indysky3

Sorry to hear you are not using the magazines. I use alot of the worksheets and triva in the book, along with calendar information. I also use the internet alot, and teacher resources. My program is hospital based, a swingbed program as it is called. I have all ages and the rest of the hospital patients are all ages so alot of the information in the books is easily used and easy to copy. Do you have an adult day care center in your area that maybe could use the books? Thanks for the ideas. sharon

I have not used the Creative Forecasting, have recieved free copies at different conferences and they seem ok. I use New Day and the internet subscription site www.activityconnection.com. Have subscribe since they started charging. Lots of information and already done for you to just copy things from the site. Just love the site! I did check out the site listed above and it is pretty good also. Also love this site. Lots of great ideas and suggestions from fellow activity professionals. I keep an open mind and think of different ways to use things. I use alot of craft book originally for school students and adapt. Quick and easy. Hope you find new ideas. Have fun and a great day! Sharon

Hi I am Sharon from Indiana and have been AD for almost 3 years and a Licensed Practical Nurse for 13 years. I have the best of both worlds. Enjoy this site and hope this helps. I subscribe to New Day and they have lots of wonderful ideas, and also to Activity Connection which has alot of ideas for the entire month. Just wonderful site. Anything sensory works, I am in a hospital setting and have patients from home and local nursing facilities so I have all types of function. I once had a patient that was contracted no verbal response. After learning he was a long time farmer and it was fall I stopped along the road collected corn cobs both empty and with corn on it. I shell some of the corn and put into a bowl. I began by talking to the patient about the weather, the crops and about what I brought him. I then put his hands in the bowl of corn he immediately began swirling his hands and quicker than I could grab his hands he picked up a small kernel of corn with his thumb and forefinger and started right for his mouth. I redirected his hand and took the corn away thinking I almost blew that and what a stupid thing to try. Well when mentioning it to my husband that evening he informed me being a farmer he was testing the corn for moisture content. The next day I spoke with his son and sure enough that was what he was doing. A meaningful activity for this gentlemen. Try anything sensory, lotions, massage, music they grew up with, bright pictures of their past, butterflies, sounds of nature, talk about current events about things in their past, look for old newspapers, books and show them to the person, hide items in rice, sand anything for sensory. I hope this helps. Let me know.