Northland College     Outdoor Education Home     Therapeutic and Universal Design    
Red and orange sunrise over West End Park, Ashland, Wisconsin

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 From a Ryan Brady Photo
 Outdoor Education/ Therapeutic and Universal Design Major
At Northland College

 

Outdoor Education Program web site: http://www.northland.edu/oe

Major Advisor: Professor Cindy Dillenschneider, M.S.

e-mail: cdillenschneider@northland.edu

Phone: (715) 682-1314

 

Graduate Profile

 

Work in wilderness based intervention and rehabilitation programs, community mental health settings, juvenile corrections settings, alternative school settings in residential wilderness therapy programs, community-based adaptive parks and recreation programs, community support services for people with disabilities.

 

Teach outdoor skills, effective social interaction skills, self-esteem and self-confidence building skills, productive coping strategies, skills of inclusion, corrective physical activity, recreation skills, universally accessible program design, therapeutic interventions.

 

Adapt teaching techniques, outdoor equipment, outdoor programs to serve specific needs of the student, recreational activities to be inclusive of mixed ability groups.

 

Work with youth at-risk, mixed ability groups, children and adults with physical disabilities, cancer, diabetes, HIV or other life-long conditions, people who have cognitive disabilities, people who experience mental illness, people commonly excluded from outdoor or adventure education because of ignorance or discriminatory practices.

 

Earn salaries comparable to teachers, social workers, juvenile justice employees, outdoor adventure educators, community recreation providers.

 

For the purpose of including all people in outdoor and adventure education environments, providing therapeutic interventions to persons with specifically identified needs, designing and implementing universally accessible outdoor programs and equipment, helping people gain self-esteem, coping skills, social interaction skills and acceptance.

 

Additional Options

 

Career and graduate school options for Therapeutic and Universal Design majors are enhanced when you add course work in a complimentary field of study such as psychology, business, education, or a well-chosen set of electives within the outdoor education program. Talk with the major advisor about complimentary ways to enhance the strength of your degree.

 

Go to Graduate School in education, outdoor education or recreation, therapeutic recreation, sociology, psychology, occupational therapy, adventure therapy, disability studies.

 

Career Ideas

 

Become an outdoor education instructor skilled in accessible design and instruction, a wilderness counselor for adjudicated youth, a recreation program coordinator serving persons with diverse abilities, a teacher in an alternative education setting, a counselor for adjudicated or at-risk youth, an adaptive skills instructor, a youth counselor at a domestic violence shelter, or an independent living specialist.

 

Search the Web

 

Northland College Outdoor Education Web Resources

http://www.northland.edu/oe Job hunting resources, employment opportunities, internship opportunities, graduate in the workforce

 

General Outdoor Education Web Resources

http://www.outdoored.com Jobs, articles, list serves, important professional information

http://www.aee.org Association for Experiential Education web site

 

Adventure Therapy and Therapeutic Recreation Web Resources      

http://www.obhic.com/ Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Industry Council web site

http://www.geocities.com/aee_tapg/intern.html Adventure therapy internship and training opportunities

http://www.recreationtherapy.com/ Therapeutic Recreation, Recreation and Activity Director Jobs

http://www.wilderness-therapy.org/Research.htm Wilderness therapy research and publications

 

Accessible Outdoor Recreation and Adaptive Recreation Web Resources

http://www.google.com   Search - “accessible recreation”, “adaptive recreation”, “Accessible Outdoor Adventure”

http://www.doorinthewall.org/sports.htm Adaptive Sports program

http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/PRL/adrecsvc.html city of Phoenix Adaptive Recreation Services

http://www.dsusa.org/index.html Disabled Sports USA home page

http://www.adaptiveadventures.org/ Adaptive Adventures home page

http://www.accessoutdoors.org/ A comprehensive resource for accessible outdoor recreation

 

Graduate Studies

http://www.wilderdom.com/gradindex.html access to many Outdoor Education graduate programs in the US and internationally

http://isc.temple.edu/neighbor/ds/dsprograms.htm  Disability Studies programs in North America

http://www.cswe.org/ Directory of Graduate programs in Social Work

http://www.aurora.edu/recadmin/ Master’s degrees in Recreation Administration with Outdoor Therapeutic Recreation Administration Emphasis or Outdoor Pursuits Administration Emphasis at Aurora University

http://www.prescott.edu/academics/map/areas.html Master of Arts in Adventure Based Counseling

http://www.naropa.edu/wilderness/index.html Master’s program in wilderness therapy at Naropa University