Children strengthen spirits and bodies at RIKC!

At RIKC's summer therapy programs, which began in June, children ages 2 to 18 could be seen riding scooters, making sundaes and headed out to field trips.  Yes, it’s therapy with a twist of fun. 

The participants have various types of neurodevelopmental disabilities, including brain injury, tumors and stroke.  Activities during summer therapy programs work on developmental and cognitive skills with an emphasis on constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) and hand-arm bilateral intensive training (HABIT).

One day, the participants lay on their stomachs on scooter boards for an activity. As part of CIMT, their stronger arm was in a cast, requiring more use of their affected arm. Geni Wier, 10, maneuvered to the other side of the room primarily using her affected right arm. Once she and the other children got there, they had to dig through buckets of beans to find different objects. Once Geni found the toy car, she gave it to the volunteer and scooted back to the other side with a look of happiness and pride on her face.

Besides working on their own, the children at the program participate in group activities. Before they used the scooters, they had to clean up the room, picking up toys and pushing tables together, all while still wearing the cast as part of CIMT. Trisha Peters, Geni’s mom, commented that  group work is a great part of the program.

“This [program] is a chance for [Geni] to be around kids afflicted the same way as her,” Peters said. “The activities help the kids figure out how to work together.”

Drennan Gwinn, 8, has been coming to RIKC for five years, and this is his fourth time at the summer program. He had troubles scooting using his affected arm, but the volunteers were helpful and encouraging. With their help, Drennan made it to the other side with a look of relief.

“I like the occupational therapy focus and group setting,” said Stephanie Gwinn, Drennan’s mom. “Of course Drennan likes it, because he likes being around people.”

Janet Padley, pediatric and adolescent coordinator at RIKC, said that before the summer programs were created, people were leaving the state to go to CIMT programs. Now, people have RIKC’s programs for their children.