Activity Title: Table Ball

Source: Pokorny, N. (2000, January 31). Activities for People with Alzheimer's. Retrieved from
http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txalz.htm
Equipment: Tables that line up together and a ball (preferable a bright color.
Activity Description: The objective of this activity to help the participants improve hand eye
coordination, socialization, attention span, and following of simple directions. Hand-eye
coordination is the ability of the vision system to coordinate the information received through the
eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands in the accomplishment of a given task, such as
handwriting or catching a ball (Encyclopedia of Childrens Health, 2016). It is important to
improve hand-eye coordination because we need our eyes to direct attention and our hands to
execute the task. This activity can be of any size but it is recommended to have 10 participants
for every CTRS. For this activity place tables end to end (enough to fit about 10 people all the
way around). Place the ball in front of one of the participants and tell him/her to roll it to
someone else at the table. The CTRS should encourage each participant to keep the ball moving
on the table. This activity can help lessen agitation. Another way to lessen the agitation of
participants is to use custom stress balls as the table ball to lend an extra tactile element to the
game. The added dimension of the stress ball provides the participants further stress relief, which
is always welcome.
Leadership Considerations: For this activity the CTRS takes on an instructional, observational,
and hands-on role. It is important for the CTRS to explain and demonstrate how to participate in
this activity to avoid any confusion from the participants. The CTRS should also observe that
each participant is doing the activity correctly and is not throwing the ball rather than rolling it. It
is important to ensure that nobody gets hurt by improper use of the ball.
Adaptations: Participants with Ataxia. Ataxia means without coordination. People with
ataxia have problems with coordination because parts of the nervous system that control
movement and balance are affected (National Ataxia Foundation). Ataxia may affect the fingers,
hands, arms, legs, body, speech, and eye movements. Symptoms of Ataxia may include lack of
balance and coordination, slurring of speech, among other symptoms. Impaired coordination of
the arms and hands affect a persons ability to perform tasks requiring fine motor control such as
writing and eating (National Ataxia Foundation). For this activity adaptations can be made to
allow an individual with ataxia to participate. The CTRS can provide wrist supports that will
help the participant to roll the ball along the table. A buddy system can be used to help the
participant grab and roll the ball. The participant can rest their elbows on the table for more
support, and stabilize their upper extremities against trunk or chin for more support in hand
function. The participant can sit in a high-backed, firm chair to support their body.
Participants with Dyspraxia. Dyspraxia is a neurological disorder throughout the brain that
result in life-long impaired motor, memory, judgment, processing, and other cognitive skills
(Dyspraxia Foundation). It can also impact the immune and central nervous systems. Symptoms
of Dyspraxia can affect Gross motor co-ordination skills (i.e. poor balance, poor posture and
fatigue, poor hand-eye coordination), fine motor co-ordination (i.e. poor manipulative skills,

inadequate grasp, lack of manual dexterity), poorly established hand dominance, speech and
language, eye movements, perception, learning, thought, and memory, and emotion and behavior
(Dyspraxia Foundation). Adaptations must be made to allow participants with Dyspraxia to
participate. The participant can work closely with another participant or the CTRS to assist in the
activity. This assistant can help the participant by guiding their hands to grab and roll the ball.
The CTRS can also teach the participant the steps to the activity prior to the rest of the group so
that they have a better understanding of what they need to do. To goal is to provide assistance
when needed and to have patience and allow the participant to go at their own pace.