Adapted Toy Story Game

Our computer has gone out so I am very limited in my ability to get photos downloaded and get posts up at the moment.

I thought I would share our most recently adapted game, Toy Story.
We actually did very little to adapt this game and the adaptions that we used were very simple.
The game board for this game is a large rug. It is perfect for when Junior is on his tummy on one of his wedges.
We found that the playing pieces fell over way too easily so we attached them to some small plastic bean bags. Velcro is on the top of each bean bag as well as on the side of each playing piece.
The game spinner that we use with most Junior's games has a dice overlay which we used. Junior then uses his head switch to take his turns.
If you have a child who enjoys games but has mobility issues this game spinner is a must. We use it so very often with nearly all Junior's games. We also use it for other activities as well. Junior enjoys turning painting into a game by adding colors to the spinner. He then activates the spinner with the switch. Whichever color he gets is the one we use to paint with, he loves to see how quickly he can get me to grab new colors.
I am currently working on incorporating it into Junior's reading and math activities.

Skateboarding

I posted this on Junior's regular blog last night and thought I would share it here as well since it is somewhat of an adaption. Junior loves watching the other kids play and has always been so intrigued by their skateboards. We had rigged up a skateboard so he could ride on his tummy when he was smaller but this lets him ride like the other kids or at least feel like he is.

There are many, many things that Junior can't do the typical way but that sure doesn't mean he can't do them at all. It just means we have to find the "Junior way" to get it done. It is all about experiencing life and getting the most out of every moment.

Who says you have to be able to walk to skateboard???
Skateboarding the Junior way
The evil eye I get when Junior has had enough of that camera and wants to ride
Junior is in his standing sling and we were going back and forth across the room under his lift track.

Around here we don't believe in can't we change it to how, how can we adapt the activity so it can be done the "Junior way".

Arm Slings Part 2

Junior is doing much better at the moment so I had a chance to get this post done.

His arm slings are a new favorite item for us. I say us because not only do they give him a little more control of the limited arm movement that he has but they make it much, much easier for me to "help" him do things. Easier means we can have lots more fun.

I still haven't had a chance to sew some covers for the straps. I want to put a little fleece cover on each of them(just over the area that is around his arm) to make them more comfortable and also keep the straps from getting so dirty.

These are super easy to make especially if you have a sewing machine. All you need is elastic, sew on velcro, and thread. I made each sling/strap with 2 yards of elastic(I used the 1.5 or 2 in wide elastic but may make another pair with the wider kind). I am not sure I really needed that much but wanted to be sure I had plenty for any height we might need them.
I used about 1.5 yards of sew on velcro, again you could probably use less.
I sewed the rough side of velcro to one end of the strip of elastic and the smooth side to the other end. Be sure that when you attach the velcro the elastic won't be twisted and you have a smooth loop.
I used very long strips of velcro so the height of the straps could be adjusted to nearly any need. We actually have been attaching them to Junior's lift so haven't needed to do any adjusting using the velcro. Another friend told me they use IV poles for their arm slings.
Another thing I have seen others do is make an actual sling at the end of the straps where the childs arm is.

Junior using his arm slings(the only reason one is white and one is black is because our store was out of the black elastic)
This afternoon we tried using the arm slings while Junior was laying on his side. Because of the position we used both slings on one arm and it worked really well.

Arm Slings

Junior is sick at the moment so I have not had a chance to work on posts. Thought I would post a couple pics of him using the arm "slings" I recently rigged up for him. I have seen several of our other blogger buddies use something similar so decided to see if we could make some.
I will do a post once the little dude is well and share how we made them and more about how they are working for him.
I will say that having the sling support the weight of Junior's arms has given him more active movement. He is able to get some sideways motion instead of just the stiffening arm motion.

Coloring with markers
Finger painting
Car painting(those are trucks in his hands)
Foam Fun
Please keep Junior in your prayers. He is currently on antibiotics and hopefully by tomorrow we will start seeing some improvement.

A New Favorite Ipad App

I have some more sensory posts to share but haven't had a chance to get any of them finished. I will be working on that this weekend but in the mean time thought I would share a new favorite app.

This evening I found a free story making app called Story Kit for Junior's ipad. I started playing with it to see how it worked and then showed Junior. An instant hit, he loves it. It was nearly bedtime so we only had a few minutes to "play" so I helped Junior make a little story about himself just to try out the app. It allowed us to use our own pictures and then add text and voice. I can either import a photo onto a page or draw a picture on the page(or both on one page). Very simple to use and I think it is one of those apps that will get a lot of use. I haven't tried out the share option but it looks like Junior could even share his story with anyone else using this same app.

Here is the little story we made to test out the app(some of the pages look very fuzzy in the pics but on the ipad they are not)
This first pic is the menu page and lists the stories(the other stories you see are a few that come with the app, the numbers are showing the length of the book)
This pic of Junior and Abigail is from a couple years ago, not even sure how it made it to the ipad. I guess I need to transfer more recent pics to the ipad.

Sensory Rooms/Spaces part 8

Todays sensory space comes to us from April and her oh so cute little boy Caleb.

One of my favorite sensory tools for Caleb is the invisiboard. The website states: Block out distractions for students with Cortical Visual Impairment. This 48 by 30 inch, tri-fold board eliminates visual clutter with a solid white, slick material on one side and a solid black, Velcro compatible material on the other.

I love using this board with Caleb. I can surround him with a black background and give his eye the opportunity to focus on one thing. Right now we are focusing on items that are mostly yellow or reflective.

Just like the invisiboard helps me to reduce visual clutter for Caleb... Caleb reduces worldly clutter for me. He teaches me to be more reflective. He teaches me to focus on what matters most.

Thank you Caleb, for teaching me to truly see.

You can find more information about the invisiboard here and here

Thank you to April and Caleb for sharing their special sensory space with us.