Spring Issue 2021

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“Recreational Therapy is probably the best kept secret in healthcare. In fact, most likely the first time someone would have contact with a Recreational Therapist would be in an institutional rehabilitative setting. I first heard about Recreational Therapy and Therapeutic Recreation when I was PLAY for a junior in High School. That was 1975. I always knew at the time that I wanted to work with people with disabilities and disorders, but I was not sure what profession would best fit my own personal talents and interests. That is when I heard that our local Community College had a curriculum called Therapeutic Recreation. After two years at the community college, I was hooked. I discovered a profession that was centered on improving the quality of life of people through play. Upon graduation I continued my studies in Therapeutic Recreation at SUNY Brockport graduating in 1981 as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, CTRS. Later I earned my Master of Science degree in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Tennessee and have enjoyed a career as a Recreational Therapist for 40 years. LIFE Recreation, play, and leisure have always been taken for granted. It’s a given that anyone can enjoy play and participate in sports and recreation. The mind set has always been if you want to try new things all you need do is go and do it. You want to ride a bike? Go do it. You want to ski or go out to a social event; you just go and do it. If we told our parents that we were bored we were told to “go out and play” Now let’s say you are involved in a tragic accident or you are crippled with social anxieties, mental illness, or physical barriers. Going out to “play” takes on a whole new challenge. That’s where a recreational therapist can help. All throughout my career the one question that I have been asked most frequently is, “What is a Recreational Therapist?” This question was usually followed by do you play “BINGO and go out on trips”? The answer is, yes. We play BINGO and go out on trips but there is so much more to it than that. The clinical answer to that question is best stated by the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, ATRA, (ATRA-online.com). ATRA states, “Recreation Therapy, also known as therapeutic recreation, is a systematic process that utilizes recreation and other activity-based interventions to address the assessed needs of individuals with illnesses and /or disabling conditions, as a means to psychological and physical health, recovery and wellbeing. Recreational Therapy means a treatment service designed to restore, remediate, and rehabilitate a person’s level of functioning and independence in life activities, to 17
promote health and wellness, as well as reduce or eliminate the activity limitations and restrictions to participation in life situations caused by an illness or disabling condition.” (ATRA May 2015). We, as professionals, work in rehabilitation as well as habilitative services. Habilitative by helping people keep, learn, or improve skills and functioning for daily living and also rehabilitative services that help a person keep, get back, or improve skills and functioning for daily living that have been lost or impaired because of being sick, hurt or disabled. We work basically the same as any rehabilitative service such as physical therapy, or occupational therapy but the biggest difference is our interventions. We utilize the clients recreational and leisure interests to bring about the desired positive changes. We are one of the first professions to provide person centered care with the goal PLAY for always to improve the quality of life of the individual. One way to improve the quality of life is through play, recreation, and fun. Although we all work to improve the physical well-being of the individual, recreational therapy also focuses on the emotional, mental, and social health of that person. Throughout my 40-year career as a recreational therapist I have had the opportunity to work with so many wonderful, gifted people in all types of treatment settings. The one treatment LIFE setting that I found to be lacking access to recreational therapy was in home health. Not only were our services unavailable but there was no easy way to find a Recreational Therapist in the community. That is why I created My Recreation Therapist LLC. My Recreation Therapist (myrecreationtherapist.com) is a FREE tool that anyone can use to find and hire their own Licensed or Certified Recreational Therapist. All a person needs do is sign up, create a profile, and describe the “job” you would like to fill. Once joined the person will have access to thousands of CTRS and LRT’s all-over North America. With a Recreational Therapist joining your treatment team you will have the most qualified professional to address quality of life issues through play, recreation, and leisure to help reach the individuals highest level of life satisfaction while improving their physical, mental, emotional and social health. Play is medicine. If you would like more information about this life changing profession, please feel free to visit our site at www.myrecreationtherapist.com.” M 18
Page 1 and 2: eyond disabilities Spring Issue 202
Page 4 and 5: PLANNING TO SUCCEED Back in my coll
Page 6 and 7: Impulse Control The old adage, “t
Page 8 and 9: Let’s Get Cooking Many kids love
Page 10 and 11: I Need a Lawyer? Many parents with
Page 12 and 13: In the complex process that follows
Page 14 and 15: ScHooL and HomE The pandemic has up
Page 16 and 17: There’s an abundance of programs
Page 20: EXCEPTIONAL SPORTS When parents are
Page 23 and 24: The changes include investing in di
Page 25 and 26: Many children, with a variety of co

Spring Issue 2021

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