Keith Davis, 4/20/2009
ITHACA, NY — Making blankets might seem like a chore to some, but for students, faculty and post-rehabilitation stroke survivors at Ithaca College’s Center for Life Skills (CLS), it’s a way to make friendships and recover functional skills a lot of people take for granted.
The blanket-making effort at the Center for Life Skills is part of a joint service learning project that includes students from Ithaca College’s therapeutic recreation major, graduate students in the speech and language pathology and audiology program, and people who have experienced stroke. Working together at the CLS, the students and the stroke survivors have made 19 blankets, which will be given to children in the Tompkins Community Action Head Start program on Friday, April 24. Taking place between 9 and 11 a.m. at the Franziska Racker Centers, 3226 Wilkins Road, Ithaca, the event will include snack time and a story hour.
In addition to giving Ithaca College students and CLS participants a chance to work side-by-side, making blankets will give the stroke survivors a chance to improve communication, cognitive and motor skills such as problem solving, socialization, cutting with scissors and tying knots. The project will also give the students, stroke survivors and children the chance to interact with each other.
“This project is being done in cooperation with the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute, which is funding the supplies through a grant from the Foundation for Long Term Care,” said Janice Elich Monroe, professor of recreation and leisure studies. “The emphasis of this grant is the development and implementation of service learning projects that focus on doing projects with, not for, older adults in service to the community.”
The Center for Life Skills is a rehabilitative program developed by Ithaca College to assist individuals who have experienced a stroke meet their maximum potential. The Center features faculty and students from a variety of allied health disciplines, including occupational therapy, physical therapy, therapeutic recreation and speech-language pathology. Participants in the program have experienced many benefits such as increased independence and functional level, improved communication and life skills and enhanced socialization with peers.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO ARRANGE COVERAGE, CONTACT JANICE ELICH MONROE AT (607) 274-3172 OR MONROEJ@ITHACA.EDU.
Originally published in News Releases: Service Learning Project At Ithaca College Brings Three Generations Together.
