Long Presentations

In class on (4/12) the first three groups presented their long presentations to the class.  The first three categories we focused on were book altering (arts and crafts), challenge courses, and finally music and rhythm.  The most innovative and unique which was my favorite was book altering.  Ive never seen or heard of it before so it really caught my eye and I'm excited to finish my book and definitely use this in the future!  What I really liked about book altering was it can be used and adapted to many populations.  Its a great outlet for self expression and really focuses a lot on fine motor skills.  By taking and old book you are personalizing it to make it your new book.  Some of the stations they had set up were shadow windows, magazine clippings, paint, bubble paint, and paper mache.  For example if you wanted to do this with youth at risk, maybe having a volunteer help with scissors or having bald ended scissors, and having a volunteer help with the box cutter for the shadow boxes would make this activity more appropriate for this population.  Other than a few adaptations this would be a great activity for kids to express themselves!

Ice Owls

The Ice Owls are a very unique and innovative hockey team from Toronto Canada.  They are a hockey team composed of players who are blind or visually impaired.  Now many  of you are wondering how this is possible but its the puck which makes this possible.  The puck is a hollow plastic wheel composed of nuts, bolts, and hardware.  It rattles and hisses flying across the ice which makes it quite easy for the players to follow the flow of the game.  The Ice Owls team was formed in 1972 and has been growing ever since then.  Some of the rules are different compared to a normal hockey game, the biggest rule change is the height of the puck on a shot into the goal.  To make it possible and fair for the goalie to stop the puck it has to be below 3 feet to count the goal.  As another rule the forwards usually have the greatest degree of sight, followed by the defense men, then the goalie who is usually completely blind. 

Here is the website for further information: http://www.iceowls.ca/

Relaxation

In class on (4/5) we learned about relaxation and actually did some guided imagery to relax ourselves in this stressful part of the semester.  We talked about how we personally reduce our stress levels and learned some different techniques.  We learned that breathing is a very important step in the relaxation process.  Some of the different techniques we looked at are laughter yoga and guided imagery.  Laughter yoga is pretty innovative and definitely takes the right person to facilitate this.  Watching a video on it just makes me feel uncomfortable for the person leading it, its something I would never be able to facilitate.  Guided imagery is really relaxing and really focus on  breathing and relaxing every part of your body.  After this lesson on relaxation we broke off into our groups to plan for our long presentation.  My group actually has relaxation so we were planning on doing some of the things he mentioned in his PowerPoint.  It we great to get a little insight to relaxation before our groups turn to present. 

Virtual Schools

In class on (3/29) a teacher/representative came in from Wisconsin Virtual Schools to talk to us about online virtual school for kid’s k-12.  This virtual school is not only for students with disabilities but also any students that feel the need to move faster than in a classroom or maybe they don’t like the social setting of going to school at a brick and mortar school.  It was a very interesting presentation since I never knew this existed that we could do all of our schooling through the computer.  I’ve taken one online class so far in college and I don’t mind it, it’s very convenient and suitable for some people.  But on the other hand it lacks interaction and face to face communication with the professor which can be tricky in some instances.  He mentioned multiple times that this school based through a computer is great for some people but not for everyone.  The gentleman covered everything you need to know about the virtual school from how to enroll through actually showing us certain courses he is teaching as of right now.  The biggest advantage to virtual schools is having the ability to move at a pace that you are comfortable with.  It gives you the time you need to process information and accomplish tasks needed.  It doesn’t give you the pressure of being in a social setting with classmates pushing you at a faster pace than you are comfortable with.  He seemed to stress a lot how flexible they are with student’s schedules which I thought was pretty cool.  For example is a student likes to sleep in and focuses well in the afternoon to supper time, that will be the time when they have class.  Virtual schools give you freedom to control when you want and feel most confident learning. 

Towards the end of the class period he handed out IEP’s to each group to look at and become familiarized with.  An IEP is and individualized Education Plan.  Each student has one of these explaining their interests and strengths along with what to watch out for along with their disability if they have one to be able to form a plan suitable for them specifically.  When each of the groups received one we had to think of five recreational activities we might plan to do with our student based of their care plan on the strengths and weakness.  This activity gave us a hands on experience, learning how to read about someone and how to implement activities that will help them learn and grow.  Here is their website for more information:  http://wisconsinvl.net/about-wvl/

Fun with Puppets!

