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Last winter, a competitive gymnastics team in Lynchburg was looking for a new place to train. Meanwhile, Melissa Thompson, whose youngest daughter was one of the team members, was wondering how to help her older daughter cope with autism. She filled both needs by starting a new business, Elite Athletics, in January. The gym on Doss Road in Concord got off to a slow start, but it now offers numerous classes for people of various ages and skill levels, including one class for children with special needs. It has about 70 students, Thompson said.

It looks like all the school districts that have cut back or eliminated recess and physical education classes in order to spend more time on test prep are on the wrong track. According to results from a 3,000 student high school out in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois, putting students who struggle in reading and math into physical education classes can shrink waistlines and boost academic performance.

The late Kingman Brewster, president of Yale University, once said, "Incomprehensible jargon is the hallmark of a profession." We laugh at bizarre excesses, such as "kinetic wellness" to mean "gym class" (true example!) but jargon has a darker implication: buzzwords can be well-chosen to mask a truth that the uninitiated may find distasteful. Here is a quick guide (with a healthy dose of dry humor) of some of the wonderful-sounding phrases used in schools.

Not long ago, most blind and visually impaired people grew up without ever playing sports; they sat on the sidelines, and kept score during gym-protected rather than included. In the 1980s, few people had ever heard of the Paralympic Games or accessible recreation. Today, promising blind athletes can receive residency at the US Olympic Training Center; runners compete for prize money and national championships, and most ski resorts offer adaptive programs throughout the year where blind people can ski, cycle, and kayak-often for free. The Paralympic movement, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and ever-increasing expectation for inclusion among the disabled have inspired an explosion of accessible sports, fitness, and recreation programs that accommodate the blind. The Encyclopedia of Sports & Recreation for People with Visual Impairments is the first consumer- focused, action-oriented guide to this new world of accessible activity, profiling the people, programs, and products that are helping move blind and visually impaired people from the sidelines into the game. This groundbreaking guide profiles every accessible blind sport and recreation activity with entries that outline how athletes (both novice and elite) got involved in the sport and how participation has shaped their life. The book also profiles major blind sports organizations and includes chapter and resource listings on camps and accessible recreation providers. Through this book, blind people will be inspired to embrace sports as the rest of society does-as a vital component of personal expression and human interaction that opens paths to adventure, confidence, and lifelong health and fitness

This fall, a fancy new place opened in Vienna that will give him that level of care for $75 a night. Called Jill's House, it boasts a swimming pool, gym, music room, art center, suites with bejeweled ceilings that look like outer space and a playground so cool, I'd call it Seven Flags. There's a ceiling track that snakes from the bed to the bath, so that a guest can be carried, via sling, for bathing. There's the indoor-outdoor lock system, in case a guest bolts. Picture cards all over the place let the guests point to food, water or a toilet if they can't articulate a need. The indoor swimming pool, surrounded by Bahamian decor, has water-proof wheelchairs, a ramp, a sling and one lifeguard for every guest.

When: Monday evenings starting February 7th,  5:30 – 7:00., through the end of April Where: Romney Gym at MSU, 3rd floor (if you need directions, please let me know)  Why: To teach our special needs kids a few basic dance steps in preparation for the Prom. Please let me know if your child is interested. I am hoping we will have at least 6-12 kids interested in this special program.  I have enlisted the assistance of a college friend of mine who has arranged this entire class at no charge to any of us.  She is using the dance studio where she teaches other classes and will be receiving credits for this independent learning class.  If it all goes well, we can maybe do it again next Spring.  I think dance is a great socializing event and there are opportunities to use these skills later in life. Contact: Ellen Ross at 406-539-1728

While many classrooms have evolved over the years to better work with students with disabilities, the school gym and athletic fields may be the exception. A 2010 report from the federal Government Accountability Office concluded as much, finding that "education has provided little information or guidance on PE or extracurricular athletics for students with disabilities, and some states and districts GAO interviewed said more would be useful."