Group Presentation: Arts and Crafts

Last week was not only our last week in Heather's class but it was the week that my group presented!  We had the topic "Arts and Crafts" and did our presentation on a different take than the other groups.  We didn't focus individually on specific disabilities but we did our presentation from a CTRS perspective.  The presentation was split into five total groups with the first activity being modge podge journals that we cut pictures from magazines for, then a haunted house food making station, a bracelet making station, a mural station and then a group activity/social station.  I thought our presentation flowed well and we hit all the major populations between our five stations.  During our debrief we addressed different populations the activities would work for, how we can adapt the activities, and then other related activities others have done.  Also, during our presentation we had a powerpoint slideshow that played the whole time with artwork from people with a variety of disabilities and different media.  I found it very inspiring, especially because there were people with severe visual impairments that made such beautiful pieces of artwork!

I was very nervous for our presentation and how people would react because we were doing a different format.  There was still a majority participation of the participants with facilitation from us, but it was mostly supposed to be their exploration of activities.  I thought it went really well, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves!  This week I strived to be a good facilitator and to assist my group members in all our work.  Facilitating programs in class always helps for my future career; it's a place where trial and error along with mistakes can be learned from and it doesn't hurt our reputation as professionals.

I really enjoyed our class time with Heather; I enjoyed all the group presentations along with the adaptive golfing outing that we did as a class and got to know everyone really well.  I am really looking forward to switching into Stephen's class and seeing what that class has to offer! :)  

Week 6: Camping and the Outdoors

This week was really fun!  The topic was adaptive camping and outdoor activities.  There was a guest speaker from NASA and he talked about their organization and brought in some pictures of new improvements that they plan on making for a pond.  NASA is a volunteer based organization that mainly focuses on hunting and  some water activities.  It is especially known for taking people of all sorts of backgrounds and disabilities with mentors out to the woods for deer, bear, small game hunting and fishing.  The only downfall I thought was about the program is that they mainly target older populations.  The president said they tried running a kid's program last year but the turnout wasn't that good, so maybe with the right advertising and programs it will be sucessful this year!

For the group presentation I thought it was cool how they had the campfire set up made with a fan, a lamp, paper with a wood design, and tissue paper.  The group used a creative way, relating to the topic, to split everyone up.  They showed interesting videos about adventure camps in Canada, where people can go bungee jumping in their wheelchair and zip lining.  For the second half of the presentation we went outside and tried putting a tent together, while all having a different disability.  The disabilities were:  use one arm and your non-dominant one, visual impairment, and someone in a wheelchair, along with a CTRS.  I found this situation frustrating because I have set up a tent several times and my disability was interferring with my ability to help.  I was in a wheelchair and it was hard because I couldn't bend over too far otherwise I would fall out and tip over.  I feel like that experience will help me in the future because it will give me insight on how people feel in those situations, and how to help them as a CTRS and give them maximum ability.

Week 5: Adaptive Golfing

Last week we had beautiful weather and went to Forest Hills Golf Course to do some adaptive golfing!  I wouldn't say that I'm an avid golfer, but I definitely have been exposed to the game of golf my whole life.  My dad plays in tournaments all the time and leagues during the summer.  I also took golf lessons when I was little for a couple years, which were a lot of fun!  So going into this experience I had knowledge of the game and how to swing a club.  Which turned out to be a bad thing, because everytime I went to try an adaptation, it made it more frustrating knowing that I knew how to do it and usually hit the ball further. 

There were three stations that had different equipment and adaptations at.  At one station you had to swing with your non-dominant hand, one you had to sit on a chair and not use your toes as leverage and swing, and the last station you had to use just one hand.  The one thing I strived for was to not get too frustrated.  To me, golf is very frustrating to begin with so only being able to swing with one arm makes it even worse.  We all had a lot of fun and enjoyed ourselves, cheering each other on.  It was cool to see all that support from our peers when we knew we weren't doing well!

A lot of the adaptive equipment was very practical.  There were gloves that had velcro on them so the golfer wouldn't accidentally throw their club.  Some of the clubs were built different with angles at the end of the shaft so it was flush with the ground and people who were in wheelchairs could use them.  Using bright colored balls was easier for people with visual impairments to see, etc.  There were just mutliple things that could be replaced that were very simple, that we normally wouldn't think about.

There is a lot to learn about adaptive golf, but now we all have a basic understanding incase we are thrown into a situation in our career involving it.  The guest speaker made a very good point when she said that as recreation therapists, will often be thrown into things we know nothing about and be expected to facilitate programs. 

Week 4: Adaptive Dining

Last week, we continued with our group presentations and the topic was adaptive dining.  The group did a fantastic presentation and made it hands on and very interesting!  All of us were involved and had different roles so we really got the feel for different disabilities dealing with adaptive dining.  We were split into table of about 5-6 people and we all had cards.  On the cards was the dining process split up into different stages and for each stage we were assigned a different role:  a person with a behavioral disorder, someone with cerebral palsy, someone with schizophrenia, a CTRS, someone who is blind and someone who is in a wheelchair.  We were supposed to act out different scenarios to see what it's like to be on a dining experience with all the variety of disabilities.  The group members were our waitresses and for the first half were very rude, which might be like what you would experience normally, and were very accomadating the second half.

I learned a lot about myself during the meal.  I learned again patience is key; it was frustrating at points because there was so much going on and it was like a real experience and I had to handle it like I would if it was my job.  Of course, you wouldn't necessarily take all those people out to dinner together but it was a good example.  I stived to play the roles as well as I could.  A lot of the scenarios were out of our element as far as what we were supposed to do.  You could tell that people were laughing because it was embarassing and very uncomfortable at times, and something we might have never seen before.  Overall it was a very enjoyable activity/class!

I'm looking forward to the adaptive golfing later today!