In class on (3/22) we learned about puppets and how to incorporate them into Therapeutic Recreation.  Dr. Navar came in and taught us the basics of puppetry using the kids on the block puppets.  The kids on the block puppets are unique, they aren't just normal puppets.  They are puppets that have different disabilities, and they are used to teach people about specific disabilities.  Sometime they are used with kids because they may feel more comfortable talking to a puppet about a disability rather than talking to human face to face.  We watched a video to learn the basic techniques on how to maneuver the puppet to bring it to life.  The video taught us about lip synchronization, moving the puppet across stage, and posture.  Making the puppet "come to life" is a challenge and not as easy as it looks, its a good workout for your arm!  Its a great teaching tool but takes a lot of time and practice.
We also talked about other uses for puppets and other types of puppets.  Some different uses for puppets are muscle tone, memory, social skills, self expression, medical play, and entertainment.  Different kinds of puppets include hand paintings, paper bag, sock, finger, shadow, and ventrilaquists.  Following this discussion we got into our groups to create our own activity using puppets.  Our population was young teens with eating disorders, we thought to have them making a sock puppet in a way that would represent them, and basically having them create their own performance and writing their own script to describle struggles they delt with.  This was a great class period that introduced us to an activity we all forgot about due to the increases in technology!

Group presentations and Videos

In class on (3/8) the final two groups presented their activities.  My group went first and our topic was rock climbing and hiking and while doing research for our PowerPoint I ran across a lot of interesting equipment that is used as adaptations for hiking.  Hiking itself seems like a very easy and basic activity but there are adaptations out there to get everyone involve.  For example the trailrider is a very common wheelchair used to accommodate individuals with physical disabilities so they can still enjoy the outdoors with friends and family.  The second group presented on hunting and fishing.  Throughout their presentation they included a magnitude of equipment that has been accommodated to many populations of individuals.  They also included the prices of all the equipment which I found really interesting.  They also noted that there are special hunting permits to allow people with various disabilities a special time to hunt
Following the presentations we watched two videos that highlighted the past activities we learned about.  It showed individuals with disabilities completing their favorite activities despite their impairment.  These videos were very interesting to see just how driven and successful those individuals were to not let their disability get in their way.  We were asked what a CTRS would learn from these stories.  I feel that they could learn a lot, not only just how many activities are out their for people with disabilities but also learning just how much determination that these individuals put into their passion.  Learning and seeing that a majority of activities have modifications that apply to different populations and to find out the clients interest and go off that.  Don't settle for anything less than you are capable of.   

Group Presentations

In class on (3/1) groups started to present there short group presentations.  The first group to go presented on boating and kayaking. Their presentation was very entertaining, we all sat on top of our desks pretending we were kayaking, not to mention kayaking to Pocahontas.  Not only did we learn about kayaking with different populations and modifications to that but we learned different rowing techniques which could come in handy in the future!  We also learned about the different kinds of boats and which type to use for each population.  Very fun and entertaining presentation!  The next group presented on therapeutic and recreational horseback riding.  They passed out stuffed animals so we each had our own "horse" when learning and listening from the horse whisperer.  Not only did we learn about different techniques to help comfort horses and care for them we learned about different adaptive equipment for populations.  There are saddles that have backs, there are special cushions for the saddle, safety stirrups, different handles for holding the horse, and different lifts to get people up and onto the horse.  This presentation was interesting for me because I don't have much knowledge on horses or horseback riding.   The third group presented on adaptive painting and sculpting.  We actually watched this very interesting video on this man who had a visual impairment and he became and amazing artist.  It just comes to show that anyone can do anything they set their mind too.  There are so many activities that have adaptive equipment out there to make it possible for virtually anyone to try.  I also learned about all the adaptive tools involved with painting and sculpting, very interesting.  The final group presented on high ropes courses, where we learned about three innovative activities.  One being team beams, where two participants support each other as they cross narrow beams.  Another is the high balance beam where individuals cross a high beam in the air with no hands, and finally the hour glass activity where participants cross three crisscross ropes to the finish platform.