Guns being used for physical therapy

[Tula47]

A very close friend of mine suffered a severe head injury after he wrecked his four wheeler several months ago. He is slowly starting to gain movement again. He can stand and walk a littlem, with help, but he still is unable to speak and his motor skills are still pretty bad. Since he is unable to speak we do not know if he can remember everything before the accident so we have been trying to think of ways to get him to be more active in therapy. You can tell he gets frustrated trying to do the simple tasks that the therapists try to get him to do. So one day his father decided to see if he remembered his guns. He handed him his pistol that he always kept in his truck (unloaded of course) and to everyones surprise he extended his arm as far as he could and attempted to aim. His dad then went on to tell him to aim out the door and pull the trigger (the gun is unloaded). Once again to all of our surprise you hear a "click". He mustered up enough strength to pull the trigger (double action pistol so it was pretty hard to pull). After this happened we have been thinking of ways for more "gun therapy". He bought his first AR only a couple weeks before the wreck so, I was thinking about maybe trying to find an AR mag with a weak spring so he could try to load it with snap caps.


Anyone else think this a good idea or stupid idea?

 

[Double T]

something like this would work wonders.
Gripmaster Hand Strengthener at REI.com

 

[Tula47]

I believe he already has something that is similar to that and its great for repetitive strengthening exercise. I was just thinking of something that is smaller in size that will make him use his fine motor skills.

 

[AnnieO]

I think it is creative- I will take the challenge. Most healthcare facilities are "gun free", though, so I don't know how well it would be accepted.
Cognition- sequencing, naming parts, following directions, yes/no questions

maybe a nerf gun to "practice" his aim on a dart board (standing balance, standing and activity tolerance, coordination, strength).

 

[Tula47]

I think it is creative- I will take the challenge. Most healthcare facilities are "gun free", though, so I don't know how well it would be accepted.
Cognition- sequencing, naming parts, following directions, yes/no questions

maybe a nerf gun to "practice" his aim on a dart board (standing balance, standing and activity tolerance, coordination, strength).

I'm taking him an airsoft gun so he can "shoot" and I have thought about a nerf gun as well. As for the "gun free zones" all his therapy is done at home because he is in no shape to be traveling daily

 

[AnnieO]

Fine motor- loading snap caps would work. Anything that would require nuts and bolts, screwdriver,etc., like cleaning or whatever. Opening and closing the case.

 

[Tula47]

They have him kind of a child's toy that a bunch of bolts on it but he doesn't like to use it. But I haven't thought about the case thing, thats a really good idea

 

[AnnieO]

What about real bolts? Sometimes knowing it is a toy makes patients feel stupid or like it is demeaning.

 

[AnnieO]

Ooh- sorting ammo by size??? Just make sure to keep guns and ammo separate. And locked- he isn't thinking clearly and don't need any other accidents.

 

[Tula47]

I offered to weld something like that up for them but his parents were concerned about him maybe accidentally hit his hand on it or something.

 

[Tula47]

Ooh- sorting ammo by size??? Just make sure to keep guns and ammo separate. And locked- he isn't thinking clearly and don't need any other accidents.

The ammo sorting came up as well, maybe throwing 4 or 5 different calipers in a coffee can and having him sort them. He was always smart with guns and he still has his wits about him. So there will be no accidents and guns are always kept safe

 

[perry]

He may not be to the point, but exercises with the AR are an idea... like curls or lifts and things like that. Having him hold the gun up to aim and moving his head from center to right, move the gun to the other side and center to left. It's an interesting idea you came up with. Good job

 

[Mgderf]

If his rehab is being done at home, and he already has an AR15, try stripping it, and re-assembling.

We had to field-strip an M16A1 and re-assemble it in under 2 minutes, and we had to do it BLIND-FOLDED!

The bolt carrier group itself has enough small parts to present a challenge.

You could start by just taking it in half, then put it back together. Then pull the BCG and put it back...

There is a great deal of manipulation involved in the field-stripping process.

I would lay it out on a clean, flat surface with plenty of room to spread out the parts. Maybe put a piece of carpet on the floor if it happens to be a hard surface.

It would also help teach him about the inner workings of a fine mechanism.

Just my opinion.

Nothing here would require a lot of strength either.

 

[Tula47]

Both of those are good ideas, I'm hopefully going to make it over there this evening.