One of the OTs I work with had this super cool laser (affiliate link) she used with her patients. One day, I was at my wits end trying to think of something to motivate a particularly challenging patient. I borrowed her light and it worked miracles. I'm telling you, complete magic. And it's rechargeable! So, of course, I added it to my therapy tools. Since then, I've found so many different ways to use it. Here are some of the things I do with my laser light.
1.) Up/Down - we shine the light UP on the ceiling and DOWN on the floor. Patients have to tell me where they want the light.
2.) Big/Little - hold the light close to the floor to make a little light. Hold it high up to make a big light.
3.) On/Off - Is the light on or off? Do they want it on or off? Do we need to turn the room lights on or off?
4.) Fast/Slow - You can spin the end of the light to make different patterns. Should we spin it fast or slow?
5.) Stop - I either wiggle the light or spin it and have the patients tell me when to STOP!
6.) More - This is super motivating for "more." Can your patient say/sign/select "more" when you turn the light off?
7.) Help - You have to hold the button down to keep the light on, so my little ones often need help to keep the light on AND spin the end. Can they ask me for help? If you have group therapy, this might be a great way to work on team work skills.
8.) Articulation - Tape articulation cards throughout the room. Have your patient shine the light on them as they say them. Or use the light to find things in the room that contain their speech sounds.
9.) Basic Phrases - With my little ones, I try to elicit some basic phrases like "Where did it go?," "there it is," "come back," etc when turning the light on and off.
10.) Hi/Bye - We've been practice waving and saying bye to the light before we turn it off and then waving and saying hi when it comes back on.
11.) Spatial concepts - I give my patients directives of where I want them to shine the light ("Shine it on top of the cabinet") to teach spatial concepts.
12.) My Turn/Your Turn - Take turns shining the light. I set a timer, when the timer goes off I say "my turn." The patient must wait patiently while I take my turn. When the timer goes off, they must say "my turn" before getting the flashlight back.
13.) Social Skills - We work on respecting others (not shining it in others' eyes).
14.) Asking Questions - We ask others how they want us to shine the light. Do they want us to spin it fast or slow? Where do they want us to shine it? When do they want us to turn it off? Etc
15.) Following Directions - Can my patients shine it where I tell them to? Can they spin it fast or slow? Can they turn it off when told?
16.) Joint Attention - When I turn the light on, kids seems to automatically look towards it. So, before I turn it on, I point to where I am going to shine it and say "look." Then I shine to light and the child naturally looks towards it. They begin to understand the concept of looking where someone is pointing. Eventually, I will require them to look BEFORE I turn on the light.
17.) Calming Tool - shutting off the lights, laying on the floor, and watching the lights move on the ceiling has been a great activity to de-escalate several of my patients when I see they are reaching frustration levels.
18.) Space Theme - I recently used this during my outer space unit to make my room look like space. I placed it up high on a cabinet so it would shine throughout the whole room. I had to tape the button down to keep the light on, but it was such a fun surprise for the kids to pretend to be astronauts.
I have been so surprised with how many different patients I've been able to use this with - a wide variety of age ranges, diagnoses, and goals. It's easy to use, easy to clean, and small. It doesn't take up much room in my already small and jam-packed therapy room or bag. I hope you found some ideas you can use to make planning your therapy a little easier! Thanks for stopping by!
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