Recreation Therapy’s
fun
The busy season for Matheny’s recreation therapy department runs April to December and features a dizzying number of activities, including baseball, track and field, bowling, bocce, yoga, surfing, kayaking, bicycling, karate, swimming, water skiing, campouts, restaurant and theater trips, and overnight vacations to Wildwood, New York City, and beyond. The department actually provides two kinds of programs: recreation therapy, which is aimed at enhancing the functioning of clients, and leisure programs, which focus on social and community interaction and support interests outside of Matheny. One such leisure program is the annual prom, a night of music, food, and festivities that everyone anticipates happily for months. It is recreation therapy and leisure activities that link Matheny residents most closely with the outside world. “There is no typical patient here; each individual’s needs are unique,” explains Sean Bielefeldt, Director of Recreation Therapy and Adult Day Health Services
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mathenymatters | summer–fall 2019
at Matheny. Improving the client’s ability to use a power wheelchair, to get on and off a van lift, to navigate sidewalks, to use automatic door openers, to order food in a restaurant, and to shop and have money skills to make a purchase are all part of the program. “It is the goal of Matheny to integrate clients back into the community, to help prepare them to live in group homes, by working with them on skills that will maximize their independence,” he continues. “Matheny is unique in the numbers of activities that enhance community integration—we average 40 trips a month in our programs, which is pretty much unheard of in similar programs.” “We work as a team and parents are part of the team,” says Meghan Walsh, a senior recreation therapist. “They trust that we can provide the opportunities that they never thought their kids would have.” MM
