Puppetry Practice!

                This Tuesday in class, we had Dr. Navar come in and talk to us about The Kids Next Door puppets and performances. She brought a few of the puppets and showed us a video that is for people to watch and learn from when training to be a puppeteer for the company. We all passed the puppets around and took turns trying the different techniques such as lip synch when they talk, gestures and posture.

                After the video and presentation, we discussed the act of puppetry and its possible advantages and disadvantages in Therapeutic Recreation. We talked about how some people find puppets just creepy and would not want to work with them! Also, they are not appropriate for all age groups because some may find them dumb and childish and not gain anything from their use. They can be appropriate for certain audiences such as younger children in elementary or early middle school. They are old enough so they don’t get distracted and lose interest quick, yet young enough to enjoy and engage in the imaginative play.  Puppets can be used both to help children express themselves and their emotions if they are the controller, and also help them open up if they are talking to the puppet. Sometimes it’s easier to and engage with the puppet because they feel it is a younger friend who will listen and understand as opposed to an adult worker who may be intimidating.

                We also discussed different types of puppets and how they can be used for different purposes. Sock puppets, finger puppets, and the puppets used in The Kids Next Door are good for children. They can be used for showing awareness about certain subjects, imaginative play, or allowing a child to open up and share their thoughts or feelings. Shadow puppet performances or creating your own symbolic puppet can be used for older children, such as adolescents, because it allows them to express themselves while creating the puppet and portray or explain an identity they may be feeling or dealing with.

In conclusion, puppetry can be an effective tool in Therapeutic Recreation, but also may have limits. Certain age groups and activities may work more effectively with puppetry and other may not. Using puppets can, however, be a beneficial activity to encourage the imagination and inspire others to engage in activities and open up!

Decorating your Disability!!

                When I was in high school, my best friend tore her ACL and had to wear a knee brace before, and for quite a while after, her surgery. She put up with that brace pretty well and managed to find ways to embrace it, despite its burden at times and the negative attention it drew to her leg. My friend was quite a fashionista, however, and found a way to spice up her leg brace. She decided to get several different kinds of fake gems at Wal-Mart and put Velcro on the back of them. She would them stick them to the material part of the cast and also put areas of Velcro on parts of the metal so they could stick around the outsides of the brace. Everyone thought this was so cool and, “so her.” Soon enough, people would ask to decorate her cast and each day someone different would make a different pattern or color scheme to stick to her cast to make it look unique. My friend’s innovative decorating of her brace years ago inspired me when I was thinking of ideas for my blog. What if people decorated any kind of cast, brace, prosthetic limb or wheel chair?

                I think that equipment decorating would be a fun and creative thing to do to spice up any adaptive equipment people may need to use in their everyday life! Like my friend’s leg brace, people could make and put jewels, material or other craft supplies on practically anything. I have seen before people creating designs up crutches using colored duck tape or people pinning pins on neck braces. Therefore, an event or competition could be created to allow people to come and spice up their equipment and a fashion show could be held at the end for everyone to model their creations. There could also be prizes given away such as most creative, best theme, or most colorful.

                Several different materials could be used at an event like this, ranging from craft supplies such as material scraps, jewels or beads, or even everyday objects such as tin foil, duck tape or toilet paper rolls. Different age groups could participate or you could have different events for different age groups, but children and adolescents would probably enjoy crafts and a simple activity such as this the most, maybe even geriatrics. Anyone could come or participate, however, and supervision of some sort would probably be needed to make sure everything runs smoothly and there is assistance available for anything if needed. Safety precautions should be considered when dealing with any craft materials such as scissors or toxic substances such as some glues and spray paints. Children or people with severe disabilities may want assistance if needed when participating. In the end, a get together like this would be fun and creative and give people with adaptive equipment for their disabilit a chance to show it off and be proud of what they wear each day!  

Wheel Chair Dance Companies

             In my last extra blog activity, I talked about putting on a dance for people with disabilities. Now, I have found a dance company that was created for both people in wheel chairs and people who are able bodied to dance together! I had heard about wheel chair dance companies before and when I googled it, I found an organization called American Dance Wheels. The website says they have Ballroom and Latin dance lessons and social dance, but also put on performances and get involved in competitions at times! They have dance numbers that are just people in wheel chairs and some that involve both dancers in chairs and on foot. They also still use the “American Style” at times when the male leads, whether he is in a chair or not. I also found another website on a company called Dancing Wheels which was the first modern dance company to integrate professional sit-down and stand-up dancers. I think this kind of dancing and dance company is very unique and an awesome corporation because it shows people who are able bodied and people who are in wheel chairs united together and working to create beautiful and graceful dances! It also has the ability to help the participant’s mental, emotional and physical health!

                Dance companies like this are appropriate and focus mainly on people with physical disabilities that cause them to use a wheel chair. There could be other companies started, however, for people with different disabilities such as people using prosthetics or people who have cognitive disabilities. Anyone who has an idea or dream could get a group together and choreograph or create a dance. Not only do activities like this help the participants see past their disability and use recreation in a therapeutic way, but they can also reach out and inspire the audience and show them all the possibilities that people with disabilities still have!

