that's a great place for you to, to go and to learn, or maybe they are really into, into racing and so, or track and field or something like that, whatever it is, we help them kind of decipher what they really might enjoy doing or just help them try to hone in on what their skills might be. And then

As we get a little bit older, because we do our travel opportunities for our kids, both on the track and field and the wheelchair basketball, that usually starts pretty young. There are age divisions for that kind of thing. our kids who are even in kindergarten can do that at their level. And then also then once they get a little bit older, they're eligible to participate in our independence camp. And that's usually for kids ages 10 and up.

learn a lot of higher level independent skills. And so they spend a weekend, it's usually at Camp Widgley Wagon, and they can do that and spend the weekend away from their family where they can be around just usually wheelchair users. we can teach them how to do certain skills, whether that's making a bed or learning how to navigate grass or gravel, or they can do things like a campfire, which a lot of times that might not be, have been accessible, that they might've.

not been invited to that because it's out in the woods and we have a spot where they can do that. They can learn how to do all kinds of skills and that is something that they can come to when they are 10 and then they can keep coming back and build on things you know year after year and learn and so that's something that's also great too for older kids. So really you know it can start at any age and then we can work with them to figure out what they like best and what works best for them. And I know that peer teaching like you were saying is one of the

most important tools. know as a teacher, I did what we call scaffold teaching. And that is when you see some kids mastering something, you kind of put them in charge. And it's so amazing how you can say something as an adult 10 times. And then one of their peers shows them one time and then they get it. They're like, why didn't you teach it like that? I literally said the same thing, but it's just something about seeing someone like you, same level, showing you how to do something. So the power in that is real.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (27:22.217)
And so I love it. I love that. And I think it's so empowering for the older kids or the it might even be actually older, but for their advanced kids to realize, wow, like I, used to be like them and not able to do it. And now I only know how to do it, but I can teach somebody else to. And so I think that's really empowering. And then you go to the next level. Yeah. And that's

I always say once you master and you teach it, it's solidified and it's time to move on to the next harder thing. love that. love that. So, do you have a lot of kids that come back and help volunteer after they grow up? We do. And that's great. I think that's so important for our kids to be able to see somebody at the next stage of life as them. they're a lot of times driving and they have a job or they're in college. And so for them,

to be able to see the people that are older than them succeeding at whatever next stage of life. That's so important. We had a bunch of kids come back to volunteer for our wheelchair basketball tournament, but actually now then also, pretty much every SuperSport Saturday, we have alumni that come back. And I think it's so important, like I said, for those kids to see those older kids. And I think a lot of times the older kids really enjoy looking back like I talked about.

They have mastered all these skills now and they get to see what the next generation is doing and help that next generation to be able to do the things that they could do. And I think that they really enjoy being able to come back and work with our kids now. So I want to know, well, I didn't realize this. So I want to know what does able actually mean?

The name of your organization is ABLE Youth, but I noticed that it's ABLE is in all caps. Yes, so it is an acronym and it's an acronym for actually two different things. So it's an acronym for one of the things it's an acronym for is Athletes Building Life Experiences. Okay. That's perfect. It's also an acronym for

Jason & Mindy Hoover (29:32.695)
four things that we call the ABLE way that we have realized that we think are really important for living successfully, having a disability. And so the A stands for adapt, and that is because as a person with a disability, you have to adapt to everything. so learning how to adapt, I think is the most important thing probably to being successful as a wheelchair user. Then believe, and that means believing in yourself.

believing in the people around you and just believing that you can succeed and then love which is love the life that you've been given and so that's something that we think we all need to keep in mind especially as they learn all the things they can do. I mean that just skyrockets and so love and then enjoy and that also kind of goes hand in hand is enjoying the life that you can live because you've learned that you can do all these things and so

just enjoy living life to the fullest each day. And you're definitely capable of that as a wheelchair user. And I think some people don't always realize that, but yeah. So adaptability of love and enjoy. And you guys are pouring into them all of that every single time that you get together. it truly makes an impact even further than I would imagine you realize. Yeah. You know, I hear stories all the times of

parents saying something, some way that they were impacted. And I was like, you know, you're like, didn't even know that they were listening or, you know, I didn't even know that they really, the kid really paid attention. And so it really does impact everybody in a lot of different ways. We have one kid who plays collegiate wheelchair basketball at Auburn and they, their, his family told me that it was because of him.

