Diversifit

07/22/2021

The weather is finally nice enough for some outdoor play! We loved our track and field activity stations today, including the agility ladder, hurdles, axe throwing/bean bag toss, and the parachute!

Now, we are enjoying some bouncy castle time- fun for all ages!

07/15/2021

We love love love our DiversiFIT family! Today was a wonderful day to explore balance, stability and agility with some extraordinary kids and leaders!

07/13/2021

It's Week 2 of DiversiFit and Occasio! 🎉 We will be focusing on Agility, Balance and Coordination activities, but the favourites from last week will be available too. We will also be creating a quiet station with sensory games and crafts/colouring/quiet activities. We still have a few spots available for this Thursday - please register at autismedmonton.org/occasio.

07/05/2021

We are only one day away from the 's Occasio program hitting our studio!

Tomorrow will be their first time visiting our facility and they will be enjoying a movement session facilitated by their Occassio team.

Then, on Thursday afternoon, we get our turn to join in the fun, as we transform our studio into a great big playground!

We will have all the fun toys out for the participants to explore as they get to know us and our facility!

07/03/2021

AND WE'RE BACK!!

We are over the moon excited to be announcing are official reopening as a partnership with Autism Edmonton.

This summer, Action Potential Fitness, home of DiversiFIT, will be an on-site location for exploring fun and physical literacy to Autistic youth and young adults of all backgrounds and ability levels.

The heart and soul of Diversifit rests in its vision that every body can enjoy meaningful and enjoyable fitness opportunities with the right supports and accommodations, so this opportunity is literally a dream come true. DiversiFit was born in the offices of Autism Edmonton, and it seems so perfectly fitting that it should once again find its home there.

Pictured here is Founder/CEO Zita Dube-Lockhart (CSEP CPT/NASM CES) filming a video welcoming participants to the program and showing what they can expect when they arrive on site.

Not pictured (because she is behind the camera!) is APF co-owner and DiversiFit Program Director, . These two, along with their amazing team of instructors and trainers, will be helping to create amazing invitations to play all summer long!

See you soon!

08/05/2019

These are great visuals for understanding sensory processing differences/sensitivities

07/27/2019

A SUPER informative session on the Registered Disability Savings Plan. It's amazing how few people know about this program given how beneficial it can be!! So many changes and updates in the past few years have made this totally an important financial tools for many families.

Thank you, Simon and Aly, for bring your knowledge and experience to this important topic.

For those who missed the session but are looking for more information, we will gladly connect you with Aly and Simon to learn more!

06/06/2019

We are excited to announce that the DiversiFIT Adults program will be resuming on June 13th and will run until August 15th.

This program runs on Thursdays at 1pm until 215pm. Autistic adults (18+) are encouraged to join together to participate in a small group training program overseen by a CSEP Certified Personal Trainer!

Registration details will be released soon!

05/01/2019

A great opportunity for older teens!

📣 A spot has just opened up:

Would you like to help your son/daughter develop capacity for independence at home in a safe way?

A spot has just opened up for Occasio's "Stay at Home Alone" training for youth and parents! It's happening this weekend!

Call (780) 446-1979 or email occasio@autismedmonton.org to sign up!

04/27/2019

We can't believe that today is our LAST DAY of the Winter 2019 session!

(So you can blame us for Mother Nature's surprise!)

ALL programs will be on break for May while we transition into our Summer Programming.

Stay tuned to this page for more information!

04/17/2019

Coach is excited to spend her morning with the kids of St Dominic's 100 Voices program running the "Jump, Catch, Kick, Throw" movement scaffolding circuit.

Focused on establishing the functional movement fundamentals for most gross motor activities and sports, this circuit allows each individual child to work on skill develop at their pace and in ways that are appropriate to their ability.

All kids are natural born movers and shakers, but some require a more adaptive appproach to refinining and controlling those movements to turn them into meaningful play activities.