   

Dance for the Disabled

          

                When I was in high school, I was a member of the National Honor Society and one year we decided to put on a dance for people who were cognitively disabled. The honor society had done this in the past, but hadn’t done one in the recent years and we wanted to try to start it up again. We would pick a theme, decorate, make and cater food, get a D.J, and then advertise and send invites to local areas. It was such a fun night because we would mingle and dance with all the guests and they just had fun dancing and socializing with each other. I think this is a great activity that can be put on anywhere and although dances aren’t exactly innovative, the idea that we had one specifically for people with cognitive disabilities to come together, have fun and socialize was unique. It also gave us a chance to integrate with them and have fun.

                Putting on a disabled dance could be easy and very worthwhile. I believe it could also teach people valuable skills such as social skills. Giving people who have cognitive disabilities a chance to get together, socialize and have fun is good for them and can help them become more social and work on appropriate behavior. People with cognitive disabilities can sometimes be more touchy and personable which can make people in the public feel a bit uncomfortable. At an outing made just for them, however, it allows them to be themselves around each other and not worry about being judged by outsiders who may not understand them.  Also, by integrating people who don’t mind socializing and working with them, they don’t feel segregated because of their disabilities.

                Dances for the disabled could be put on for any kind of disability pretty much! You could put one on for all disabilities or stick to certain ones such as a dance for people with spinal cord injury, youth at risk, or geriatrics. Sometimes having a dance for specific populations is good because it is focused for them and they can all feel on the same page and just have fun. Sometimes it is also nice to have them for all disabilities to bring everyone together and make them feel united. There are some precautions that may need to be taken such as chaperones to make sure everyone acts appropriately and nothing gets out of control. Also, proper decorations and equipment must be used so there are no injuries or accidents. Music and any games should also be kept appropriate for either the ages or abilities of the guests. When all safety and precautions are consider and proper planning has been made, you can relax, have fun, and enjoy the dance with your guests!

Spring Fever, Group Presentations, and a Video or Two

         In our last Innovative Activities class before spring break, we finished up the group presentations. The first group talked about adaptive rock climbing and had several youtube videos and examples of techniques to show us. I had never heard of adaptive rock climbing and the equipment was pretty amazing. There was something called magic wheels that allowed a person in a wheel chair to levitate up by pulling on handlebars that were attached to a pulley system. The second group talked about adaptive hunting and fishing. They shared with us different kinds of fishing poles for different disabilities such as people who don’t have much movement or control in their arms for holding the pole. There were also adaptive guns and bows for hunting. Some had a piece that helped hold the gun up and others were controlled by blowing in a mouthpiece.

       After the two presentations, we watched two movies about people with disabilities and how they remain active and engaged in outdoor activities. There was a young woman who surfed with a leg that wasn’t developed pasted her knee, a man who was paralyzed and went hang gliding, another man who scuba dived and was paralyzed, and a group of three men, one paralyzed from the waist down, a man with prosthetic legs, and a man who lost his vision who all went rock climbing together. The three men’s story was especially inspiring because they worked together to help each other out and used their abilities to make a difference instead of letting their disabilities get in the way. The man who was blind carried the man with paraplegia and while on his back, he would explain the trail to the man with vision impairment so he could maneuver his way up the mountain. The man who had prosthetic legs also explain the trail to the man who was blind and helped set up the ropes that would be used to help the man who was paralyzed get up the steep parts of the mountain using a pulley system.

                A CTRS could learn a lot from these stories and learn about different types of adaptations for all kinds of disabilities and activities. It also can give CTRS ideas about activities to facilitate with people. This is helpful because often times people with disabilities do not try new things because they do not know of the options they have and the adaptive equipment that is out there. By watching these films and seeing the people’s stories, a CTRS can be inspired to go out and share these ideas to people, offering to help those who may have a disability reach out and try to take part in whatever their interests are. 

The First of the Group Presentations

This week in class, we had the first four presentations for our group projects about a certain activity and adaptations of that activity. The first group did kayaking and boating and told us about certain adapted kayaks for people with disabilities and adaptations that can be made for a sail boat to make it safe and enjoyable for all kinds of populations. One thing I found interesting and learned from their presentation was that there are kayaks where the person can control the boat by blowing in a mouth piece. Certain amounts of air can make it go forward or turn. I never knew there were devices like that, much less a device that could control a kayak!

The second group presented on adaptive horseback riding and talked about all the different populations that can go horseback riding and all the benefits it has. Near the end, they talked about horse whispering which I have heard of, but never really knew the true meaning of I guess. Horse whispering is pretty much communicating with the horse and building a relationship between the horse and the rider. They talked about places to stroke and rub the horse to make it calm or happy and how to signal the horse to do certain commands. I had never heard about those techniques and got to learn what real horse whispering is! Following their presentation, my group presented and we talked about adaptive painting and sculpturing. We gave several adaptive equipment  ideas and showed techniques for different populations to use. From my own research, I learned about a college student who is blind and paints using a paint substance to draw his image. It leaves a raised outline of what he drew and he then paints in the spaces by feeling the difference in the textures between the different colors. I thought this was amazing and very impressive.

The final group presented on adaptive high ropes courses. They talked about how many different people can use high ropes courses to boost self confidence and self esteem, learn teamwork, and strengthen social skills. They showed a clip of a person in a wheel chair going across a high bridge which I thought was crazy! It just goes to show that anyone really can participate in recreation activities. So far we have learned about a few different activities that can be adapted for different populations and next week we will find out more!