When working with clients I love the opportunity to break down barriers to accessing leisure activities.
Imagine not being able to do any of the things that let you experience joy and fun? Yes ADL's and DADL's, and vocational work is of course important - but recovery that is holistic and really maximises wellbeing needs to have an eye on leisure as well.
Barriers can be really obvious - is the activity wheelchair accessible - and if not why not! This is when my social justice hat goes on and I might be flagging up the disability discrimination act!! - happily places are catering for diverse physical abilities much better these days.
Some barriers are less obvious - such as sensory overwhelm or anxiety. Sometimes it might be about talking to a venue about when the they are more quiet, or if they have a low stimulus time (for instance some big stores reduce lights/ videos and background music for a few hours a couple of times a week) or using tools like sound filtering ear plugs or sunglasses.
For a client I took out this week it is about low pressure visits. We talk about where we are going before the day of the visit, we pick a quiet time, on this trip we went with a support worker who he feels safe with and who is a great "cheerleader" for him. We visit somewhere on the first occasion with the intention just to have a look around, no pressure to join in if you don't want to. On this occasion he did seem keen to do more than look, but then had a bit of a wobble and went outside for a cigarette and started to convince himself he might need to go home.
A quick word with the lovely lady on the desk to say, could we just have a quick try for free - just to see if he is able to do the activity, was met with a "yes of course", and then a little encouragement from his support worker that there was nothing to loose, if he didn't like it we wouldn't have lost anything, and he decide he would give it a go.
If he had still had doubts, we would have left it there - as my husband tells me "forced fun is not fun!", but sometimes reassurance and encouragement with a light touch is enough to grow confidence.
On this occasion my client then went on to play virtual darts with us for the next 30mins, and we only stopped then because the time ran out! He was laughing and smiling, playing well and getting a sense of pride - but also cheering me and his support worker on. It was an absolute pleasure to see.
Each positive experience builds self belief and coping strategies to go on and do the activity again if he enjoys it - or give something else a go. This guys has smashed looking after himself at home despite his physical injuries, and can manage self care and cooking with the use of 1 arm and limited mobility - but being able to have fun activities he might do with his family or partner add a different dimension to his life - FUN, RELAXATION and JOY. 😍
Comments