"Can't Live Without" - Portable Hammock

Junior was three or four when we got his hammock.  One of those times we were out running errands and I spotted it outside at a store.  I knew instantly it would be perfect for Junior but of course the store was out.  Thankfully they were willing to sell me their display  hammock(love a good deal) and I am so, so, so, glad they did.  We got this one at Linens & Things but I have not seen it there since then.  They do have a portable hammock at Amazon which looks just like this one except for the color.  During the summer it goes with us most everywhere and is perfect for hanging out at the park.  With it having the four corner support it is stable and there is no risk of it flipping if Junior coughs or wiggles.  If your child moves more you could use a velcro strap from another piece of equipment to add a "seat belt".   Junior is now too long for it but since he still has plenty of "weight" growth we just add a pillow and I am going to make a velcro wrap for the bottom to give him another few inches as well. We add a noodle pillow for proper positioning. 

Water Gun Painting

Not too long ago we picked up some of the small water guns and Junior thought we needed to fill them with paint. 
Today we went outside and did some squirt gun artwork. 

A little warning before I share our art project.  This is a very, very, and did I mention very messy project.  Be sure you are outside and quite aways from the nearest wall or other surface(that you prefer not to get splattered with paint).  Also be sure the paper is a long enough distance from you, being too close creates even more splattering paint.  Yes, we learned some of this the hard way.  That said the mess was oh so very worth it and Junior had a blast. 

We used 3 small squirt guns and filled them with 3 different colored paints. 

I started by mixing some paint and a few drops of water.  You want the paint thin enough to use with the squirt gun but not so thin that it just runs down your paper. 
I then drew up the paint into a large syringe(I am sure you could find other ways to do this if you don't have medical supplies around the house) and squirted it into the water gun.

These are fairly small and hard for Junior to hold.  Also the lever you press to fire the paint ends up pinching his finger when I am trying to help him.  We placed a wrist size sweat band on the handle of each gun.  We made sure it covered the trigger and then it was very easy for Junior to hold and for me to help him shoot.

  

This picture was prior to us realizing we needed the paper further from Junior and further from the house.  It still lets you see how we set it up.  We covered Junior's chair as well as the little table holding the paper in large vinyl picnic table covers. 

 Now he is ready to have some water gun fun.

 One of his finished paintings.  Junior loved doing this and I would have to say it probably goes in our top 3 favorite ways to paint.   We will certainly be doing this project several times over the summer.  

"Can't Live Without" - Junior's Turn - part 1

I have been sharing our "can't live with out" medical and mobility equipment along with many other things that make life easier on a daily basis.
Today I decided to post about the items that Junior would consider "can't live without".  I chatted with him about his favorite things/activities and what makes those activities possible.  So its Junior's turn to share his "can't live without" things.  Here are the first few and I will do another post later this week with more. 
Many of these I have already done posts on so I will link to those posts.

At the top of Junior's list would have to be his bike.  He loves going out for bike rides just like the other kids do.  Click here for a post all about his bike. 


Next on the list for my game loving boy is his game spinner.  It allows him to play board games right along with us and we also use it for other activities.
Here are a couple pics of him using his head switch to take his turn during games.
This is an older pic but it shows him playing his very favorite adapted board game. Click here for the post about the game and how we adapted it.

 Junior loves art so third on his list are the paint brush that attaches to his head as well as the straps we use to hold markers in his hands.
Click here for more about his "no hands painting".

  Coloring straps, click here for the post about them

Okay I got ahead of myself because I completely overlooked Junior's top item on the list(strange how I have managed to overlook the items we use the most).  The bike actually comes in second to this item which has changed his life and opened his world.  That would be his ipad with the Proloquo2go app.  It has given him a voice and shown us what a smart guy he is.  (Junior uses the ipad with eye gaze so looks at his choice on the screen and his "helper" touches the screen for him).  Feel free to visit his ipad blog to learn more about his ipad journey.  I don't update it as often as I should but it will show you how he uses his ipad and how it has opened his world.   
Here are a few pics of his ipad in action.  First telling me he wants to go home while at a doctors visit. 

Answering a question during a school activity.

  

Telling me where he hurts

Cat In the Hat Game - The Junior Way

I haven't shared any adapted games in quite some time and actually this is the first game I have adapted in awhile.  With all the new and fancy games out there it is harder to find games that are adaptable.  Junior loves games so I am constantly keeping my eyes open for the ones that can be adapted but also don't look too babyish.  If you spot a game that might work please let me know.
Recently I found this Cat In The Hat/Dr. Seuss game and loved the sensory aspect of it.

