assistive technology allowing inclusion

so we had our assistive technology tutorial with Dave which was GREAT!!
Suddenly lots of ideas popped into my head with how i can adapt outdoor adventurer equipment to enable those less able to participate in outdoor adventure programs. which is after all my overall goal.

With assistive equipment it is interesting how simple it can be and how complicated it can be to adapt equipment to meant the needs.
One of the reasons i really enjoyed this session apart from how many ideas it opened up for future adventure stuff, was the level of emphasis on PLAY, because of my firm beliefs of how play can underpin a persons life. some of the equipment we got to experiment with today consisted of a fire truck and a dinosaur that you could control via use of a variation of clickers. These are the sort of things that make my breath catch when i think about the kids i've known and how they have been excluded from the joys of toys because they do not have the ability to use them. so the main pieces of equipment i was fascinated with was the fire truck this can be purchased at
star education
for $45 dollars. The fire truck has adaptable switches which control the lights and sirens, providing endless enjoyment for children whom normally wouldnt be able to use it.

also in here i would like to talk about assistive technology in the form of the "wii" during my first placement which was mental health community day programs i introduce the Wii as something fun to do for the fitness group it was a huge success with all the clients having a blast and not wanting to leave. On my last placement i encountered a client with brain injury who had quite an extreme physical rehabilitation program and needless to say she hated it, it wasnt fun. this made me wonder if her participation in the program would be increased if the physio was a bit more flexible and incorporated something like the wii games into her fitness.
its something to think about.....