Investigation of the effect of in-water exercises for Therapeutic Recreation on Children

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study is to investigate the

physical development of individuals with mental and

physical problems who receive water therapy in the Special

Education Rehabilitation Center.

Materials and Methods: The study involved 14 mentally

and physically challenged children who received water

therapy at a Special Education Rehabilitation Center. The

age of children is between 7-14 years. The mentally

problematic children who participated in the research are the

children who have moderate and mild mental problems and

the children who have physical problems are the children

who have orthopedic disabilities (walking, running,

jumping, etc.).

For the research, a special movement training program was

prepared for children with mental problems and physical

problems. While preparing the program, support was

received from special educators, physical therapists and

recreation specialists. The research was applied for 2

months, 3 days a week and 60-90 minutes.

Results: At the beginning of the study, it was observed that

children with mental problems were afraid to enter the

water, did not obey the commands, exhibited behaviors that

they did not want to separate from the mother and father,

while the children who had orthopedic problems were afraid

to enter the water, constantly waiting for help, and hesitating

to move unaided in the water.

Conclusion and Evaluation: At the end of the research

process, children with mental problems entered the water

comfortably (85%), even rushed to enter, were not afraid of

water (85%), obeyed the commands more (90%), continued

to work separately from the mother and father (90%), and in

children with orthopedic problems, they entered the water

more willingly (80%), they wanted to move in the water

without waiting for help (85%), It was observed that they

were able to do the movements shown mostly (90%), and

the majority of children (90%) who experienced walking

porbles were able to do walking exercises.

Keywords: Water Therapy, Special Education, Rehabilitation