Vibrating Velcro Board for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

This Flannel board Velcro activity is fun and helps engage the most distractible clients. I wedged the top of a large piece of white fabric into the space between the wall and board. The shapes with Hook Velcro on the back came from various games that were no longer being used and they attached to the fabric. I also happened to have a vibrating cushion with Loop Velcro pieces attached and an outlet below. Now my clients can
1) attach or remove shapes or pictures attached with Velcro
2) press a hand to feel the vibration
3)work on using hands together by holding the container

I love how clients are more easily engaged when working with materials at eye level. The individual in the video loves to move and this adaptation enables him to visually attend, develop bilateral hand skills -while standing and moving. When finished, staff folded up the fabric for easy storage.

Lumbar Support at the Beach

Carrying a pack and dragging a towel across the beach can be.... well.. a drag. Here is my simple solution to avoid tripping and lower back pain caused by carrying a heavy load.

The lumbar area is your lower back and lack of adequate support may result in lower back pain. A "Lumbar support" may be a cushion pressed between the lower back and back of chair. Some backpacks are ergonomically designed to support that area while walking. This may be especially helpful when carrying a heavy load. Other benefits to using a rolled up towel as lumbar support is
1) you won't trip on the towel
2) you won't have to carry the towel
3) the towel is not as sweaty as the backpack and can be soaked in water first.
Have a cool summer!

Learn more about activity adaptations on my website and blog:
http://www.RecyclingOT.com
http://www.RecyclingOT.blogspot.com
http://www.FromFlappingtoFunction.com

Hand Exercises for Client with Spasticity

The swiveling grasping handle to a Push-Up exercise tool is perfect in opening up my client's hand and promoting active movement. She had a brain injury and her right hand has limited active range of motion and motor control. However, this tool seems to compensate for her movement impairment by swiveling as she moves. Her movement is more fluid than when simply grasping a rolled up towel and attempting to touch my finger.


I’m sure that I will discover other fun and unique uses of this tool. Let me know if you do, too!

https://rumble.com/v7vj96-hand-exercises-for-client-with-spasticity.html?mref=8tcd&mc=5i0vt

 

Packing Foam Activities for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

I found this thick foam in a storage closet at work and thought --"that would feel nice to use in fine motor activities" I first used it on a table for individuals to insert shakers made out of pill containers. Then I thought of the magnetic pegs and white board in the program room. I tied the foam onto the board and demonstrated how to walk to a table, retrieve a peg and walk to the board for insertion. This is shown in the video...…..

This was beneficial because:

1) this client loves to walk.
2) this client tends to hunch over so reaching up to place the pegs helped her posture
3) she worked on a multistep task which is a bit more interesting and challenging (in my humble opinion)
4)she has poor motor control and these large pegs are easy to push into the deep foam holes.

Pulling strips of fabric in and out of the foam is not quite weaving and its not quite lacing. But its very wonderful because - as you know-the foam feels great. In addition, she is wheelchair bound and this is relatively good exercise with all the reaching. But most importantly, the client is doing meaningful occupation. She had a stroke and now has dementia and repeatedly tells me that she used to love quilting.

 

This is every occupational therapists dream- being able to help her patient to resume a leisure activity that is similar to what she previously was able to do but adapted to much easier and successful.

Also shown in the video is a woman with hemiplegia who is able to use her affected left side to stabilize the foam. I love when my clients STABILIZE!

Notice the clever blue needle adaptation made out of a plastic piece cut from a coffee container. I didn't notice until one of the clients pointed out that the needle had a picture of coffee on it. I just happened to luck out and it smells great. Cut a slit in the "needle" to push the fabric strip through. This makes it easier to grasp and push through the foam holes.

Options: Making the task more cognitive challenging
1) teach specific types of stitches or a design
2) do a color sequence knotting strips of red, white and blue perhaps for a United states flag theme
3) Provide a model with color patterns to copy.

If you come up with any more ideas on how to use the foam please share…..
Oh..... and in case you are wondering- I am really fast at cutting fabric strips out of the piles of unwanted tubes and folded cloth retrieved from a Recycling program . Most of it is fleece which gives us really nice tactile touch sensory stimulation which weaving or lacing or whatever......

FOAM ACTIVITIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISBILITIES

Packing Foam Activities for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

FOAM ACTIVITIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISBILITIES

Girl with Developmental Disabilities Activates Switch Using Toy or Hand

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!

Money Skills Training with Fine-Motor Activities

I prefer to teach money skills by incorporating them into fine-motor activities. Laminated pictures of coins or paper bills may be sorted into containers or stuffed into envelopes. Clients or students can match and attach two pictures using paper clips or squeeze clips.  The money shown in the video has holes punched so that they can be hung on hook boards, strung on cord or used in ring stack tasks. (Make the pictures and holes larger when using on ring stacks)

Individuals with developmental disabilities can work on skills such as:

1)         Identifying coins

2)         Naming the value of coins

3)         Naming the famous person on the money

4)         Adding up money values at any point while stringing or stacking them. 

