Wheelchair Basketball

Basketball is such a fun game in itself but what do you play when you're in a wheelchair. How about wheelchair basketball? Wheelchair basketball was created by disabled World War II veterans. Since then it has grown in popularity and is one of the best games of the special Olympics. The world governing body of wheelchair basketball is the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation that became independent in 1993. The game is played in specially designed wheelchairs for the physically disabled. These chairs can take a beat'n and keep on lick'n. They are specially designed to run into other chairs and tip on it's side. The participants are strapped into the chair to insure they don't fall out when they tip over. If the participant does tip over someone else has to help them back up. The chairs also have a guard in the front to protect the participants feet from injury.  Wheelchair basketball provides tremendous competition and interest on the international level and is estimated that over 100,000 people participate in this adaptive activity.

Internet in TR

The main portion of this class period was looking at the different ways the internet can help a variety of people and their disabilities. The internet provides information about all aspects of a disability including signs, symptoms and treatments, devices that may help with a specific disability and online support groups to help cope with a disability and realize you are not alone. Even though the internet may be helpful it can also provide false information or fake support groups that can be scandalous and focus on taking your money. Another disadvantage of the internet is that it may contain groups that make fun of or speak their mind about their hatefulness or dislikes toward people with disabilities. Mostly the internet can be very helpful and offer support groups and advice for a variety of people. It can also be a way to speak your own mind and allow the whole world to hear it.
Our group thought that a good use of the internet for recreational specialists would be to video tape innovative activity sessions and post them on a personal website so other rec specialists can visit and share ideas on therapeutic styles and techniques. This allows all therapists from around the world to add their own input on therapy methods. All in all the internet can be very beneficial to not only the clients but therapists as well.

Class Presentations Part 2

On the second and last day of presentations we had three groups present. The first activity was an artsy activity called take a part art. We were given a small piece of paper with colored objects on them, what we had to do was to try and copy what was on the small piece of paper onto a regular piece of computer paper. After drawing the objects each paper was assigned a number and it had to be placed in order on the wall. By the time everyone finished with their art, all the pieces made a mural of hand prints with the word peace on the bottom. This was a fun activity because we were all curious what the big picture looked like and we tried out best to copy the pages exactly. This activity can be done with any population and the pictures are endless to what you can do.
The next activity was about teamwork. The name was toxic waste and what we had to do was move a Styrofoam cup full of jewel pieces and dump them into a Tupperware container. The only problem was the cup was wrapped with string and we had to carry the cups by the ends of the string and dump them into a small container. The jewel pieces symbolized troubles in our life and by dumping them in the container was like throwing them away. This was a fun activity because it was a race between two groups and even though my group started out slow, we came away with a victory. This activity would be good for youth at risk or people with addiction problems. The jewel pieces would symbolize their individual problems and maybe by throwing the jewels away they can throw their problems away too and start out fresh.
The last activity, my group members and I presented to the class what it would be like to use a wheelchair as a mode of transportation. The first activity we played was wheelchair soccer. I was able to rent out 6 wheelchairs and we presented in the multipurpose room of the rec center. For the soccer ball we used a big fitness ball. Everyone seemed to have fun playing this game and in some brought out their competitive side. Then we did a wheelchair relay race. Classmates were divided into 4 teams. The first member would have to wheel to the first station which was putting on a shirt and buttoning 3 buttons with their non dominant hand, then wheeling to open up a bottle of water with one hand, wheeling to tie their shoes with one hand, then wheeling to a ball they had to throw back to their teammates. Then they would wheel back and each teammate would run the cycle. Everyone had fun wheeling around in the chairs and I thought it was the best presentation of the day. Instead of making these activities innovative for someone with a physical disablility, we decided to make them innovative for our class to understand what it would be like using a wheelchair and the implications they may face. Overall this was an exciting class period and cant wait for the following weeks to come.

