Alternative to Paper Assignment

Four Activities for People with Visual Impairments

Board Games

To facilitate board games for individuals with visual impairments, reading the directions aloud would be a great way to start. Also having them all sit around the game and face each other will provide equal opportunity for all players. After all is set, the facilitator would assist anyone if/when needed.

Equipment: The board game(s), the game pieces involved, Velcro pieces, scissors, hot glue gun, Braille labels/lettering.

Possible Adaptations to Activity for Variability: Labeling cards, words on the board, or directions with Braille. Using a hot glue gun to create a textural pattern on the game board to create a sense of direction that can be felt. Fixing Velcro pieces to the bottom of game pieces to keep them in place more easily. Mark dice with hot glue dots. Tape record the instructions.

Potential Benefits for Clients with Vision Impairments: Board games are a great tool for social interaction for any aged individual. For children, these types of games teach a wide range of cognitive, physical, and social skills such as memory, sharing, effective communication, or fine motor skills.

Special Considerations/Problems Related to Special Needs of People with Vision Impairments: If pieces of the game were dropped, or dice roll off the table, people with visual impairments may need assistance relocating them.

Resources/Links: http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/summer99/games.htm

*Adapted games such as Scrabble, Bingo, Tic-Tac-Toe, Checkers and large print and Braille playing cards are also available through distributors listed at the bottom of the link page.

Archaeology Sand Digging

The facilitator of this activity would provide a sand pit area and burry different objects/artifacts for children to find and dig up. Objects could include anything, ranging in size of a gulf ball to the size of a baseball. Some ideas: spoons, rocks, pottery, bottles, etc…

Equipment: Sand and the hidden objects.

Possible Adaptations to Activity for Variability: Time the children and make a contest to see who can find the most objects before the time is out. (Best to play many times then for multiple chances for winning)

Potential Benefits for Clients with Vision Impairments: This could help children with visual impairments with object identification, gross and fine motor skills, and offers adventure and mystery for fun.

Special Considerations/Problems Related to Special Needs of People with Vision Impairments:

Resources/Links: http://www.digonsite.com/grownups/using.html

Easter Egg Hunt

Facilitating an Easter egg hunt for children with visual impairments includes hiding the eggs in a chosen environment (inside or outside) and letting the children find them. While they search, the facilitator would monitor and assist any children who needed help.

Equipment: Easter baskets, plastic eggs, beeping devices to put in eggs, candy and prizes to trade the children for their found eggs.

Possible Adaptations to Activity for Variability: Using hot glue to create designs on the eggs as they are traditionally designed with lines, dots, and patterns.

Potential Benefits for Clients with Vision Impairments: Inclusion in society. Most sighted children go on Easter egg hunts each year and inevitably children with vision impairments hear of the bunny and his hidden eggs. By adapting the hunt in using hearing aids, it provides all children, sighted or not, with equal opportunities.

Special Considerations/Problems Related to Special Needs of People with Vision Impairments: With many children running around all in search for the same items, it would be beneficial to simply keep a close watch on all of the children to ensure there is no one falling, getting hurt, or fighting.

Resources/Links: Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJIZRIWPpsk&feature=fvwrel

Simon Says

All participants stand and one is chosen as the leader. The leader (Simon) begins by saying “Simon says…” and then provides instructions for the others to move their body in a certain position. If the leader gives a command without saying “Simon says…” the others do not respond to the given command. If they do respond and move to the instructed position, they are out for the round.

Equipment: None

Possible Adaptations to Activity for Variability: Instead of giving commands for physical movements, which the leader won’t be able to see if they’re followed or not, they could give commands for verbal responses. E.g. “Simon says yell ‘hello’.”

Potential Benefits for Clients with Vision Impairments: This activity provides much opportunity for improving listening skills as well as following directions.

Class #6 (March 8) Group 5 & 6 Presentations

My group was group 5. We presented hiking and rock climbing to the class. The most innovative part to me was the device that allowed people with visual impairments to "see" using their tongue. Next time to better our presentation we should 1.) Introduce ourselves, and 2.) Give better introduction and direction to our crossword handout.

Group 6: Hunting and Fishing- From this group I learned about the classes of permits involved in hunting to improve individual hunting experiences including permits allowing people to use a crossbow or to use motorized vehicles on state land.

Following the last two presentations we watched the video "Beyond the Barriers." A CTRS could learn from the stories presented in the film that a person is as able as they want to be. There is enough adaptive equipment to achieve anything if desired.

Class #6 (March 1) Groups 1-4 Presentations

In this class we watched groups 1 through 4 present on an activity and how that activity is adapted for individuals with a physical disability, individuals who have visual impairments, and individuals with cognitive disabilities.

First Group: Boating and Kayaking- From this group I learned of an amazing device that allows individuals without limb movement to still control the sails of a sail boat by blowing with their mouth into a device. This is an amazing and innovative invention and creates equal opportunity for experiencing the world around us.

Second Group: Therapeutic and Recreational Horseback Riding- This presentation taught me that the movement of the horse while walking is physically therapeutic for the rider's body in that the horses movements are much like our own joint movement and it can help with joint problems and flexibility in the joints.

Third Group: Adaptive Painting and Sculpting- This group expressed the therapeutic bennifits of self expression for anyone who participates in art. There are many adaptive tools to allow individuals with a variety of physical disabilities to still participate such as three holed scissors and large handles paint brushes.

