Capball case study
Anne Cradock
Wilson Stuart School
Birmingham
Muscular dystrophy
The individuals with muscular dystrophy in electric chairs were:
- thrilled as they capped a ball and proceeded to glide around the area, in and out of all the others
- transfixed by watching the control they could exert over the capped ball when weaving in and out
- transferring the chair momentum onto the stick so it swung around the chair behind them to avoid clashes with everyone else zooming around.
Unsteady gait
Youngsters with unsteady gait found that:
- the Capball sticks gave them an indirect three point gait situation so they felt more secure and mobile
- they could also be doing the manipulative travel challenges with the stick and not have to think of two things at once.
Athetoid-spastic condition
The most intriguing case study was that of a young girl with athetoid-spastic condition who needed to use a walking frame for ambulating. She:
- unexpectedly shed the frame and took up the Capball stick
- tottered in and out of the other participants at a really impressive rate
- at the end of the session, put the stick down, sat on the floor and did a bottom shuffle to the next activity.
Again the three-point gait principle came in but the teachers were totally astonished by the "motivating" factor that the piece of equipment had elicited in the girl.
