Heres one I made earlier

Heres one I made earlier...

Alison Roberts with three more low cost, flexible and fun therapy suggestions for groups. Storyteller Friendship consequences So thats how that happened!

To help clients improve their narrative skills. MATERIALS Magazine pictures of people doing different activities, the more varied the better. Words printed on cards: a) Story starters such as There was a sudden bang as my tyre went flat or We had just won 100 so or We had run out of money while we were on holiday. b) Atmospheric descriptors such as The pub was full and the music played loudly, or It was a wintry night with snow swirling around the door, or The lake was peaceful. c) Story finishers such as So eventually we were allowed to leave the caf, or I was so pleased to get back home, or I will never go to that place again, or What would you have done? d) Single words / word phrases graded to the ability of your client group: easier ones could include lawnmower, fizzy pop, fridge, while harder ones can include adjectives and adverbs such as cheerful, popular, despondently. e) Random extras such as nonsense words from Roald Dahl, or Edward Lear - frobscottle , gimble - or you (or they) can invent some. For able groups, any unusual or advanced vocabulary should also be included here, perhaps cookery or other technical terms such as carders, roux, trepanning, osmosis, or sphygmomanometer. IN PRACTICE Give each participant four pictures and a card from each section. They must make up a story linking the pictures and cards, and tell it to the group. They should be given a time limit, such as 5 minutes, to invent the story. It is worth advising them that it is often easier to establish the story ending first!

This is like the Consequences game played at parties. It helps to develop awareness of others, and can be very funny when mismatches occur. MATERIALS Paper and pens IN PRACTICE 1. At the top of the paper each participant writes about a friend (real or imaginary) who they will entertain and feed for a day, and regale with a gift. They should give the name and the age of the person, and indicate their preferences and dislikes for food, activities, and interests (for example Tyrone, aged 28, likes roast meals, hates fish, loves watching and playing football, is interested in motorbikes, is allergic to pet hair). 2. This information is concealed by folding the paper over twice. The paper is then passed on to the next player. 3. The next player, not knowing whom they are catering for, must write down a suggested activity for the morning, fold the paper over, and pass to the next. 4. This player adds their idea for lunch, and folds and passes as before. 5. Add an afternoon activity, an idea for supper, and a gift, folding and passing on after each new addition. 6. Now open up the paper and read the order of events for the day. You may end up with an oddly incompatible series of suggestions; for Tyrone, the morning activity might be to join the over 60s coffee morning, then eat baby food, then attend a ballet class, then have a prawn salad, and be given a hamster. 7. Discuss his reactions to all of the unfortunate suggestions, and then devise the perfect alternatives.

This is a lateral thinking activity for a group of fairly able clients. It is based on the idea of explaining how something improbable could have come about, and is great fun. MATERIALS List of unlikely circumstances written on small pieces of paper, folded, and put in a hat. Suggestions include: 1. so that is how I came to arrive at my interview for the office job, wearing muddy boots. 2. so that is how our college came to be used as an animal shelter for the weekend. 3. so that is how I realised I had dyed my friends hair purple. 4. so that is how I found myself under the table at a strangers wedding reception wearing my swimming trunks / costume. 5. so that is how the inspector came to be sitting on a plate of ice cream. 6. so that is how I found myself on a rocket to the moon. 7. so that is how I found myself having to spend the night in an empty multi-storey car park. 8. so that is how it was my fault that the Prime Minister came to rip his trousers. 9. so that is how I came to be shopping in my pyjamas and a tall hat. 10.so that is how four of us got our elbows stuck together with superglue. IN PRACTICE Ask clients to make up a story, the end point of which is the unlikely circumstance written on their piece of paper. They are allowed a few minutes to think of their story, perhaps while teabreak is going on.

SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY IN PRACTICE summer 2009

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