Professional’s Forum

Serious Fun 

Breaking Through Barriers with Therapeutic Recreation

Prior to Steven’s accident he was an active child and enjoyed many physical activities. When Steven lost part of his leg there were so many questions: What could he still do? Were there ways to modify his activities or how he participates? How will he learn new skills?

More intrinsically, how much of Steven’s identity was hinged on those activities? Will he change how he sees and values himself? Are there new and interesting activities that Steven can be involved with?

Helping children with disabilities like Steven to be involved in meaningful play is the natural role of a profession called Therapeutic Recreation, delivered by committed health care specialists called recreation therapists.

What exactly is Therapeutic Recreation? Professionally speaking it’s “a process that utilizes functional intervention, leisure education and recreation participation to enable persons with physical, cognitive, emotional and/or social limitations to acquire and/or maintain the skills to allow them to enjoy their leisure optimally and function independently.”

Let’s break that down into small bites. “Functional intervention” is the first stage, where recreation therapists work to restore function in affected areas – be it physical, cognitive, emotional and/or social. The therapist divides the various barriers and challenges that a child is facing into the same categories. For example, a social challenge like anxiety affects social function, and the ability to participate in group activities. The therapist works to restore functionality by minimizing the effects of the barrier… for example, increasing a child’s tolerance for group size, or finding ways to circumvent the barrier, like starting with smaller groups.

Once the barrier has either been reduced or circumvented, the child may need to learn new skills to be able to participate in activities… “leisure education.” In fact, the child might first need to be convinced of the value of participating. Next come teaching the youngster about interesting new activities, and how to do them.

Now that the child has learned about new opportunities for play and how to play them, the therapist’s role is to provide the setting for practice – that’s “recreation participation.” The therapist creates the best chance for success by providing positive reinforcement for the child’s accomplishments in skill building with the ultimate goal being to enable the child to engage in the activity as independently as possible.

 Breaking Through Barriers

 Recreation therapists can address virtually any barrier or challenge. Goal-oriented, they establish these targets with input from each client and family. Goals are divided into the same categories as barriers and functionality… that is, a physical-type of goal seeks to overcome a physical barrier to improve physical function.

Recreation objectives know no boundaries. They can focus on leisure education, skill building, motivation, self-confidence, managing behavior, increasing independence and self-expression, learning to play in groups, share and take turns, or using an adaptive aid.

Children do so much of their learning and development through play-based activities. It’s so important to help kids break through barriers and challenges so they can engage in meaningful and productive play. By involving Therapeutic Recreation services, we can help these children learn, integrate and grow, and engage in life as independently as possible.

 Helping Habitats

You can find recreation therapists working in hospitals and rehabilitation centres, in day programs, at special needs camps, or through an agency. There are specific educational requirements, with universities and colleges offering degree and diploma programs unique to the profession.

 

Matt Jackson is President of Jackson Therapeutic Recreation, an agency providing Recreation Therapy services to the community on a 1:1 basis since 2003. Visit www.jacksonservices.ca. For information on the profession visit www.trontario.org.

 YOUR COMMENTS: Has your family utilized therapeutic recreation services? Any advice for those parents of kids with a disability considering this programming?