This week, we had to get creative with the tools available to Joey at home. Typically, I am able to create new challenges or gather interesting novel items at my clinic and bring them with me to an in-home session. This, however, has changed with COVID-19 stay-at-home guidelines.
Looking at a volitional grasp and release goal (picking items up and dropping them) and a grasping goal (having thumb on the opposite side of the item as fingers, with a “c” shape of space forming between thumb and pointer) we decided to use the squigz—a suction cup based toy with bulbous
grab spots. Then, Joey’s father was able to create a box with a large hole, so we could bring in hand/eye coordination to the activity. Joey was able to sit at his lap desk in circle-sit and put the squigz in the hole, then open his fingers to release them to drop into the box.
Week Two Areas of Challenge: figuring out how to give Joey access to novel toys/materials without the therapist driving them to his house.
Week Two Areas of Success: utilizing common household items (box and tape) to create new games/activities to build grasp and release skills.
