Catching waves with surfers

Local non-profit teaches sport to visually impaired kids

Posted Wednesday, August 25, 2010 12:00 am

Cliff Skudin and Michael Taylor head into the ocean.

Beth Skudin and Michael Gilroy enjoy the ride in the water off Lincoln Boulevard.

Arthur Findlay/Herald

Cliff Skudin, co-founder of Surf for All, a local non-profit that taught visually impaired children how to surf at the Lincoln Boulevard beach on Aug. 17, showed Michael Taylor some moves.

The New York State Division of Human Rights attended a special camp to introduce the sport of surfing to visually impaired and blind children on Aug. 17, part of surfing clinic hosted by Surf For All, a local charity that provides recreation programs for the disabled.

The event was said to be the first surf outing specifically for the visually impaired and blind population, and took place between Monroe and Lincoln Boulevard, where visually impaired athletes ranging in ages from 9 to 19, from Camp Abilities Long Island had the opportunity to learn how to surf.

Surf For All was founded this year by Jim Mulvaney and Cliff Skudin. Mulvaney, the father of a child with autism, introduced surfing clinics for people with autism to New York beaches with five children in 2002. Since then the concept has blossomed in Long Beach and more than 1,800 children have participated in special events and school programs held in conjunction with the Long Beach School's District.

Cliff Skudin, a lifeguard and educator, and his family have run traditional surf schools in Long Beach for years, and expanded the concept beyond autism to teaching people with other disabilities.

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