going to be on different college campuses because a lot of times either our wheelchair basketball tournaments might be on a college campus or there might be track and field meets that we go to. A lot of times they might be on a college campus. And so he wasn't even really looking at that college. It was just realizing that he could navigate a college campus successfully and realize that he could go away to college. you know, especially also

Jason & Mindy Hoover (31:57.663)
as he learned adaptive sports skills, is somebody, and adaptive independent skills, this is somebody who joined our program when he was four years old. And so he was with us the whole time. And like I said, now he is at Auburn and playing wheelchair basketball, but I didn't know for the longest time, his mom said, you know, was because he had his opportunities to travel and be on college campuses that really made him realize, hey, I could do that, you know? And so.

Really things happen all the time. We also on the other end of the spectrum, we have our kids who are very young just kids and they come at two years old and they're just having fun and sometimes they don't even necessarily participate that much because they're just a little bit overwhelmed or you don't even really know how it went or you think like they even have fun or they learn anything and then their parents will tell me the next time.

immediately my kid pushed their wheelchair better than I've ever seen them push it because they saw somebody else older do it. And because a lot of those kids, they've never met anybody else who's a wheelchair user. so for them to suddenly be around, you know, a dozen other kids or even an adult that use a wheelchair that just absorbs in them. They did it. They get it. They get it. Yeah. it really helps them mentally.

and emotionally as well as the physical aspect. They're building those muscles, but they're also opening up their mind to what they can do and building that emotional support that they need. that's beautiful. It's kind of crazy. think a lot of times even in the medical field hasn't caught up to not giving parents doom and gloom when they share their diagnosis. And I think the internet can help or it can not help.

that aspect as well. And so a lot of times they either their parents has been told or maybe they have been told or maybe their kid hasn't even lived long enough to experience one way or another if they're only two that they learn so much about what they can do when maybe they've been taught or just have the perception of what they can't do. And so that is great. And I think it's also great.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (34:18.647)
for the kids to be able to make friends with kids who are just like them. I think that helps with mental health so much because when you're just not around anybody with a disability, things look very frustrating and it may not be like, maybe seemingly trivial things. It might have been like, can you believe that there wasn't a curb cut and a ramp for me to get into somewhere so I couldn't participate in whatever activity? And they might think that they're the only one and they share that at able use and everybody else raises their hand and say, nope.

That's happened to me too. And so I think that is so comforting for them to realize they are not the only ones. Like I said before, you know, they have learned from one another how to do things, but really I think especially the mental health aspect of them realizing, you know, I'm not the only ones in my circumstance. You know, I have people that I can either commiserate with or I can, you know, I can celebrate with because we're able to do these things and you know, life might not always be great every day because it's not.

for anybody, but when it's not, have people to, can talk to you about that as well. You really do get it, you know, much more than anybody else would be able to. You know, on the flip side, you know, actually I have a cousin who had spina bifida. We grew up in a small rural town, farm town pretty much. And I mean, his parents put him on the tractor. I mean, he went out and he grew up to literally be a farmer as well with his dad and opened up after he saved money, opened up his own farmer's market.

and, you know, and has done well, but he was not raised in a no house. It was come on, Justin, we're doing this. And, you know, and was treated no differently in any new, you know, he was fortunate. Yeah. Yeah. It's shocking the different environments these kids are in. And sometimes it is kind of city dependent. Sometimes being not being around other people.

with disabilities makes their family more afraid and more sheltered them. But sometimes it happens like you said, where if they're not around people with disabilities, they don't know that they shouldn't include them, or the world might think they shouldn't include them. So they do. And so it's so interesting. I think we do find a lot of times that our kids do the best whose families don't really do much for them.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (36:39.559)
Certainly make sure that they're well taught and safe and give them the resources, but our kids need to practice their skills just like everybody else. I think that when you throw in disability, kids are more than happy, mean, parents are more than happy to have their three -year -old practice something and fail and get upset and have to keep trying. But when you throw in disability, then I think parents sometimes are much less likely.

to let them just figure it out for themselves and kind of fail and realize that's how you grow is being able to repeat things and keep doing stuff. so I just really think it's very interesting with parents and how other families, kind of what their environment is. But I do think it's really, really helpful when families will let the kids just figure it out for themselves. Well, we talk about the impact.

that this program and you are having on these kids, I am sure it's making a huge impact on their parents. Yeah, because I do think, like I had said, know, parents when, pretty much especially if the child is born with a disability, you know, their parents are giving a prognosis by somebody about their future when they haven't even had a chance to like remotely show what they can do because they're babies.

