(Image via breatheahr.org)
What if physical therapy for Cerebral Palsy could be fun? Now it can be at Breathe Magic Summer Camp!
Breathe Magic Summer Camp in London is not your average summer camp. Their program consists of teaching children a variety of scaled and adapted magic tricks designed as an effective rehabilitation tool.
The program is for disabled children with different conditions, such as hemiplegia or those who have been affected from a stroke or brain injury.
It’s designed to build strength and improve motor and bi-manual skills. For example, one of the exercises is using cards tricks to improve wrist extension. This is just one of the many creative ways the program uses tricks in order to incorporate movement that children with conditions like hemiplegia find difficult.
Occupational therapists and physiotherapists work side by side with disabled children teaching them magic tricks and theatrical skills. But it’s not just any therapy, it’s an intense 10 days and 60 hours total of hard work spent. Over these 10 days, children practice a variety of art forms that are blended together for maximum health outcomes. Manual and physical dexterity are guaranteed to vastly improve by the end of program. Art forms include magic, circus skills, costume design and theatre production.
Check out their video to for an overview of the program:
Breathe Magic 2012 (Short version) from Breathe on Vimeo.
Since these tricks help to increase independence, you might even be able to save money on handicapped van conversions, since they won’t need to be as extensive.
Breathe Magic Summer Camp is part of Breathe Arts Health Research, which specializes in designing approaches to healthcare in order to improve your health. They also provide a variety of different programs and training packages to choose from. To learn more about their research and what they do, you can visit their website here.