Black-belt grandma teaches special kids how to get their kicks By Kansas City Star, adapted by Newsela staff on 04.07.15 Word Count 902 Helen Dugan, owner of karate school Champs Achievers, shows a defensive move to 7-year-old Brayden Bond in Lenexa, Kansas, March 9, 2015. The 80-year-old grandmother is a third-degree black belt and teaches karate classes exclusively to people with special needs. Photo: Allison Long/Kansas City Star/TNS Dressed in a red martial arts uniform, Helen Dugan puts an opponent 73 years younger than her in a choke hold, then throws him to the mat. Moving quickly, she pounces on top of him, pinning his arms. Let other senior citizens take it easy. Despite gray hair, wrinkles and 17 greatgrandchildren, Dugan is a third-degree black belt in American karate. Now 80, she can still snap off a spinning back kick and break boards and bones with her feet. “Want to know what my grandsons say about me?” she says as a smile sneaks across her face. “Well, you know how kids in school say, 'My dad can beat up your dad?' They say, ‘My grandma can beat up your dad!’” Laugh if you will, but this karate grandma is no joke. A Talent For Teaching Special Kids For 25 years, Dugan has used her karate skills to train students often turned away by others. Her nonprofit martial arts school, Champs Achievers, specializes in teaching people with special needs. A third of her 60 students are on the autism spectrum. People with autism spectrum disorder have trouble communicating and practicing social skills. Her other students have a wide range of issues from Down syndrome, a genetic disorder, and attention deficit disorder (ADD) to hearing and vision impairments. “Helen is an amazing woman,” said Angela Degnan, whose 3-year-old son, Aiden, joined the dojo -- or karate studio -- in October. “She has dedicated her life to children with special needs. My son has special needs, and it’s been a wonderful experience for him.” By all accounts, Dugan is a tough fighter in tournaments against far younger opponents. “The headlines would not be pretty when they read, ‘Mugger beat up by 80year-old woman,’” said Mark Schenkelberg, who takes lessons with his son, Jacob. “I’m 35, and I can’t do a third of what she does,” said Serena Faith, whose 7year-old son also takes lessons from Dugan. “My goal in life is to be Helen when I get to be her age.” Hooked On Karate Dugan didn’t start learning karate until she was about 47. She began taking lessons with her two sons. Her kids lasted four years, but she was hooked. Dugan took karate classes for 14 years, earning her black belt at the age of 61. Karate strengthened her body and mind. The sport helped her restore the selfesteem she had lost in childhood. Dugan founded her own karate school in hopes of helping others do the same. You see, Dugan’s students aren’t the only ones with a disability. Growing up in Philadelphia, Dugan failed many of her grade school classes. Although she was creative, she couldn’t do math, had short-term memory problems and struggled to learn like other kids did. She thought she was dumb. It wasn't until Dugan was in high school that she realized she had a good brain. Dugan just had to learn things in her own way. She worked hard to get into a Philadelphia nursing school. After graduation, she got a job at a hospital and then married her husband, Barney, with whom she has five grown children. Dugan still struggles with “face blindness” or prosopagnosia. The condition makes it difficult, if not impossible, to recognize faces, even of friends and family. “It was very embarrassing to me to not know the kids,” she said. Dugan has overcome the disability by taking pictures of her students that she takes home and studies. Life After A Head Injury Dugan's first student was Michael Payne, the young son of one of Dugan’s karate teachers. Michael had suffered a head injury. “Helen took it on herself to give Michael special training above and beyond what any other instructors would do,” said his father, Mark Payne. Despite balance and vision problems, Michael earned a green belt, eight steps above a beginner. “Back then, there wasn’t anybody doing this,” said Michael’s mom, Patti Payne. “It was Helen who thought about helping these people. Nobody taught her how to do it.” In time, the training improved Michael’s balance, self-esteem and life. “When you see a child get their first belt?” Dugan said. “When you see them get their first trophy? Remember, these are kids who don’t get awards. They don’t get trophies, and when you see the expression on their face when they get their first trophy, it’s such a self-esteem builder.” Listen To The Purple Belt In a recent class, a group of children lined up on a red-and-blue mat. Dugan stood with her back to a wall of mirrors. Up above were karate belts in 14 colors and white signs that read “self-discipline,” “respect,” “attitude,” “cleanliness” and “honesty." For the last 14 years, Dugan's only paid employee has been Steven Nagorski, a 37-year-old purple belt with Down syndrome. “She’s the best sensei in the whole universe,” said Nagorski, who also teaches karate. Sensei means teacher in Japanese. Karate and other martial arts can improve concentration, stamina, balance and build independence and self-esteem. A sign on the wall reads “Life is 10 percent what happens to us, and 90 percent how we deal with it.” As she heads into her ninth decade, Dugan intends to give as long as she can. “If you want to grow old, go to a retirement community,” she said. “You can all sit around and talk about your ailments. Put me with the kids. They keep you young.” Quiz 1 2 Which detail from the section "A Talent For Teaching Special Kids" BEST supports the main idea of the article? (A) By all accounts, Dugan is a tough fighter in tournaments against far younger opponents. (B) “My goal in life is to be Helen when I get to be her age.” (C) For 25 years, Dugan has used her karate skills to train students often turned away by others. (D) “She has dedicated her life to children with special needs. Read the section "Hooked On Karate." Which of the following sentences BEST summarizes the section? (A) Studying karate as an adult helped Dugan restore Dugan's selfesteem. She decided to start a school to help others with the same problem. (B) Dugan did not begin studying karate until she was 47 and earned her black belt 14 years later (C) Dugan had many problems in grammar school and didn't begin to do well until she got into high school (D) Dugan also has a disability that she has learned to overcome. 3 Select the paragraph from the section "A Talent For Teaching Special Kids" that explains how Dugan has used her karate skills to help others. 4 In the section "Life After A Head Injury," all of the following are connections between Dugan and Michael Payne EXCEPT: (A) Helping Michael recover inspired Dugan to begin a karate school. (B) Michael's parents took him to Dugan to learn karate after a head injury. (C) Having trained with Dugan, there were improvements in Michael's karate skills as well as his eyesight. (D) Michael was Dugan's first student and Dugan was a student of Michael's parents.
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