And so, you know, of course, you know, we don't know what their future is. And so a lot of times I think the parents, first of all, are overwhelmed because they've learned that their child has a diagnosis and certain medical things are on the horizon for them and all those kinds of things. But they're also maybe grieving what they were told their child is not going to be able to do. And so then when I come to able use and all these kids are running around the gym and all play and stuff, they realize like, I guess I was totally told the wrong thing or.

I guess my perception that I may have built by just over time of what people with disabilities can do actually is not right. And so it's really important for our parents to learn what our kids can do. But it's also really important for them to have, I think, make friends with other parents who child are also going through the same things. Because if they have a big medical situation that they need help with or things like that.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (39:05.729)
then they can wing on each other. And so I think those relationships too are also very important. It is. And you know, the closest that we get to it is that our daughter was diagnosed with type one diabetes and just having that, that group of parents to learn and lean on was a huge benefit. Yeah. I mean, I went online, couldn't find any parent groups and other than like a statewide thing. And so I'm like,

I'm creating a parent group for Williamson County parents. putting this out there. And there was a ton of parents that just jumped in and people who had been, you know, five, 10 years into diagnosis that, you know, me being two weeks in knew nothing. And it's just so scary. It's really, really scary when you don't know what to do for your child and you're given, well, they can't do this and they can't be this. And, you know, well, she wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up. Well, she can't now. And, you know,

So you're told all these things your kid can no longer do and everything you have to watch. so having people that have actually gone through and they're like, that's not that big of a deal. You do this and this. absolutely. it's a comfort to have those. So to have these organizations where parents can, like Jasmu is saying, you can kind of bind with others. It's so, so important. It is really important. It's a really special group of friendships that they've

they've all built, the kids and the parents, where they can all learn things that they wouldn't learn anywhere else. And I think everybody's story is a little bit different. And so when you go on the internet, you're told by a doctor, this is how it's going to be. That's one person's opinion or one person's experience when there are whole bunch of other different experiences that people have had. Yeah. And I think you hit on it earlier too, you know, we, you know, the medical profession hasn't caught up.

to what they can do. just starting out with that negative perception, it impacts those parents, the paradigm they live in until somebody like you in this organization changes that. So, I mean, that's why we love what you're doing. We love that you're making an impact. And I know it's not just you, there's so many involved, but

Jason & Mindy Hoover (41:32.013)
you're making an impact on these kids, you're making an impact on the parents and we love you for that. Yeah. And I really think it goes so far because when I talk about things that our kids do and it's about sports, it's really about so much more than that. And I would definitely even say that there are so many people in the world that have never met a person with a disability, never had, and even if they maybe have seen somebody with a disability that they've never actually

really taken and really gotten the chance to know somebody. And so when even just the world at large sees what our kids can do, their perceptions maybe that they've always had about disability are changed. And so I really think that, you know, our kids have the power to change the world just by being who they are and being able to live out the, you know, all the things that they can do in life just by being who they are. And so I think, you know, it definitely goes about.

goes into so much more than sports for sure. Yeah. So on your website, there is a, I think there's a couple of videos, but there's a video ahead of you. And was that Emily in there as well? Yes, that was her. Okay. So I encourage everybody that's listening, go on their website, watch that video. It is so inspiring. And what's your website address? We're ablyouth .org. ablyouth .org.

You'll get to see the kids in action. You'll get to see when I was talking about the different sports chairs, you're going to see that. You're going to see a whole lot for your own self to really realize that our kids are doing all kinds of stuff. Yeah. Able to do anything. Able to do anything. Right. Absolutely. We just have to. It's about that adapt piece. It's about, you know, you may have only seen somebody do it one way. Well, maybe you can't do it that way, but that doesn't mean that that's the only way to be able to do it. So that's important. Yes.

Well, there is one piece on the, I think it was your about page that I highlighted and starred here. It says, able youth promotes not only physical fitness, but also emotional and wellbeing and self -esteem. know, the self -esteem part is once you're telling these kids that you can do something that makes the world a difference to them.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (43:56.997)
Absolutely. You know, if you're living in an environment that you're told you can't, then that's what you're going to believe. So I love that you're you're flipping that script and you're saying, no, you can do this. Let me show you how. Right. And so I just I wanted to highlight that for our listeners. And I do encourage everybody to go to the website, learn more about this organization. Also on there is a way to.

donate and get involved. you mind expanding on that for us? Yeah, on the home page of our website there is a donate button and then up at the top there is the bar at the top there's ways that you can donate, you can volunteer as well or ways you can get in touch with us and ask you know any questions about volunteering and so if you just reach out to us if you're interested in volunteering that would be great and then like I said the donate button is there.