  It was on clearance so I picked it up and decided to see what I could do to make it work for Junior.  Though it is for the younger crowd it does not have the baby look so we just made sure to leave out anything that would make him think it was for little kids.  He was never a Dr. Seuss fan so doesn't realize the stripped red hat is from a little kids book.
The game is played by having one player place an object in the hat(this can be pretty much anything such as a toy, piece of clothing, beads, ball, etc) and the other players draw cards to help them try to figure out what the object is.  The cards have a variety of clues or things to do.  Some cards ask yes/no questions about the object while others give the player an action to do to help guess.  Such as lift the hat, look through the flap on the side of the hat, reach into the hat with one finger, press on the hat with your elbows, etc.  The winner is the person who guesses the item.  A very simple game that you could easily create yourself and make your own cards for.  I love the hands on sensory aspect of the game and I think Junior is going to get a big kick out of it. We may also do "themed" games where all the objects he has to figure out are centered around one basic theme such as super heroes, a holiday, letters, numbers, etc.

To adapt it for Junior we started with his switch adapted game spinner.  Click here if you want to know more about the spinner.  I used the same overlay as for many of his other games so it already had velcro pieces around it.

 I then placed velcro on the back of each of the playing cards

The cards are then attached to the spinner(only a few cards will fit at a time, so each time he figures out whats in the hat we will change cards before the next round, or if he has gone through all the clues and still can't figure it out) and now it is all set and Junior can take his turn by hitting his head or hand switch to spin the wheel and choose a card. 

I then looked around for objects that Junior is familiar with and  I am sure I will find more objects to use and may even place a large ziplock bag with water beads or insta snow in the hat for him(of course only one object is placed in the hat at a time)

With Junior being non verbal I set his ipad up with all the possible items in the hat.  The picture only shows 4 but if you scroll down there are actually 11 choices at the moment.

Now everything is ready to play

I will come back and add pictures to the post after we try the game out.

Safety Padding

This is not the typical adaption but I thought I would share in case others are having this issue.  Junior is moving his arms more which is wonderful but it is also presenting us with some interesting challenges. 
Junior had an OT assessment last week to look at the equipment and figure out what modifications needed to be made to keep his arms safe.  Though we have a plan and eventually the equipment will get the modifications it will likely be quite some time(possibly several months) before we get insurance authorization to get things done.  In the mean time we have to keep Junior from injuring his arms if at all possible.  I first looked at his equipment to see exactly where he was getting his arms caught or what he was hitting to cause bruising. 
I then went to the hardware store and picked up some thick foam pipe covering.  It already has a slit down the side as well as a sticky edge.  So far we have used it on his shower chair and wheel chair but I still need to see if I can make it work for his stroller. 
This picture shows how his arm gets behind his chair.  In the picture he actually is just letting it hang but much of the time he pulls it up behind the chair which is where he is hurting himself the most.  

His shower chair was the first place I started with the padding.  

  

On the side of the chair are some bolts. Junior has managed to bruise himself on several occasions no matter how close I watch his arms and try to keep them from hitting the side. 

  

 

To prevent him from hitting/catching his arm on the bolts I had to cut two pieces of the foam pipe cover and wrap them around the area. 

It is by no means perfect and I may go back to the hardware store and see if they have a much bigger piece of pipe cover but for now it will do the trick. 

Next it was on to his wheel chair.  When he gets excited and tries to reach something he kind of flings his arm out.  He then pulls it back but does not have the motor control to stop his arm and it swings behind him.  He then tries to pull it back and that is when it smacks the bar on the side and ends up bruised.  

This side of the chair was very simple to fix because the pipe cover just popped right over the bar and fit perfectly.  Clearly I can't pad everything but this is the main spot where he hits his arm. 

The other side was more challenging.  He has an oxygen tank holder bolted to the other side so the bar has bolts sticking out making it much wider.  I used two pieces like I did with the shower chair and had them overlap.  

I then added some duct tape strips to the back(where it won't show) to be sure it stays in place. 

We can't wait to get the equipment permanently modified but this will work for now.  I will be sure to share pictures once we have the actual modifications done. 

"Can't Live Without" - Tripod

I would love to have others share their "can't live without" items.  Just email me, I would be so happy to have you do a guest post.

This is an item we use so much that I almost over looked it when I was working on this series.
It is our tripod.  I picked this up at Orchard hardware store about 10 years ago and it is rare that a day goes by without it being used.  It is made for lights to be able to be attached to the top at construction sites. This one had a screw in the top which I removed awhile back and instead attached the piece you see in the picture.  It is an ipad holder.  The tripod can be fairly short or tall enough for Junior to use while in his stander.

 With his switch attached to it.  I have attached the switch to many different places on the tripod.  Even to the leg when Junior wanted to use his head switch while on the floor.

With his ipad arm attached.  Though we have the ipad attachment also on the top of the tripod it only works in certain situation because of the limited motion.  The arm allows us to put the ipad wherever we need it.

Now some pictures of the tripod in use.  holding a switch(hard to see but it is behind Scooby-Doo

In these pictures it is being used to hold the ipad during activities.

   

In these pictures Junior is standing in his stander so it shows how high the tripod can go.

now using it while in his recliner