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Therapeutic techniques and their use for children with disabilities at school age
KOLÁŘOVÁ, Marie
The topic of this bachelor thesis are therapheutical techniques and the way they are used in helping school-age children with disabilities. The theoretical part of this thesis defines the terms "therapy", "therapist" and ?comprehensive rehabilitation system?. Comprehensive rehabilitation system comprises not only occupational, social and pedagogical resources, but primarily also therapeutic resources that include (but are not limited to) therapies (e.g. ergotherapy, animal-assisted therapy, music therapy or drama therapy). Therapies are the prevailing topic of the major part of this thesis, which mainly deals with features of individual therapeutic techniques used in specific therapies. My thesis also describes development stages of school-age children, which are divided into "lower" and "higher" school age. In final conclusion of the theoretical part, I also briefly refer to physical disabilities (etiology, types of disabilities and associated illnesses). The goal of the practical part of my bachelor thesis is to research the type of therapeutic techniques that are currently being used for specific therapies in Arpida therapeutic centre in the town of České Budějovice. To achieve this goal I have set one primary research question: to reseach the types of therapeutic techniques used by therapists for treating children with physical disabilities. My research have demonstrated that in the field of ergotherapy the therapists from Arpida centre primarily practise three basic techniques: activities of daily living ? ADL, hand ergotherapy, that is focusing mainly on developing fine and gross motor skills of children with physical disabilities, and (last but not least) therapeutic games. There are several of them being used and their aim is to develop cognitive skills of the child, his or her imagination and creativity and also to develop the above-mentioned fine and gross motor skills. Another from analysed therapies was animal-assisted therapy. In this centre, it was practised only in the form of canistherapy (therapy aided by dogs) and hippotherapy, in which the main therapeutic resource is a horse. My research has demonstrated that, in the field of canistherapy, therapists mainly practice Animal Assisted Activites, Animal Assisted Therapies and Animal Assisted Education. In the field of hippotherapy, my research showed that the most frequently used techniques are horse-riding for pedagogical-psychological purposes and hippotherapy, during which the most frequently used client positioning is lying on back, leaning on forearms, leaning on palms and sitting position. The third analysed therapy was art therapy. The most frequently used techniques were drawing, painting, mixed-media techniques as well as other graphics techniques or ceramics work. Was focused on another area - music therapy. For school-age kids with physical disabilities, my research showed that therapists practice techniques such as rhythm games, games with objects and tools, music and artistic techniques, music theatre games, improvisation and games with singing. The aim of these techniques is to target kids awareness, memory and thinking training as well as help them to express their then current emotions. Last but not least, it also helps them develop their motor skills. The next analysed therapy (and a last one) is drama therapy. In this area my research demonstrated that it is not all about drama therapy itself.
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