Yes You Can - Fourth Edition - 182

you’ll look back and congratulate yourself on how far you’ve come. Be patient with yourself, and don’t give up! Recreation and Adaptation When you’re thinking about participating in an activity, there are some things to consider. Has your injury aﬀected your mobility, the way you get around? How much strength and coordination do you have in your arms and hands? Are people available to provide assistance if you need it to participate in the activity? How have your endurance and stamina been aﬀected? Talk with your therapists and doctors and get a clear idea. It’s important to understand the eﬀect your injury has had on you. There may be some medical or safety precautions that you should consider when you’re making decisions about speciﬁc activities. You need to know what these precautions are. Whether you use a community-based recreation service or try something for the ﬁrst time with family or friends, it’s up to you to consider the needs of your body. It’s your job to make sure an activity is healthy for you, not harmful. Your rehab team is available to help you. You may beneﬁt from adaptation or assistance to do the things you enjoy. The purpose of assistance and adaptation is to help you do an activity as independently as possible. Assistance comes in many forms—it might be equipment or another person. Could you beneﬁt from a power reel and ﬁshing pole holder? Or maybe you just need someone to bait the hook for you. A minor adaptation to the rules or techniques might be all it takes to increase your independence with an activity. Not every person or every activity requires modiﬁcation. Many sports and games have modiﬁed rules that are a form of adaptation. These modiﬁed rules don’t really change the game; they just make it practical for the competitors or participants. An example is the two bounces allowed for wheelchair tennis. This double bounce allows the player using a wheelchair to keep the game challenging and competitive. Some games and sports are exclusively wheelchair sports, like power soccer and quad rugby. These two sports have unique rules of play that diﬀer signiﬁcantly from the rules for the original sport, but they retain their intense and competitive nature. Golf is a game where you can use adaptive equipment, but the rules remain the same. For safety reasons and practicality, some sports—like softball, hockey, and basketball— require that everyone use a sport chair to play. In fact, some community centers keep a stock of basketball chairs on hand so non-wheelchairusers can play with wheelchair-users. Most team sports have a classiﬁcation system that evaluates a person’s function and regulates the competition. Not into team or organized sports? Fine. This is all about identifying an activity that’s rewarding for you. Equipment is available to support nearly any interest you might have. Your functional level will determine your equipment needs. You can hunt using a sip-n-puﬀ trigger mechanism. Some mounts allow chin control of a joystick to make ﬁne target adjustments. Painting with a mouthstick might require little more than the mouthstick, an easel, and someone to set it up for you. For some pursuits, the equipment is customized; for others, standard gear is all you might need. Camping? Get a tent with a large enough opening for your wheelchair to pass through. If you use a power wheelchair, get a campsite with power hook-up so you can charge your chair at night. Every sporting goods store sells inﬂatable camping mattresses. The 18-plus inches of air makes for a good night’s sleep and an easy time transferring in and out. However, the mattress surface might not meet your skin protection needs—consult with your health-care provider for recommendations; you may need only to turn more often during the [ 182 ] | Yes, You Can!

Yes You Can - Fourth Edition

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Yes You Can - Fourth Edition