David Schillo: Helping Young People
David Schillo has long been involved with creating opportunities for disabled people, especially young people with mental and physical disabilities, to still lead an active lifestyle. A former officer in the US Army and current middle school science teacher, Schillo earned a Master’s degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Adaptive Physical Education. This discipline is mostly concerned with finding ways to increase access and efficacy of physical activity programs for those with disabilities. It’s no surprise that, as Schillo found in his Master’s thesis “in a cross-sectional study that evaluated barriers to physical activity, Rimmer et al. found that physical, social, psychological, and equipment-based barriers all limit the participation of people with disabilities in physical activity programming.” However, there are ways that those with disabilities can still enjoy an active lifestyle. David Schillo has helped students at his school find ways to still be active, using new technology such as active gaming platforms. He is always looking for new ways to help students with disabilities. David Schillo also volunteers for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.