Your Therapy Source told me about the Free app FitQuest Lite by JogHop and I downloaded it and then tried to figure out when I would use it. It actually worked great for 2 kiddos that I work with that are completely different in terms of presentation. One of the kiddos has Developmental Coordination Disorder and we work a lot on timing of movement that is self generated, that is cued, that is reactionary to something happening to the environment as well as the coordination of that movement. The other kiddo has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and we spend a lot of time working on bilateral hand use, standing balance, anticipatory balance control and reaction time. By using this app I was able to work on all of these things. They get the visual cues of the squirrel running down a path (whose movement is generated by the kiddo’s movement) and then have to react to the obstacles that come along the way. This can include jumping over a snake or ducking to get away from an eagle. In addition to the visual cues I have been able to vocally tell them when to jump or duck or whatever the task is requiring. As they practice and get the repetition and are able to anticipate when to move to get the desired result and time the motion so that they make it over the snake, they need less and less verbal cues. Their timing and reactions improve as well as their anticipatory reactions where they can plan a movement and their body knows what it needs to do in order to maintain their balance for that action. For my kiddo that has spastic quadriplegia CP we didn’t do the leg motions as much but used the bilateral hand use to generate the movement. He was able to make it jump by lifting the phone up, and duck by bringing the phone down. The squirrel was able to move down the path by him shaking his arms slightly. It was a great balance tool and really helped his bilateral hand use.
All in all this is a great app that’s free and can work on anticipatory reactions as well a timing, balance and bilateral hand use!
