Hi,
I like to use specific elements from Timocco and integrate them in the therapy session. For example, after playing with the Balloon game I begin another activity with real balloons.
I might encourage the child to choose balloons in different colors and shapes and then paint them or have the child throw and catch the balloons.
Sometimes I use characters found in the game to increase the child’s motivation for drawing and painting. The child can draw Timocco the monkey at the playground, with the balloons or at the beach. I also use Timocco’s workbook that provides a wide range of grapho-motor activities related to the virtual game and its content.
Another type of generalization you can make is based on the child’s awareness of the borders of their body (established while playing Timocco). During the games, the child is required to have a full control over their movements and moderate their movements to produce a precise and accurate motion – therefore the learning is meaningful and can be transferred into another activity that requires motion regulation, such as painting.
After 10 minutes of working with Timocco you can present a painting task to help the child understand the connection between their motor learning in the virtual environment and the control of the child’s grapho-motor performance in this task. Since the child experiences feedback from Timocco through their own body movement, your verbal direction to “slow down” or “make smaller movements” will make more sense to the child after they experience it with Timocco.
Another idea is to use the Timocco sensors – the gloves – in different contexts, such as using “ball pool” instead of the gloves and encouraging the child to distinguish between the Timocco balls and the plastic balls of the pool just according to its texture.
Just by being involved in a positive experience and gaining a sense of success can increase the child self-efficacy and confidence which encourages him or her to dare to participate in other activities that were avoided in the past.
The main goal of the therapy is to create a change in the child’s performance and participation in his every day activities. Therefore it is important to remember that a virtual environment (VE) is the part of the process and not the goal itself.
If we know how to use the VE wisely we will be able to leverage the child’s sense of success and achievement gained in the game towards improvements in his daily life.
Hope this helps,
Sarit
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