As always, the focus is on putting the FUN back into FUNctional movement for every body and everyone!

03/27/2019

An amazing donation has put us well over our goal and we are extrmely excited to announce that Diversifit will be able to continue offering low-to-no cost fitness programs and services for another year!

We are so grateful to everyone who supported us, and would like to say a special thank you to our first corporate sponsor, Bayshore Home Health, for helping to support accessible programming in our communities.

As one of Canada's leading home health service providers, Bayshore is committed to providing client-centered care and creating comprehensive service programs that address a person's whole self.

From companionship and home care services and to nursing care and rehabilitation services, Bayshore prides itself on designing care programs that are individualized and truly meet the personal needs of the client and their family.

03/07/2019

Just a few minutes ago, this Evansdale school gym was PACKED with kids and parents running, jumping and playing their way through our largest Diversifit session to date! Over 40 joined us this evening for this facilitated game night, and some amazing things happened.

A mostly non-speaking child said my name, another who is usually afraid of noise joined into the chaos with her best tiger growls and some parents shed tears at feeling like their kids were having fun and getting a chance to "be kids first".

I am exhausted but my bucket is overflowing with joy and gratitude. Thank you for having me, Evandale school!

03/05/2019

It's an exciting week for us at Diversifit! Zita just finished presenting the program to a group of physical education specialists at Newton School and tomorrow she heads over to Evansdale to present their first session of Diversifit: On The Go mobile program!

We already have school presentations and programs booked for April and are thrilled by the support we are getting from our school administrations!

02/28/2019

Zita is out repping Generate Fitness and the NEW DiversiFIT School Programs! We are so excited to announce that we now have program portability and have also launched our Teacher/EA workshops and our curriculum consulting sessions.

We know that schools are important influencers in the physical, mental, emotional and physical development of children. We are so excited to be meeting so many future partner organizations and are excited to announce that we have booked sessions in multiple schools for March and April!

02/27/2019

It's , an initiative that was started by two teens whi bought and distributed dozens of pink in response to an act of bullying in our schools.
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This nation-wide movement represents for us the importance of . But it should also be recognized for the amazing power of community, and of how impactful seemingly small actions can truly be.
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The is symbolic, and may only be showcased one day a year, but its message and spirit must fill our hearts every single day.
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There is zero excuses for treating others poorly.
Zero room for shaming them.
Zero cause for social isolation. Zero tolerance for bullying.

02/24/2019

Setting up for an amazing game of dodgeball. DiversiFIT is absolutely where sweat happens, but the most amazing things today had more to do with mental and emotional health than with physical health.

A friendship started to bloom.
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A sibling confided in coach that sometimes she feels lonely and we will be able to help the family get improved supports.
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Parents got to exchange stories and experiences and learn from each other.
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Children of all abilities learned to navigate a very social game and discussed rules and ideas with creativity and joy.

Today was a perfect example of the importance of our "every body, everyone" family integrated philosophy. When we play together, we grow together- as families, as friends and as a community.

These tiny seedlings are growing into an actual reality. And it is beautiful to see.

02/17/2019

Executive Director and Program Designer Zita Dube-Lockhart was invited to speak about DiversiFIT today at Orange Theory Callinwood's charity event for Sister Annata Brockman School's fundraiser for Autism Edmonton.

Thank you for supporting Autistic people in our community!

Let's be real- every day is a busy day for , but today was an especially busy one.
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Not only did she spend the day in training at the studio, she she took her lunch break on the go to head to the new , which was holding a charity event for who are raising funds for .
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She was honoured to be asked speak about and the importance of physical fitness for Autistic people and their caregivers/families at the event. And of course, Sam (and Charlie) was excited to get to meet everyone and be a part of the event.

Organizations like the ones above are absolutely crucial to ensuring that programs like DiversiFIT can exist and serve our community and we are extremely grateful to our new friends and neighbors at Orange Theory and Sister Annata Brockman for their ongoing support.

Congratulations on a great event!