In describing the full range of recreation services for people with disabilities, whether in treatment-oriented recreation therapy, goal-oriented special recreation, or activity-oriented inclusive recreation, this text concentrates on the needs of the person with the disability.

Introduction to Recreation Services for People With Disabilities continues to reflect a broad-based explanation of the role of practitioners in the interrelated fields of therapeutic recreation, inclusive recreation, and special recreation. This fourth edition represents a major revision, including the most current research and thinking about the interdisciplinary fields of recreation and disability studies. This book is intended to be an introductory text for all students in parks and recreation/leisure studies departments. Every student, whether she or he intends to work in a provincial park or a state hospital, a community recreation center or a community mental health center, a public school or a cruise ship, needs a basic level of knowledge about people with disabilities. The central theme of this book is that people with disabilities are people who have the same needs and wants as anyone else and deserve the right to be at the center of their services. Each person with a disability is a person first, not a disability. Recreation services must be centered around the person who is being served. That is, whether treatment-oriented recreation therapy, goal-oriented special recreation, or activity-oriented inclusive recreation, it is the person and not the professional or even the activity that must be at the center of service delivery. It is our hope that you will begin to see people with disabilities as people as you learn about recreation and therapeutic recreation services. If you emerge from this book (or your class) with this person-centered knowledge, then you will have learned a lot about how to provide recreation services to people with disabilities. Whether or not you happen to be a person with a disability, our more earnest hope is that you will emerge with a commitment to ensure that people with disabilities are treated as people who are at the center of their programs and services. This means that you will become an advocate, maybe even a zealot, on behalf of people with disabilities. You will encourage friends and colleagues to use people-first and respectful language. You will refrain from jokes that perpetuate stereotypes. You will be part of a new breed of recreation and therapeutic recreation professionals who celebrate differences and strive to provide person-centered and responsive services.

Contents: An Introduction; Learning Disabilities; Awareness; Leisure; Delivery of Recreation Programs to Persons with Learning Disabilities; Specific Accommodation and Modifications of Recreation Activities for Persons with Learning Disabilities; Resources; Appendices.

This is a best-selling introductory book, intended for all students in parks, recreation, and leisure studies, regardless of specialty. It provides an essential, basic knowledge level of people with disabilities. Common themes are presented by the authors in a manner allowing readers to develop their own personal views of therapeutic recreation, and this approach keeps the focus of service on the customer.

Introduction to Recreation and Leisure, Second Edition, is a textbook designed for an initial undergraduate course in a recreation and leisure program. With its 21st-century views of recreation and leisure services, it incorporates indicators for future directions in the field and presents international perspectives as well as career opportunities in recreation and leisure. A new web resource is included.

Foundations of Therapeutic Recreation, Second Edition, provides students with evidence-based information on fundamental concepts in therapeutic recreation to help them explore the various career possibilities in the field.

Evaluation is a process that each of us uses every day. Professionals in any field of human services must have the means to access and assess information. Having information is not enough, however, unless that information can be applied and used. To organize and manage recreation services (i.e., all elements related to the various specialties in the field such as parks, tourism, sports, arts, therapeutic recreation, camping, event management), information is needed about people's preferences, needs, and behaviors and the programs, administrative structures, and resources that comprise the organizations. To build a body of knowledge and to document the value of recreation, systematic processes are necessary. Evaluation and research can provide information that will enable "enlightened decisions." Evaluating Recreation Services: Making Enlightened Decisions, Fourth Edition, is about systematic evaluation and research that focuses specifically on identifying explicit evaluation criteria or research questions, collecting evidence or data, and making judgments about the value or the worth of something applied to service improvement or knowledge development. This book aims to provide a basic overview and working knowledge of procedures. Knowing basic steps in evaluation research and having some familiarity with evaluation and research tools can help you to begin a process of lifelong learning about systematic inquiry.