A non-verbal young lady with developmental disabilities enjoys pressing a switch that activates sensory stimulation. In this case, I connected a massager inside a cushion and fan. She requires a lot of time to process what she wants to do motorically. I can see her thinking about whether to press the switch using the toy in her right hand or directly pressing the switch with her less preferred left hand. She clearly does NOT want to release the toy and involving both hands is the solution!
Activating sensory devices like fans, massagers, bubble machines or radios gives the client or student control over their environment. It helps them to involve their hands in functional activities and teaches them about cause and effect relationships- such as "I touch the yellow panel and the fan blows. "
A control panel can be used to choose how the switch is activated and for how long:
1) A single pressing may turn the switch on or off
2) the switch may be activated only while the hand is applying pressure to it
3) or the timer may activate the switch for a set number of seconds or minutes.
I discovered that there is not need to remove a preferred toy or other object that the client or student wants to grasp in order to work on activating switches. I try to give choices as much as possible and she seemed to enjoy this activity!
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1 comment:
Thanks for sharing, good post ! it Provides a good Occupational Therapy information and also the occupational therapy Ajman
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