You can donate directly on our website. There is a mailing address where people can mail in a check if they wanted to do it that way. There's a couple of different ways we are around them now. So all kinds of ways that you can donate as well. And are you a 501 3C? We are. Yeah, we are a 501 3C nonprofit. Perfect. So on the volunteer piece,

Do you take like groups of people like if the group wants to volunteer? Yeah, well, we'll need to see what size the group is and we might need to split them up just depending if we have if the group is, you know, 40 people and we have, you know, 12 kids that day, you know, to figure out the right group and right activity. But we can do groups as well. Perfect. Perfect. Well, this has been so, so

impacting, impactful to me. I think, you one thing that you had shared that it's about education. Yes. And I think, you know, the more we're getting educated and learning, I'm understanding just how little we know. And I think that's where things need to change and educate the community on what these kids are capable of doing.

Jason & Mindy Hoover (46:21.921)
And I'm so glad you mentioned that. So the Paralympics started yesterday. Yes, they did. big competition started today. And I think that plays so much into it. It's on TV at a pretty large rate for the first time this year on NBC and USA and CNBC and then Peacock as well. But I think that plays, the media plays a very large part into that too because

A lot of times not only are people not seeing people with disabilities in their everyday life, they're not necessarily seeing it in the media as well. That's another thing people can do to familiarize themselves with people with disabilities is to watch the Paralympics these next two weeks because I completely think you're right. People just don't know. If they've not seen people and not interacted with people with disabilities, they truly don't know what their capabilities are. A lot of times, wrongly assume that things people...

can or can't do and so I that's super important. Exactly. And I think they did a great job this year promoting it during the Olympics that it was coming up and they kind of hyped it up, had them on there as well. So I think that kind of has played into this and I guess this new charge up of Olympics. Like you said, this is the first time. So this is kind of a big deal. So it was kind of neat to see them integrated like they were this year. So yeah, they've been on

TV and I'm like a recap show before, but this is really the first time that I've seen it like that, especially on the commercial side of it, where they have Olympic and Paralympic athletes together and to really say like, we're all athletes and we're all elite athletes, no matter what it looks like, if you're sitting, standing, whatever, that we're all elite athletes that are involved in the Olympics and Paralympics. So I love to see.

those athletes side by side for sure too. And we're big Olympic watchers. So I know we're going to be watching it off and on over the next two, cause it's the next week. It's the next, it's almost like a week and a half. That's amazing. Well, I just want to say, Amy, thank you so much for coming on today. I have really enjoyed talking through all of this with you and educating me and on all the different,

Jason & Mindy Hoover (48:40.727)
types of activities you guys do and the way that you impact all these kids here in Middle Tennessee and beyond the borders for those that have to drive in. It's incredible that you are able to offer all of these activities for these children. Well, we love doing it and we love to let people know that we're out here and we're doing so thank you so much for having me. All right. Well, that's all for this episode. Thank you again so much, Amy. We appreciate you. We appreciate what you're doing and

what you're how you're pouring into this community and impacting everybody in a very positive way. That's why you're our community hero and we thank you so very much. But that is that's going to be a wrap for us. Thank you, Nashville, for tuning in and listening and always coming back for more. And just remember that there are so many people out here doing very, very big jobs.

that is making just positive impacts to these kids, to our community, and in every facet of our life. So please get educated, learn more, help more, and see what you can do. But that's it. Thank you, Nashville. Remember, we love you, and you always matter. And that brings us to the end of another episode of You Matter Nashville. We hope today's show has left you feeling as uplifted and inspired as we are.

Remember, the spirit of Nashville lives in all of us and every small act of kindness echoes throughout the community. A huge thank you for listening and even being a part of our You Matter community. If you love this episode, please share with friends and leave us a five -star review. It helps us reach more listeners and spread the love. And if you know anyone that is looking to make a move to Middle Tennessee area, we are real estate professionals known as the Hoover Team, and we would be honored to serve them with excellence. Until next time, keep making a difference Nashville. You matter more than you know.