Creative Types of Recreational Therapy to Help Your Child with Special Needs
Signing up for a therapy that may help your child cope with a mental or physical disability can be a daunting task. For a child with special needs, therapy can be a tough experience to go through. But there are plenty of recreational therapies that are both effective and entertaining. Special needs horseback riding is one just therapy that is effective in helping children with a wide range of issues.
But what is a recreational therapy, and how does it help people with special needs? To simply put, recreational therapy is a holistic approach to wellness that focuses on increasing a person’s ability to function by engaging them in creative and logical games and activities.
So, let’s find out of the most effective recreational therapy for special needs children.
1. Therapeutic horseback riding
Riding a horse is beneficial in more ways than one. Learning to ride horse stimulates multiple muscle groups, triggers vestibular and tactile sensory, improves alertness, and heightens self-awareness. Therapeutic horseback riding requires personalized riding training, which is usually designed as per the mental and physical condition of a person. The therapy also involves safety and grooming lessons to help the patient build a nurturing relationship with the horse.
One can easily look for special needs horseback riding near me where such therapies and horse riding sessions are offered.
Apart from horseback riding therapy, there is another equine-assisted therapy called Hippotherapy. With the help of a specially trained horse, the patient is given therapeutic treatment for occupational, speech, physical problems.
2. Adaptive swimming
Swimming is one of the most popular forms of recreational therapy. Adaptive swimming helps with the sensory integration, offers low-impact workout and increases endurance. Usually, adaptive swimming is offered through recreational departments and parks, but one can opt for personal classes as well.
3. Art therapy
Since a long time ago, art and craft have been used as a tool to help people with mental disabilities channel their thoughts and develop communication skills. Art therapists are professionals who work upon restoring a patient’s functioning and sense of well-being with the means of visual arts.
4. Music therapy
A well-planned music therapy can help a special needs child develop their fine motor skills, maintain steady eye contact, learn patterns, develop communication skills, visual tracking, and much more.
7. Pet therapy
Pet therapy is a form of therapy involving pet animals to help children with a mental or physical disability. Each therapy is tailored as per the condition and needs of the patient. In the USA, a disabled person is entitled to a free home visit from a therapy dog.
Besides dogs, you can choose to have any animal for your therapy. Since the patient is required to handle and care for the pet, it helps to build a sense of belongingness and trust in special needs kids. The therapy is also effective in developing communication skills, life skills, social skills, and memory skills.