Therapy using Crafts :
Activities for elderly and Disabled.

There are hundreds of different crafts available to anyone who wants to take them up, and this is no exception for the Elderly or Disabled.

The Benifits of a craft activity are numerous :-

• Dexterity.
• Communication enhancement.
• Challenging.
• Spatial Awareness.
• Reminiscing.

I was once on a course run by a very respectable company which deals primarily with the elderly.
The tutor was sub contracted but she explained that she was involved with providing crafts at elderly resedents homes, and she provided some good examples of how to go about providing craft as an activity.

When the end of the session was in sight she asked each of us in turn for some examples of some crafts that we thought could be provided to the elderly.
I proceded to real of many of the crafts I already provide to the residents in the 45 or so homes we attend, and each and everyone was rejected by her.

At first I was a little confused.... That is until I realised that she was not able to understand that disabilities did not stop you from doing these crafts. It is the way you do them and how you adapt the craft to suite the disability.

I was quite saddened by this, as she was quite capable of providing SOME crafts, that she felt the elderly could do, but unable to understand that with a little more thought on what is preventing them from doing the other crafts she could have adapted many of the ideas to her advantage.