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I�MO T0: Mounds View Parks � Recreation Commissioners <br />FROM: Staff <br />DATE: October 25, 1978 <br />RE: 1978 N.R.P.A. Congress <br />The 1978 N.R.P.A. National Congress was held in Miami Beach, Florida <br />beginning Saturday, October 14 and concluding Wednesday, October 18. <br />The following is a brief daily breakdown of the conferences in <br />general and some specific topic items that were gleaned: <br />Saturday, October 14, 1978 - This day was reserved for an <br />on-site institute entitled, "The Best of Environmental <br />Resources". Unfortunately the session was cancelled due <br />to inclement weather, so I attended the N.T.R.S. mini- <br />institute. <br />The N.T.R.S. (National Therapeutic Recreation Society) <br />held an annual mini conference going in depth on a variety <br />of Therapeutic topics. Although the topics were not <br />directly related to a municipal setting, they were in my <br />estimation the highlight of the conference. <br />The three sessions I attended were as follows: <br />a. Opening session - This was an overview of the <br />implications involving the compliance to Sections <br />503 and 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973. <br />b. "Leisure Education - A Component of Rehabilitation". <br />This session dealt with developing competencies in <br />using the leisure assessment process. The whole <br />area of using leisure for "medicinal" purposes has <br />been greatly refined in the past 5 years and one of <br />the speakers is projecting that a book of some form <br />will soon be a reality when you would look up a� <br />problem and find a series of leisure activities as <br />a solution, i.e. shyness - two games of charades <br />and one team sport activity. <br />c. "Celebrate Your Abilities - New Games for Special <br />Populations" - This was a panel session dealing with <br />a report on the effects of using New Games with the <br />physically handicapped, mentally retarded, and <br />emotionally disturbed. Having attended a new games <br />leadership training session in 1977, I found the <br />Foundation's adaptions and modifications to be of <br />great interest. <br />2. Sunday, October 15, 1978 - This day was spent attending an <br />on-site institute entitled, "Historic South Florida". <br />The institute was extremely poor as it was disorganized, <br />rainy and poorly attended. <br />We did visit three major facilities: <br />a. Vizcaya - This is an old mansion in the process of <br />being restored for histarical reasons by the Dade <br />