Ability Fitness Clinic

Promoting fitness and wellness for adults with disabilities

Established in 1997, the ability fitness clinic (AFC) is dedicated to providing individualized physical fitness programming for young adults in the Indianapolis area with disabilities.

Are you a student condsidering AFC? IUPUI students in this program will have a service learning opportunity to work directly with participants. You can focus on maintaining and improving participants' strength, range of motion, and cardiorespiratory fitness.

 

Join AFC for fall 2019

Registration will open for the fall Ability Fitness Clinic in August 2019. Please check back later for more information.

Program details

Red, yellow, blue, and green hula hoops and balls lay in a wire basket in a gymnasium.

Activities

Physical fitness is the hallmark of AFC. Participants receive individualized (one to two participants per instructor) physical fitness programming based on their abilities. Activities vary for each individual, but participants focus primarily on building muscle strength, cardiorespiratory endurance, and range of motion.

Participants must be at least 15 years old, and those under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a guardian.

Schedule and location

AFC is offered during both the fall and spring semesters, meeting on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. for six or seven consecutive weeks. The exact number of sessions varies depending on the semester.

AFC takes place at the National Institute for Fitness and Sport, located on the IUPUI campus at 250 University Boulevard.

Instuctors

AFC participants receive instruction from IUPUI students. Some student instructors participate in AFC as the lab portion of an upper-level kinesiology course, while others are volunteers. All student instructors receive training and are supervised by clinic staff.

You can volunteer too!

If you're an IUPUI student interested in special education, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or a related field, you can get valuable experience by working with young adults with disabilities in the Ability Fitness Clinic. Volunteer opportunities are available during the fall and spring semesters.

For more information, send an email with the subject line "AFC Volunteer" to Katie Stanton-Nichols, clinic director.

When I got the chance to volunteer in the clinics, I found that my true calling is working with people with disabilities.

Larken Marra, MS ‘17