What is The SuperFly Club? Our coaches have partnered with pediatric neurologist, Dr. Suzanne Goh to develop a curriculum designed to address proprioceptive and vestibular deficits, increase self-regulatory behavior and boost the students’ confidence and sense of self efficacy within a fun, supportive environment built to draw upon children’s’ natural motivation to play. With this program we hope
to share our passion for circus arts with a population who otherwise would not have access and yet has so much to gain. From trapeze to tumbling, circus disciplines offer the ability create a vast range of sensory opportunities including the ability to play with and manipulate: height, speed, swinging, spinning, pressure and body orientation. Research shows that, for children with Autism, increasing incidents of such experiences can help develop sensory processing skills that are considered essential for optimal occupational functioning, including the ability to learn, modulate attention and regulate behavior. Beyond traditional sensory integration therapies however, circus also requires full body exercise, stretching and postural work, which studies show, not only improve body awareness, coordination and balance but also decrease anxiety, promote emotional regulation and increase subjective well being. But mostly importantly circus is fun! Students are willing and eager to participate and we build on this intrinsic motivation to play by contriving therapeutic activities from these natural impulses. Why San Diego Circus Center? Circus arts have seen a huge rise in popularity over several years but of all the circus education institutes SDCC is one very few currently offering instruction for special needs populations. We believe that we are uniquely capable of creating and executing such a program because of the involvement of Dr. Goh and our Youth Director, Kelsey Saake. Dr. Suzanne Goh is a board-certified pediatric neurologist with expertise in the evaluation and treatment of children with Autism. She recently published a book that outlines a powerful, in-home, behavior management program for children with Autism, grounded in the latest research in neuroscience, linguistics and the psychology of parent-child interactions. Our head coach, Kelsey Saake is a professional performer who has been involved with circus for many years. As Youth Director at SDCC she has developed summer camps, launched an after school program, and created circus curriculum for students aged 2 – 65. Beyond her interests in circus however, she holds her undergraduate degree in cognitive psychology with a focus on the relationship between exercise and mental health and has extensive background working with special needs populations. In addition to our highly qualified staff, SDCC has a strong commitment to enriching the lives of all members of our community through teaching circus disciplines, arts and culture. The Future of SuperFly
Through our current fundraising campaign we hope to create a budget large enough to expand participation, fund further program development and research, and eventually to create a replicable program that can be instituted in schools around the world, bringing the great benefits of circus arts to as many special needs students as possible.
