Tuesday, March 29, 2011

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.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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.