Fourth Group: High Elements Rope Courses: Even individuals who use a wheelchair can participate in many of the same rope courses and people who don't. The zip line is always an exciting and fun activity for anyone to safely participate in.

Class #5 (Tues, Feb 22) Red Light Green Light

In this class, we looked at the goals of an activity such as Red Light Green Light.
Goals: Following Directions
Inclusion
Interest-Physical Activities
Engaging Mind with Body
Entertainment
Winning- Being the Leader
Competition

We then discussed limitations this activity may have:
Physical Needs (speed)
Space
Very Auditory
There are "Losers"
Need to Process Commands Quickly

Our Instructor presented us with an alternate activity called the Train Game that included the same goals and commands for following directions.

We then had to think of or make up an activity with the same goals. Our group thought of Chained Tag/ or Blob.
You play as you would Tag, beginning with one tagger. When the tagger tags someone, both individuals link together and become a chain of taggers. Each time someone is taged, they add to the chain. Only the two end people can tag others. When the facilitator yells "break", the chain breaks and then there are two chains of taggers, with 4 end people to do the tagging. This continues multiplying the taggers on each "break" untill everyone is caught.

Next in class, we were given a population (we were given individuals with Spinal Chord Injury.) We had to think of a fasion design activity with 3 Goals, use 3 non-traditional materials, and create a judging stategy for the activity.
We decided to creat a hat, as all people can use a hat. Our goals included: 1.) Expand Creativity 2.) Express selves 3.) Experience new leisure
Special Conciderations:
Needs to be an activity where you only need to use hands.
Make sure everyone has the same abilities to make fair competition.
Material:
1.)Feathers
2.) Leaves
3.) Pipe cleaners

Judgeing: THe most creative use of materieals
Displaying of the hats would be done as a fasion show

A new activity that could be done with these same goals would be sand art.

Class #4 (Feb 15th) Short Activities

In our Short Activities class, the groups did a great job comming up with a wide range of different activities. The activities included: Innovative Painting; Making Magical Music; Musical Expressions; Chair Yoga/Shoe Ice Breaker; and my groups- The Egg Drop. Below I will provide a description of each:

Innovative Painting: This Activity is great and easy because all you need is paint, paper and any random objects to use as the "brushes." This group provided things like feathers, sponges, strings, marble sized balls, cotton balls and more to create a picture of whatever we wanted. The focus was to create art using materials we normally don't think to use for art. It was relaxing and can be used for almost any population. Precautions to take would include dispursing the paint for younger populations or for populations that have cognitive disabilities and to cover tables with news paper to avoid messes.

Making Magical Music: This activity was not my favorite. I am not very musically tallented and I felt very intimidated having to create a song. In this activity, you use all different kinds of objects such as blocks, sprinkles, pots, pans, sticks, etc. Using these mateials, you create a beat and make a song. It seemed so wide open and I felt like I wanted more direction. It was suggested at the end of the activity that perhaps with people with cognitive disabilities you would do a song as a group with the facilitators leading. I think I would have enjoyed that better myself.

Musical Expressions: This activity was very neet. We got into groups of 4 or 5 people and were each given a peice of paper and a marker. The lights were shut off and the facilitators turned on a specific song projecting a certain mood. We would close our eyes and draw, or move our had to the music, reflecting our mood. When the facilitatiors would switch the song, we would rotate our papers, creating many different emotions on each paper. We did this 4 or 5 times. Alterations mentioned for this activity included leaving sight into the activity so some populations could see what they were drawing, especially with populations such as people with autism who may not be patient in the dark for that long.

Chair Yoga/ Shoe Ice Breaker: This group did two activities, both which I enjoyed. First they used an Ice-Breaker activity using our shoes. The class stood in a circle, removed one shoe, and threw it into the center of the cirlcle. On the command of the leaders, we were to go and pick out a shoe that was not our own, and then find the person who the shoe belonged to. Once finding that person, we had to find out one interesting fact about them and present that to the rest of the group. It was a great way to get us talking and interacting with eachother.
Next we did Chair Yoga. It was very relaxing and would be great for individuals who use wheelchairs as we never stood. Staying seated we did a variety of strethces with our arms, necks, and legs.

Egg Drop: This was the activity that our group facilitated. Using straws, tape, and news paper, the groups had to together create a protective casing for an egg. Once "protected" the egg was dropped from the next floor up to see how successful the casing was. This activity helps with team work and communication. Although many of us as student have done this activity, it would probably be very innovative in elderly settings.

Class #3 Library

Today in RTH 252 Innovative Activities, we went to the Technology Center to focus on creditable article searches for our up coming paper. From this class, I feel much more comfortable using the Library data base and know exactly where and how to use the site. Key helpers were how to create an account on the site to save searches, how to us quotation with grouped words (e.g. "Therapeutic Recreation") and how to us astrics with cut off words (e.g. teen* for teens or teenagers).

Response to Class #1

In todays class we did tape art. Instead of working on our own, we worked in groups which made the activity even more "therapeutic." From the activity I will take away 1. Safty precautions when working with different populations, 2. The variety of  different ways this activity can bennifit differing populations, and 3. That "innovative" describes not only the origionality of the materials in an activity, but also the origionality of the ideas and planning of the participants.