Empowerment Through Paddling

Cal Poly students and faculty accompany Cal Poly Adapted Paddling Program participants on a kayak outing in Morro Bay.

ADAPTED PADDLING PROGRAM HAS CREATED MEANINGFUL IMPACT FOR PARTICIPANTS AND STUDENTS FOR 25+ YEARS

OCTOBER 2024
by NICK WILSON AND Angelina Benyamin Rodriguez
PHOTOS BY JOE JOHNSTON

In 1999, kinesiology Professor Emeritus Kevin Taylor first launched a program that brings together community members with physical disabilities and Cal Poly kinesiology students — through kayaking. 

A quarter century later, the Adapted Paddling Program (APP) is still thriving, successfully uniting Cal Poly faculty and students, community volunteers and local people living with disability so they can learn from each other and foster invaluable bonds. 

The program is guided by professional kayaking instructors and offers valuable benefits including social activity, education and appreciation for the outdoors. 

“In working with people with disabilities, students learn to see past the disability and connect with the human being,” said Taylor, who retired in 2023 as the director of Cal Poly’s School of Education. “It creates a deep and meaningful learning experience for the students, connecting theory from their lectures to a very practical application.” 

Bruce Carr, a participant, has joined Cal Poly students and faculty in kayaking sessions at the Anderson Aquatic Center pool on campus and in nearby ocean waters off the Central Coast.

"This program has helped me to fill a void of not participating in activities I used to do without restrictions. It gives me that sense of freedom and self-worth that I can help students experience learning in a meaningful environment.

~Bruce Carr,

Cal Poly Adapted Paddling Program participant

“I get to enjoy nature being on the water,” said Carr, who has multiple sclerosis that affects his leg and core mobility. “This program has helped me to fill a void of not participating in activities I used to do without restrictions. It gives me that sense of freedom and self-worth that I can help students experience learning in a meaningful environment.” 

Each quarter, kinesiology majors enrolled in the KINE 307 Adapted Physical Activity course select from one of four labs. If they select the adapted paddling lab, they learn to adapt kayaking equipment and skills to be inclusive of people with a range of abilities. 

Students then work with a lab partner to make individualized adaptations for a client in the program. 

Students study proper posture support, including client seating that may include soft or rigid foam padding. Students also work to create ease in getting in and out of the kayaks for clients who use wheelchairs, according to Jafra D. Thomas, a kinesiology and public health professor who co-coordinates the program. 

Clients are also equipped with a personal flotation device for safety and protection from elements like sun and wind exposure. Lightweight carbon fiber paddles minimize paddling fatigue. 

“Students learn how to anticipate the different comfort and functional needs of individuals with a physical disability and some pragmatic ways to adapt the kayaks so that individuals can be comfortable, but they can also participate safely,” Thomas said. 

Kinesiology and public health Professor Jafra D. Thomas (left) paddling with kinesiology student Maddison King.

Clients range in age from children to seniors. Practice sessions are held in the campus pool, and ocean outings take place in Morro Bay. The program hosts a welcome event for the students and client participants to build rapport. 

“On the academic side, the program is considered a service-learning project, where students learn perspectives of disability and thinking critically to evaluate environments and run a program that’s equitable and inclusive so everyone can participate,” Thomas said. 

Individual participants include those with Down syndrome, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Over the years, clients have included those with quadriplegia, paraplegia, amputation and muscular dystrophy. 

“Some participants will choose to perform the paddling stroke, while others hold on to their paddle and their assistant instructor would do quite a bit of the paddling and the client goes for a leisure ride,” Thomas said.

Kinesiology major Luke Hansen, a returning assistant student instructor, has witnessed the sheer joy the experience brings. 

“I remember the smiles not just on all the participants, but on their families watching from the shore, seeing their loved one be an equal to the Cal Poly volunteers and enjoying a beautiful morning out on the bay,” Hansen said. 

He said that his experience growing up with a younger brother who has a disability is part of his inspiration for his involvement. 

“APP removes the stigmas, barriers and concerns and allows the participant to do one simple thing: go kayaking just like any other person,” Hansen said. 

Taylor developed the program in collaboration with Jeff Clark, a kayaking instructor, and Monica Clark, a physical therapist. John P. Lee, a certified occupational therapist who works to provide accommodations to students with disabilities in Cal Poly’s Disability Resource Center, also was involved from the start as a participant and continues to serve as a volunteer instructor. 

Tom Reilly, the owner of Central Coast Kayaking in Pismo Beach, joined in 2000 to help support the program and has been a volunteer instructor for more than 20 years. 

A spinoff from the work has also included a Solo Quad-Conversion Project, funded in collaboration with the College of Engineering. One such mechanism allowed the client to use a mouthpiece “sip and puff” control mechanism, activating electronic switches that send signals to the computer on the boat. 

The Bailey College Inclusion and Equity Fund has helped cover costs of the program’s welcome events and other needs. 

“The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion funding helps create a comfortable, familiar, social environment and to deliver the program with instructional purpose,” Thomas said.