Activities

Mary has a black folder which will often be kept at the end of her bed or on the side. This is her activity folder. Please pick it up and have a look. There are all sorts of activities in there that Mary enjoys and that you may already be doing with her.

Please take account of some of the simple instructions that will help Mary – e.g. doing activities for short 10-15minute slots and then giving Mary a rest and repeating the same activity more than once. Also, rather than going through lots of photos with Mary, it will help her if you show her the same photo for a minute or two, give her a little break and show the same photo again.

Bear in mind that Mary will be more tired towards the end of the day or if she has had a lot of activity. She may need a sleep after the exercise or need a rest. She will also not benefit from activity slots of more than 10-20mins.

At the back of the folder is a space to record how you and Mary got on with the activity. For example if you put the photo in front of Mary and she kept a gaze on it throughout, record that. If she was able to track it when you moved it from left to right, let us know. These are all good signs and are helpful to record.

Also, feel free to comment on the folder and post up how you have been getting on with the exercises with her and your visits using this blog. Perhaps she responded to a particular type of music or photo, it would be great to let other visitors and staff know.

If you have suggestions for the folder, please let Laura know and she can pass them on.

Thanks so much!