People unintentionally don't usually know how to interact with another person who has a handicap of some type. I think our tendency is to just try to do everything for them when in fact they just want to be treated more like they were normal.
A person that is paralyzed is not necessarily mentally impaired. Watching TV or a Movie is about all most people think about doing with a handicapped person.
To make both parties visits more pleasant then try playing some games. Depending on the person's handicap you will have to pick a game that will work for them.
If you haven't visited a nursing home or school for special children then consider adopting one of these facilities and giving them some games that can be played by those living there. It would be a nice thing to do for Christmas. These people need some entertainment and something to stimulate their mind, not just clothes and personal items.
Word games are good for some people depending on their handicap. I have a friend that is confined to a wheel chair and has some limitation to the use of his hands but mentally he is very normal and sharp. He loves to play word games with his friends. One that he really likes is Bananagrams because the tiles are something he can handle and you don't have to use a pen and pencil to keep score.
A couple of other popular games are the Scrabble Crossword Game and Yahtzee. If the person has a computer then there are a lot of games that can be purchased for the PC. If you are buying for a nursing home then computers are not usually available for game playing.
Here are some games that can be played that don't take any funds to buy.
Sounds That Break the Silence: Have all players sit quietly and listen for a few minutes (set based on their age) and have them write down all the sounds that they hear. The one with the most valid sounds wins.
Alphabet and Nature: Learning about nature is fun for most everyone. Pick a category like dogs and cats and then try to name a breed for each letter of the alphabet.
A Bean Game: Give each player two paper plates with a number of dried beans on one of the plates. The goal is to use something like chop sticks to pick up each bean and move it to the other plate.
The free games are ones that are good to play with the children that you actually know and interact with in their game playing.
If you are planning on giving games to a school, nursing home or church program then you will probably want to select one of the games that you would need to purchase.
The idea though is to give the handicapped something to do other than watch TV.
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