Special Needs student interested in martial arts

[stan myaskovskiy]

Hey guys,
I run a small gym out in the middle of nowhere and I have a student that stops in every week. Lets call him Billy Bob for confidentiality reasons lol. He wants to train but he was very dishonest with me when I first asked him if he had any medical problems. He said no, he just has difficulty making friends. I let him watch our classes but not join in.

When asked to fill out the regular forms, Billy Bob told me that he was under his sisters care (he is 27). He slurs, has difficulty talking, answering questions, and its is very obvious that he has a handful of medical concerns and issues. I initially dove further a few months ago and asked to speak to the sister. That was denied. I was able to find out from him that he has epilepsy. Furthermore, I asked him to bring in a physical to clear him for activity because I was under the suspicion that he has a mental disorder that can impair his ability to do the class, and I felt it was my duty to ensure his safety and my students before allowing him to join.

He went to a nurse practitioner he has never been seen by so the entire physical was quite pointless. It was missing a LOT of his medical history, but indicated that he was cleared by his main doctor for Special Olympics. I have been attempting to get more information but the student has difficulty complying and understanding what I am asking of him. I am not sure what cleared him for special olympics, because he will not tell me.

Can anyone please help me understand my legal rights/duties here?
I DO NOT want to discriminate, nor do I want to completely refuse his right to train. I think its great that he wants to learn and is so eager to participate. However, I also understand that I can be putting him/others into serious risk of injury if I do not handle this properly. Does anyone here have experience with students of special needs, or possibly experience with how to address the situation?

Thanks!

[Eddie Bravo]

That's a tough one. Anyone have any suggestions? I've never had to deal with a situation like this before

[mikel]

I used to volunteer for the special olympics years ago and have had a few special needs students over the years. . I taught them karate tho...havn't tried it with jiu jitsu. Karate you can focus on movement and kata, jits may cause more panic. I don't know his disability, but it sounds like he may panic, he may know he will panic, so if you do it, be ready. Go slow. And read all of the links I provided first.

There is nothing wrong with telling him you don't feel qualified to teach someone who has special needs. Hell I got turned away from a local bjj gym because I have ptsd...like they were going to start shooting off artillery or something.

But if you do decide to teach him, I highly recommend you do privates or semi privates with him and encourage a family member to get involved, in the beginning.

Is he under his sisters care legally or is that just the person who cares for him? If he is court ordered to be under her care you probably need her permission.

If his physical for the special olympics was within 12 months it should be good enough for a standard physical, but that doesn't mean it is good enough for a combat sport. Was the physical for your gym, or just a general physical?

some reading to help you out.

http://fightmedicine.net/outsidethec...-and-teammates

He told TXMMA that kids on less severe spectrums of ADHD and autism can “benefit as much as any other kid from participating” in physical activities like BJJ “where they are able to participate in a group” and that “for the more severe cases of autism and ADHD he can’t say much about that at this point because there is not very much research out there.”-cesar de paz, md, bjj black belt

http://www.txmma.com/children-with-s...ian-jiu-jitsu/

http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10....ournalCode=pms

http://link.springer.com/article/10....-0101-6#page-1

http://www.degruyter.com/dg/viewarticle/j$002fijamh.1986.2.1$002fijamh.1986.2.1.63$002fija mh.1986.2.1.63.xml;jsessionid=874C23553C9FBC6AAE2E 54008DAEB295

http://www.specialneedsjudo.com/Down...Essentials.pdf

[Drew Ash]

Id say contact a lawyer just to cover your ass.

[HerbChao]

Ditto yeah, speak to a lawyer legally to make sure. Is there a way for you to reach out to the sister over him (bypass him if u will?).

[Jason 'JFaz' Farren]

I'm not sure how it works over in the states but I was taught through my personal trainers course that either get medical clearance or a signed waiver from him & his legal guardian.

Generally the standard legal standpoint is that the client entered martial arts training knowing the possible dangers of said training.

However given his mental standings were you to train him and something happened it can be argued that he didn't understand what he was getting involved in and you can find yourself in a liable and in a legal nightmare.

I understand not wanting to turn anyone away but I'd make sure all i's are dotted & t's are crossed before he can train.
I would be thinking if he can't or won't cooperate with your instructions just to get on the mats, what happens when he is on them?

[stan myaskovskiy]

Thanks first of and foremost for all the replies!

Mikel, I will read the links thanks!!!
I also talked to my 10p coach as well (Yooper hotbox) because he has a similar student actually. The situation that you describe with the student in panic is something that he said he has had to be very careful with, and cautioned me about the same concern. He said that his student has little control over "playful rolling" and student keeps turning intensity up without trying to as I recall. We do teach more than jiu jitsu in my small school, so I was definitely considering starting him with more of a stand-up 1 on 1 environment (maybe with supervision) if we go further.

My understanding of the situation is that when he originally came in, he was under a sister's care. At this point he claims to be living on his own, and to being his own provider/gaurdian. The Physical that he provided me was a general physical, and was done by a nurse practitioner he has never seen before, and not his long-term family doctor. It was missing what seemed like a LOT of information that should have been there to help me understand the situation that I am dealing with.

I DO have the sister's number, as he left it on one of the forms for emergency contact. Am I able to call her, or is this going to be a breach of confidentiality? My next step is definitely to double check everything with an attorney. I also am very concerned with liability in as Jason put it, "a legal nightmare".

One of the biggest reason's he isn't training yet is because he was dishonest with me. I had to spend 20-30 minutes to explain to the student that I need to know his medical history to ensure a safe class, and that he can easily cause/receive serious harm if I am not aware of his condition(s) and how to react if something happens. If I didn't know he was epileptic, what happens if he has a seizure during a roll??

I can account for every single student in my class. We have one who only has one kidney (so no body shots in stand-up sparring) and we had a coach who had open heart surgery. He can't take any shots to the chest. But they were honest, addressed any concerns, and we are able to provide a safe training center for them and fit them into classes where they are not going to need to fear for their health. With this student, he is constantly trying to avoid telling me a medical history, which is the only reason I demanded a physical. If I took him for his word we would have started training months ago. But I may have also been out on my a$$ too.

I do have medical "clearance" and I do have a signed waiver. I have repeatedly made the student aware of the dangers of a martial arts class. I have explained that these are techniques where a student can be seriously harmed or even killed if they are executed improperly, or a choke is held for too long.

I am planning at this time to contact an attorney, am waiting for a call from his primary doctor, and I am also CONSIDERING simply saying that I do not feel qualified to teach a student with special needs, because, well that is the truth... and I do not want problems in the future for the student, myself, or our gym.

[Seymour Green]

Why dont you split the classes. You could have a kids class, adults class and then a special needs class. Just keep the special needs class small so that you can control it better

[stan myaskovskiy]

I live in a very small town. Our big classes aren't very big lol, and I am 90% positive that I won't be able to find him any partners. I would gladly start such a class if there was further interest though!

[Scott R]

I work at a group home and deal with this sort of thing every day first you need to find out if he has a guardian or he is his own guardian. The guardian will have all the info you will need that's were you need to start. If he is his own guardian then he can sign a waiver for himself and the rest is in your hands. Calling his sister would not be a breach of his confidentiality to make a long story short he volunteered the information and it's no different from calling my sister and asking about me. Call me if you want more info or have questions.