Class Presentations Part 1

Our first class presentations started out well. We had three groups present food art, telephone charades and building hula hoops. The food art was very interesting. We took everyday average grocery items such as fruits and vegetables and made them into art. We would create faces, animals and different objects to questions that were asked before we started. Our group question was to create something that scared you. Our group came up with running out of money. So I came up with the creative idea to carve a dollar sign $ into a potato. Ours and others turned out beautifully and we each had a fun time creating food art. This activity you can do with any population with any disability. The only safety precautions to look out for was using sharp knifes and other utensils that participants can hurt themselves and others with.
The next activity was telephone charades.  This activity was aimed for people who had a hearing disability. What we would do is split into groups of 5. The first person would pick out a scene to act out while the other 4 members were in the hall. Then only  one member would come in and watch the performance and then they would try to act out what they thought it was. These steps repeated and the last group member would have to guess the scenario. Some groups came close to the actual scenario while others were way off. This was a fun activity to allow ourselves the ability to try and communicate with others just by the motions of our body.
The last activity was perhaps the most fun. We built our own hula hoops and practiced throughout the halls. We started with round plastic tubing and sealed the ends with connectors by expanding the plastic with hair dryers. Then we decorated the hoops with colored duct tape and away we went. The rest of the class period was spent hula hooping in the hallway. This was an innovative activity because the hoops can be used for other things than around your waist so any population with any disability can enjoy them. Overall it was a very fun class period and everyone did an excellent job presenting. Now I just cant wait to go apply this stuff out in the field.

Accessible Motorcycle

Every once in a while I see a trike motorcycle driving down the road with a wheelchair strapped to the side. Being a rider myself I find some satisfaction that people with disabilities get a chance to enjoy the thrill of a bike as well. The other day I was watching the show Orange County Choppers where they build amazing chopper motorcycles from scratch. Every time I watch them I love the amazing results they turn each bike into. On this episode they decided to make a special modification to the bike for the Christopher Reeve foundation. Christopher Reeve is an actor who is famous for his role in Superman who became a quadriplegic from a horse riding accident. This motorcycle was a bike that you could ride while sitting in your wheelchair. Basically it was a trike motorcycle with a platform you can strap the wheelchair to. Being a TR major and a motorcycle rider I was pleased to watch this episode on building an accessible motorcycle.

Animal Assisted Therapy

Animal assisted therapy involves animals to become a fundamental part of a person's treatment. AAT is designed to improve all areas of functioning in a group or individual setting. Any type of animal can be used ranging from a lizard to an elephant. The most common animal used for therapy is the dog. In class we met with two therapy dogs. One named Cooper and the other named Gus. They both seemed like nice loving dogs who can share compassion when dealing with individual clients. The class went well because we had something to play with however the tremendous amounts of dog hair we could have lived without. To be a certified dog the dog must sit politely, accept a friendly stranger, walk on a loose leash, walk through a crowd that includes wheelchairs, sit on command and stay in place, react well with other dogs and react well to environmental distractions. Animal therapy can be beneficial to all aspects of a persons life. They can provide a calming presence, pain relief, increase self esteem, reduce loneliness, improves interaction, provides entertainment and improves physical contact. AAT is a great way to provide therapy to clients, it provides a wide range of animals so any client with any interest in animals can enjoy it.

Goalball !?!

In class a group gave us a presentation on goalball. Now what is goalball, that's what I asked? Goalball is a team sport designed for blind athletes. Participants compete in teams of three and try and roll a ball that has bells in it across a court and into the opponents goal. To pretend like we had a visual disability we used blindfolds for this activity. At first I thought the game would be pretty easy because the ball had bells in it so you knew where it was, that wasn't always true. Sometimes if the ball was going fast enough you couldn't hear it until it was close. Also what I soon found out was protective clothing was a must. My first dive to block the ball resulted in a floor burned knee. Proper protective equipment consists of elbow pads, knee pads, and hockey pads to protect the hips. Goalball was an unusual but enjoyable game to play. Even though the class was short, it's definitely a game I would recommend to the competitive visually disabled.