Keeping Children and Teens Well After Rehabilitation

Three Days of Fun at Camp Kids Unlimited. Children and teens from ages 10 through 18 are invited to attend Camp Kids Unlimited August 4-7 at Camp Aranzazu in Rockport, Texas. Sponsored by TIRR Memorial Hermann, the camp offers adolescents with physical disabilities the opportunity to test their limits, improve their independence and make new friends.

Activities will include canoeing, archery, paintball, wheelchair Ultimate Frisbee™, wheelchair basketball, a ropes course, a scavenger hunt and horseback riding. Participants have the opportunity to spend a few nights away from home in a barrier-free environment and overcome fears as they engage in new activities.

Socialization Boot Camp. Social interaction and engagement are critical to successful relationships with others. TIRR Memorial Hermann’s social and communication skills camp for children age 4 to 12 provides a fun, structured and supportive setting for children with a variety of disabilities and disorders. Participants will take part in multisensory activities, interactive fine motor and gross motor game play, storytelling and communication activities, as well as a wrap-up session focused on positive parent-child interaction. Camp activities provide fun opportunities for instruction in areas such as turn-taking, sharing, listening, problem-solving, managing transitions and appropriate initiating and responding in social interactions.

The camp is offered in two two-week sessions – in June and in August – at TIRR Memorial Hermann Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation at the Kirby Glen Center. Sessions will be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The June camp will meet June 9, 11, 13, 16, 18 and 20. August sessions will be held on August 4, 6, 8, 11, 13 and 15. The fee is $25 per day; participants can choose to attend an entire two-week session or drop in on a day-by-day basis at their convenience.

Programs for Athletes. TIRR Memorial Hermann Sports was created to give athletes with all types of disabilities an opportunity to continue playing sports competitively and through intramural programs.

The TIRR Memorial Hermann Junior Hotwheels Basketball team first competed in the 1997-98 basketball season with only five players. Over the years, more than 75 school-age wheelchair athletes have participated on the team. Numerous Hotwheels players have received full athletic scholarships to universities with collegiate wheelchair basketball programs. Adults age 18 and older are invited to join Adult Hotwheels, a National Wheelchair Basketball Association Division 3 team.

TIRR Memorial Hermann Sports has sponsored Houston’s only Quad Rugby team for the past six years. This year’s team consists of 12 athletes ranging from 19 to 45 years of age. Played on a basketball court, quad rugby is a full contact wheelchair sport that blends elements of football and soccer.

In collaboration with the Houston Ultimate Community, TIRR Memorial Hermann sponsors a wheelchair Ultimate Frisbee league in the Houston area. For more information, visit https://memorialhermann.org/services/specialties/tirr/patients-visitors/adaptive-sports.

Strength Unlimited for Adolescents with Dysautonomia. Adolescents with dysautonomia who graduate from therapy may continue their exercise program in the Dysautonomia Exercise Group, a subset of TIRR Memorial Hermann’s Strength Unlimited program. Group classes led by a fitness trainer are held three days a week for 12 weeks; the 60-minute sessions include two days a week of circuit training at TIRR Memorial Hermann Outpatient Rehabilitation at the Kirby Glen Center and one day a week of aquatic therapy at TIRR Memorial Hermann Outpatient Rehabilitation on the Campus of Memorial Hermann Memorial City.

Participants in the group focus on building upper-extremity, lower-extremity and core strength as well as improving endurance and aerobic capacity. Sessions are tailored to the individual and designed to improve tolerance to activity and encourage social interaction in a group setting for adolescents, many of whom have limited opportunity to spend time with friends. Adolescents who join the program have a high participation rate and high compliance with prescribed exercise.

For more information about these programs or to make a reservation, call 1 (800) 44-REHAB (73422) , (1 (800) 447-3422) toll free or (713) 797-5942 in Houston.