(stroke survivors, MS, Cerebal Palsy, etc.)
(wheelchair individuals with limited use of hands and arms)
First, provide a lap table for the participant. They can be easily and cheaply made from pressed wood (plywood leaves splinters but pressed wood does not). Enlarge the pattern provided, following the outline exactly, and the table should fit most wheelchairs, provided the arm rests are long enough to support the table. (They work well on the chairs that rock and recline). To personalize the table, paint it the individual’s favorite colors, one color on the front and another on the flip side. If the weather permits, spray painting is fast, provides a variety of great colors, and it dries quickly.
Once an individual has a table, they are able to participate in a variety of activities otherwise unavailable to them. If you must consider other challenges as well, it might be advantageous to play these games one-on-one.
Mail Delivery
Staff sorts the mail and places it on the lap table. The participant and the staff member move about the facility performing the delivery together. If the participant can read, ask that he or she reads off the names of mail recipients so you know where to stop. If the participant has hand and arm movement, ask them to hand you the mail. This task provides a helping attitude for the individual so they can feel some degree of self-fulfillment.
Handy-Wheels
Staff and participants perform various errands together; delivering packages, hauling out recycling items to the collection boxes, hauling bingo paraphernalia in and out of storage, delivering newspapers. There are any number of errands that arise during the week that can be performed as a team once the participant has a lap table.
Game Play
Games may need to be modified to make them enjoyable for the physically challenged. Remember when setting up a game, the further the distance between the participant and the game board itself, the more focus and attention diminish. So, if you are playing a hangman game using a wall mounted dry erase board, the challenged individual may not make a connection between what they are required to do and what is on the wall. You can provide for this by making items available in front of the individual playing; ie, the use of the lap table.
Hangman
Bring the challenged individual into the group and provide them with the table. Print out several letters, a mix of vowels and consonants, on a sheet of paper and place this on the lap table. As letters are chosen by others, cross them off the individuals sheets. On this individual’s turn, ask them to point to the desired letter or, if verbal, to say it. For some participants you can print the entire alphabet but for others you need to limit the number of letters to six or eight. Provide a new set of letters as the game progresses. When you start a new game, make a new sheet.
Memory
Provide the lap table to the challenged player and place the memory cards on their table. I have a set of cards with a variety of paired birds. I will begin by using only five pairs. Once I have turned the cards over so they cannot be seen, I place a square of paper on top of each one, numbered 1 through 10. The challenged individual can point to the card desired or, if unable to point, can vocalize the number desired. The chosen cards are turned over and, if they are a pair, the player gets to keep the cards and guess again. If it appears that five sets are too easy, gradually build up the number used. If the lap table has a slant so that the cards slide off, get a piece of skip-stop mat from therapy (or if you need to, it is inexpensively purchased at a discount store).
Hoy
Hoy is a type of bingo game that uses a deck of regular playing cards. The participants cards can be easily made or could be purchased on line. (See Hoy under “Special Activities”)
To accommodate the challenged individual, place the lap table on the chair, with the skid-stop mat. Lay the playing card on the lap table and provide easy to grasp plastic bingo markers, gathering them on the side of the individual’s dominant hand. Keep an eye on this participant’s card and, if a required response is not forthcoming, simply place the called card next to the matching card in front of the player to facilitate the placing of a marker. No additional verbalization is necessary. Also, do not make the play for the participant but encourage their own responses.
Uno
You will need the lap table, perhaps the skid-stop mat, a deck of Uno cards, and a card-holding rack. Prepare the table for play by placing it on the chair and covering it with the skid-stop mat. Put the card rack as near the participant as possible. Deal out the cards, placing each of the individual’s cards in the rack as you deal. Turn up one card from the deck and place it on the lap table along with the deck. Continue play. The challenged individual may have enough hand & arm movement to grasp a card and move it or they may have only enough to point to a card in which case you can pull it out and play it for them. You may need to ask on each turn if the player has the appropriate color or number and, if not, you may need to draw for them. Do not look at the card drawn just ask if it plays and if not, place it in their rack. Some individuals will be able to draw their own cards if you hold the deck close for them.
Because some individuals face more than one challenge, it is often helpful to remove most of the “direction” cards from the Uno deck; Reverse, Draw Two, Skip, etc.. You might leave in the wild cards and if things go well, you might replace the others one or two at a time.
Bingo
Regulation Bingo cards can be difficult for challenged individuals to manipulate. Players may not have the fine motor ability to close the “windows” on that type of card and the extra-large playing cards are often too large making it impossible for players with limited arm mobility to reach the upper rows of numbers.
Take one of the extra-large bingo cards (they are flat cards with very large numbers that require the manipulation of plastic chips to mark the numbers called). Make a smaller version of this card on the copier so it will be possible for the challenged individual to reach the top rows. Use “top hat” plastic markers. (Chips are flat and difficult to pick up.)
Placing a skid-stop on the lap table, utilizing the smaller version of a jumbo card, and providing easy to grasp top-hat markers might just make it possible for a challenged individual to enjoy playing bingo.