          
Notice the blue bag attached to the board. I filled it up with the laminated money pictures along with sensory items such as pennies, cotton balls, beads, pom poms, foam pieces or beans. Of course, do not use this adaptation with individuals who may put them in their mouths. However, it’s fun to sift the fingers through the materials while feeling to find the laminated pictures.

Clients who do not have the cognitive skills to identify, match or sort money may simply enjoy stringing or removing them to place back in the bag. Using money pictures to perform simple fine motor tasks is a great age-appropriate strategy to work on basic hand skills.

I printed out pictures of money from the internet and laminated them. However, you may be able to purchase play money that you can punch holes into using a heavy duty puncher.

Magnetic Building Sets for Sequencing and Motor Control

I not only love to make therapeutic activities out of recycled materials….. I am also excited to create an entirely new activity out of materials that are broken, in storage or simply not being used anymore. The magnetic building block toy is pretty challenging for most of my clients. The directions are to copy diagrams of shapes created by connecting the pegs and balls. I happened to have some metal washers and a broken Connect 4 frame and turned the materials into a very versatile activity that could be used to develop

1)     Eye-hand coordination to place the pegs inside the Connect 4 frame sections

2)     sequencing skills to place the washer, color paper on top, matching color magnetic peg and finally the ball on top.

3)     Motor control to keep the pegs upright and fix when they do fall.

4)     Sensory stimulation from the pull and push of magnetic materials placed in and out of the coffee can

5)     Flexibility to use the materials in a variety of ways

Materials..... I keep a look out for these at yard sales.....

My clients always benefit from movement as they place the magnetic pegs on or off the magnetic white board. I cut paper circles out of construction paper to for color matching, but this is optional.  Purchase small or larger materials according to the child or client’s motor abilities. Also, using fewer materials and spreading them around the board may reduce excess knocking over pieces. 

 Offer an opportunity to draw circles on the white board to place the magnets inside. Someone will surely love wiping the board clean! 


Source: Magnetic Building sets for sequencing and Motor Control by RecyclingOT

Social Skills Sorting Task for Individual with Developmental Disability

This client loves to sort but he does not like to share or take turns. He is nonverbal. I am teaching him to sort only the yellow, red and blue colors into the 3 containers close to him and to hand me the colors that I need.  I am sorting green, purple and orange pictures into the 3 containers in front of me.

 I mixed up all the colors/pictures and gave each of us 1/2 the pile so that we need to give the other person the pictures that are not on our perspective sides. This was kind of hard for him to do because he didn't want to share the activity with me, but he learned the rules pretty quickly.  I think that this activity will help him better tolerate others in his space and engage with his peers through a shared task.



Source: Social Skills Sorting Task for Developmentally Disabled Client by RecyclingOT

This video demonstrates how to make the snap cover board out of coffee container lids!

EazyHold Grasp Adaptation for Developmental Disabilities

My client loves to grasp and shake objects. He is blind and this video demonstrates one of the few functional hand skills he enjoys. He loves the freedom of grasping independently that the EazyHold provides. The tambourine sound in the background is actually made by a different individual and the client shown is playing along with her. I wish I could share his great big smile.


Source: EAZYHold Grasp Adaptation for Developmental Disabilities by RecyclingOT

barby

Blind-Deaf Client Manipulating Magnets to Develop Motor Skills

The client in the video is blind, deaf and developmentally disabled. He appears to enjoy insertion tasks, but will stop if they are too challenging. I think that he enjoys inserting the magnetic pieces because he can feel how they connect and separate and they don’t go flying all over the place. This activity works on motor control, finger dexterity and stabilizing materials with one hand. He typically avoids using his hands together but here he is working independently for several minutes-a huge success for him!

 

Pull-Open Rings for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

These "Pull-open rings" are easy to cut out of all the vibrant, colorful, plastic containers in the recycling bin (especially if you drink coffee) and require using hands together to pull open and attach to a tube or giant ring stack. 

The ring stack shown in the video is too large to drop the rings down the traditional way, from the top. So, my clients need to pull them open to attach.

This activity works on:

• using hands together
• sequencing steps to pull and place
• providing sensory stimulation from pulling/pushing into place
• integrating movement by retrieving rings from high or low surfaces

The video also shows a client with hemiplegia who avoids using his weaker, less coordinated left hand. He was not happy about this set up but the more he uses his left hand, the better he is at tasks that involve stabilization with the left and manipulation with his right hand.

This activity works on many different skills and the rings are FREE!

This client likes to move. He self-stimulates all day long by shaking paper in front of his face. However, he engages in simple hand activities when they involve movement and visual stimulation! He received vestibular stimulation as he picked up the rings from the floor and high surfaces and proprioceptive stimulation as he pulled the rings open in order to attach to the large ring stack. Working with materials in front of his eyes helped him to visually engage!

Learn more about activity adaptions in my books!

Source: Bilateral Rings for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities by RecyclingOT