Different on Paper

Recreational Therapy

This is the field I would like to get involved in as my carrier. Specifically, I would like to get involved in Theatre Education for kids with special needs. I'm going to go over a few types of recreational therapy and how they can be beneficial to people with disabilities.

The first type of recreational therapy that I did when I was younger is called hippothearpy. This is therapy through the use of horses. My parents started taking me to horseback riding lessons when I was around seven or eight. Eventually we ended up getting a farm! Hippothearpy teaches kids balance, learn shapes, colors, left and right, coordination, etc.

One of the things I felt like helped me the most is the involvement with new textures. I had texture issues as a little kid but when you have to groom a horse there's dirt on the horses, which at first felt awful. There's multiple brushes with different bristles you must use, there's different types of saddles and saddle pads.

I also had poor social skills and the cool thing about horses is that they are social creatures. Every horse is different and has a new personality to learn from. Often dealing with horses involves nonverbal communication more than verbal. This is an awesome skill for so many kids with disabilities to learn. Specifically, it serves the most help for kids with autism, nonverbal learning disorder and down syndrome.

Horses also give kids a safe friend to talk to. Horses listen to what you say and they'll always keep your secrets. One thing I love about horses with any kid, is that it creates a sense of responsibility. Kids with disabilities are often treated like babies. People don't understand how capable they are. This is an opportunity for them to ignore all those people and do something that takes a lot of attention as well as work.

Probably the first type of recreational therapy my parents got me involved in is gymnastics and dance. I was a very uncoordinated child. I still trip over my own feet to this day. However, dance has been used as a form of recreational therapy for the longest time. It teaches kids rhythm, body awareness, balance, even memorization.

Arts and crafts is one thing I did particularly in Girl Scouts. For someone who didn't even know how to draw a stick figure in 1st grade this is something I needed incorporated into my life. This teaches hand eye coordination. I'm still not a great drawer but I can get my point across. This will help with handwriting as well. If your child struggles with this at all it may be a good idea to meet with the art teacher at your school so your kid sits at or near the teachers table; this way they can get help step by step. I know this helped me out a lot. Often times if the teacher didn't go through the directions step by step, as I was doing the assignment I would forget what I was supposed to do and then I would do it incorrectly.

Sports in general is also a fantastic example of recreational therapy. My parents involved me in every sport they could think of. Soccer was probably my least favorite. I played basically for a while and I was good at it too. I was a great defensive player as I had three older brothers, but affiance was a little trickier. I struggled dribbling more than anything, but I wanted to get better so as I would stride to get better, I obviously got better. The sport I got the most into was volleyball. When I first started playing a coach came up to my mom and said, "Sometimes our kids love to do something but we have to steer them in another direction so that they can be successful." In other words, I was so bad that I should quit. Fortunately, I didn't give up. Eventually, I ended up a start on a national's team that was higher ranked then that same coaches team, that told me to give up.

The last type of Recreational Therapy I wanted to talk about is theatre. This is probably the thing I am the most passionate about. I am a theatre kid and this is what I'd like to do as a career. Theatre is great for any kid. For kids with learning disabilities and processing disorders it helps with reading. Autistic kids it teaches them how to interpret emotions as well as nonverbal communication skills. Eventually they could even learn about how people carry themselves differently, depending on personality. It helps with walking, balance, even left and right. It works with memorization and overall is safe place to make mistakes and try new things. Improv is another great thing for more advanced kids. They will learn how to think and process faster. How to keep conversations going and all around have new ideas. It teaches kids to say the first thing that pops into their heads rather than second guessing themselves. If you have a kid who needs help with writing they can write a play and have their friends perform it, or write a play for a puppet show. For people who are more stage fright, there's plenty to do behind the scenes; direct, stage manage, lights, A2 (Mics), running crew, costume design, and so many more.

When in musicals it involves everything, you would learn in dance as well as singing. Singing is great, especially for kids with anxiety problems. I can guarantee you that if you or your kid has a disability they have anxiety problems. The reason why singing is great, is because it is a great release. Singing is therapeutic, but even more so you must learn how to breathe properly. In through your nose out through your mouth. The list of things that Theatre does for your child is endless. The theatre is a place for everyone.

What I have listed is only some examples of Recreational Therapy. I have been through each of these personally. I do believe that each one has helped me become the women I am today. However, that does not mean I enjoyed them all. I think it's important to push your kids to try new things and make them try it out for a little bit. At the end of the day, it's important, in my opinion, to find a place where they feel safe. Passion is the greatest gift for any child. I did well in school because if I didn't my mom would say I couldn't go to practice or rehearsal. That would mess up my whole week. These places like volleyball and theatre were, and are my place of passion. I'd be letting down myself as well as others if I hadn't gone. It's also important to figure out why your kid doesn't like something. Is it because the kids are rude or is it because they sincerely don't like the activity.

I did not list all of the amazing things that each of these types of therapy can do for a child with disabilities. It really depends on the disability. If you want more information on recreational therapy, feel free to message me!