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Wii VIRTUAL BOWLING IS GREAT THERAPY FOR
VETERANS --
"They get to be active, and it's a great way to
socialize and
get everybody into doing something in common."
Lyle Shaffer, Francis Batura and
Bob Richards play Wii bowling at the Orlando VA Medical Center.
(photo: CASSI ALEXANDRA, ORLANDO SENTINEL) |
Nintendo's Wii (pronounced "wee") is one great
video game. It keeps the mind and body active at many different
levels.
For more about veterans and "Wii-hab," click
here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/s
essearch.php?q=wii&op=and
Story here...
http://www.orlando
sentinel.com/news/local/orl-loc-wii-bo
wling-veterans-022709,0,2139884.story
Story below:
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-------------------------
Wii virtual bowling is great therapy for veterans
Darryl E. Owens
Sentinel Staff Writer
Perfection foiled, Lyle Shaffer glowered at the
wayward bowling pin.
"I got a sleeper!" he groaned. After the reset, Shaffer cocked his arm and
delivered his second ball.
Satisfied he'd sufficiently crushed the spare, Shaffer plopped his Wii
video-game controller into his lap, leaned back in his wheelchair and
watched as the bowler in the wheelchair beside him gave it a try. You
might call it gaming. The recreational therapists at the Community Living
Center at the Orlando VA Medical Center call it "Wii-hab." But the
pin-busting vets simply call it Tuesday night league bowling.
Whatever the moniker, the virtual-bowling battles are another way
veterans' health-care centers are using the Wii gaming system as a
therapeutic tool. Experts at the Orlando VA, for instance, say bowling,
golf and many of the other sports in the Wii Sports pack promote movement,
sociability and distraction.
Vets who once may have rolled thunder in smoky, boozy bowling alleys say
it's just fun to bust pins and build bonds — and talk some good-natured
trash.
"These are ex-military guys, so there's smack-talking," said Victor Smith,
a recreational-therapy assistant, who started the bowling league.
The real value, Smith says, is that "you don't have to be physically
capable in order to play. They get to be active, and it's a great way to
socialize and get everybody into doing something in common."
That's what Jimmie "Boo" Granger reckoned when the longtime volunteer at
the vet nursing home suggested the center use Wii in its recreation
regimen after she bought one and found it a hoot.
She tested the idea at home from a chair to ensure the center's population
— who primarily are wheelchair-users — could participate.
Meanwhile, recreation therapist Nancy Gavaghan scrounged up five Wiis
donated by The Central Florida Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of American,
Inc., the Daughters of the American Revolution and Wolf Lake Elementary,
and the Wii program rolled out last May.
click for more information -- a disabled veteran
owned business
Granger, the center's Thursday night blackjack dealer, arrived early those
nights to teach vets to work the Wii remote. They took to it well, once
the lines between reality and virtual reality were pointed out.
"They're all a little disappointed at the beginning that they're not
getting strikes," Granger said. "They go, 'I was a bowler,' and I say,
'This is not like bowling. You just have to learn the technique.'"
Once they did, they found the virtual bowling on 50-inch flat-screen TVs
offered almost everything they liked about the real game — except for the
bowling shirts and brewskies. The bowling league took off from there.
Each season lasts five weeks. Averages are handicapped so even veterans
with dementia can compete with someone like Shaffer, who snagged the first
league crown.
"It was a fluke," said a modest Shaffer, an Army vet who served in
 World
War II. His prowess earned him his photograph on a plaque, his name on a
bowling pin Smith painted up as a trophy, and bragging rights.
"I was skeptical at first, but after a few practices, it turned out to be
a lot of fun," the 77-year-old said. "It's just a real nice game and a
good activity, something where you're interactive."
That's the attraction for Bob Richards, a 45-year-old Army vet now
battling multiple sclerosis. He can no longer walk and wields diminished
hand control, but the former high school striker still netted a 256 score
on the Wii.
"It really hooked me," he said. So much so that he can't help but lapse
into body English, hoping to persuade pixel pins to fall with his wild
criss-crossing hand movements. "Playing the Wii helps take away from the
fact that I have MS. I can do it — still."
So can Francis Batura, who has been unable to walk since arriving at the
center in December. The 75-year-old Air Force vet needs a hip replacement
and has congestive heart failure and nerve damage in his
remote-control-holding hand. Though he can't feel the control buttons and
has to mentally think "release" to execute a roll, Batura boasts a high of
201 on the Wii.
He was a near-finalist last season, and has designs on seeing his name on
the trophy pin this season.
"Guy aced me out by one pin," he said, half-snort, half-guffaw. "Oh,
believe me I'm going for the whole thing. I'm going to go up there and
knock these guys out."
Darryl E. Owens can be reached at 407-420-5095.
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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