Playing with dolls and stuffed bears is more than just kiddie fun! Students in Dr. Coleman’s Physical and Health Impairments class (SPED 459), learned that lifting and transferring children can lead to serious injury if not performed with proper techniques.
Children with mobility impairments actively attain academic skills and social membership when they can share the same spaces and places as all children in the classroom, but many of them need assistance transferring from their wheelchairs to other locations in the classroom setting.
Special Education teachers often experience injuries from improper lifting and transferring maneuvers. Dr. Coleman invited Physical Therapist and Director of Power of Play (https://power-of-play.org/) Pete Cappell, to teach future Special Education teachers proper techniques using dolls and bears.
