Lego as therapy

[M4x18]

Well, I was wandering around the interwebs earlier today and bumped into this article from Yahoo!

 

Not going to get too much into the details of the article but what made me put this over here is that the hospital where the man is rehab-ing has a Maersk ship - 10241 or 10155 - available as a form of occupational therapy. The pic was taken on 08/01/2013. It's number 13 of 33 on the slideshow.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/after-afghanistan-learning-to-walk-again-a-brave-soldier-fights-a-new-battle-1385072358-slideshow/

 

Do you think it is the new Triple E or the previous Container Ship?

 

I know that there's another BP member that used Lego during his rehab. Investing aside, these bricks are plastic blessings

[Guest TabbyBoy]

Well, I was wandering around the interwebs earlier today and bumped into this article from Yahoo!

 

Not going to get too much into the details of the article but what made me put this over here is that the hospital where the man is rehab-ing has a Maersk ship - 10241 or 10155 - available as a form of occupational therapy. The pic was taken on 08/01/2013. It's number 13 of 33 on the slideshow.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/after-afghanistan-learning-to-walk-again-a-brave-soldier-fights-a-new-battle-1385072358-slideshow/

 

Do you think it is the new Triple E or the previous Container Ship?

 

I know that there's another BP member that used Lego during his rehab. Investing aside, these bricks are plastic blessings

 

It's the old one as the bow is quite staggered.  I have RSI in my left hand and LEGO helps me no end.

[Seifer]

LEGO is a viable method of stress release. Because of that it could be introduced as a therapy method. I think that in the US you could really make money if you organize stress release building sessions for people burried in work. Why?

1. Because they don't have any free time to do it by themselves. Any free time they usually use to do more work

2. They are stressed out of their mind

3. Therapy is similar to an appointment - you must be there or else you lose money paid for the session. And what this kind of people hates most is losing money. Plus, they don't view therapy as free time - it's a chor to them and they'll do it.

 

If riding a horse is a therapy, demolishing cars or stuff with a baseball bat is a therapy, I don't see any reason why LEGO building can't be a therapy - and a lucrative one

[odysea11]

Both of my sons have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative muscle wasting disease. I started both of them on standard sixed Legos when they were 2 and 3 years old. It is amazing to see how Lego as helped their confidence and their overall attitude towards life. Sounds tacky, I know; but if you can focus on the things that help people and make them happy, it really does take their mind off of the negative thoughts. My kids can't play sports, so we just focus hard on the things that they CAN do to distract from the things they can't do. LONG LIVE LEGO!!!!!

[sadowsk1]

When I read about how people act when it comes to Lego deals it reminds me of the exact opposite of some kind of healthy therapy.

[wholovesboo]

I definitely find building Lego sets to be therapeutic. It's what got me into it as an adult. Brings order to a disordered mind. You can't control the chaos around you. But there's a finality and satisfaction in completing a set. (Well, unless there's a piece or a page in the instruction manual that's missing. Then all hell can break loose.  )

 

I find the same effect in following a favorite recipe (when cooking).

[M4x18]

I find the same effect in following a favorite recipe (when cooking).

 

Same here. Wifey and I love to cook. Usually we pick an asian dish - korean mostly nowadays - and go through the ingredients, go out and get'em, come back, cook and have a meal. We find it very comforting. Same thing happens when we open a WV set and put it together.

 

Does anybody know if Lego has a charity foundation or if they have made donations to hospitals or any organization that could help those which could be benefited with this wonderful tool? It'd be interesting to know.

[Guest eightbrick]

Same here. Wifey and I love to cook. Usually we pick an asian dish - korean mostly nowadays - and go through the ingredients, go out and get'em, come back, cook and have a meal. We find it very comforting. Same thing happens when we open a WV set and put it together.

 

Does anybody know if Lego has a charity foundation or if they have made donations to hospitals or any organization that could help those which could be benefited with this wonderful tool? It'd be interesting to know.

Oh, there are plenty!

First, we got creations for charity (Bricklink store selling custom creations with funds going to buy Lego for underpriviledged kids). This is a big one and I mentioned it first because there is one week left for people to buy creations (they still have to liquidate thousands in inventory). They are a very cool group, and right now since it's last week things are discounted:

 

Website: http://creationsforcharity.org/?page_id=2

Bricklink Store: http://www.bricklink.com/storeDetail.asp?b=-5197548&****=268988&catID=S143

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Fairybrick's Lego drive for hospitalized kids ended on the 22nd, but here's a link (featured on Brickset): http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=8258

 

Brickset also usually runs a charity raffle in spring. Here's the link to the most recent one: http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=6464

 

Both Brickset and Eurobricks are very active in Lego charity events. Here's a list of archived Brickset charity posts: http://www.brickset.com/news/?query=charity And here's a search of charity on EB: https://www.google.ca/search?q=eurobricks+charity+site:www.eurobricks.com&espv=210&es_sm=93

 

There are many I didn't mention, but I'd like to applaud all AFOLs, TFOLs, and KFOLs who participate in events like this. Perhaps brickpicker should start it's own drive? *hint hint*

[@rtisan]

When I read about how people act when it comes to Lego deals it reminds me of the exact opposite of some kind of healthy therapy.

True that! Buy all the Lego!!     /sarcasm....partly

Both of my sons have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative muscle wasting disease. I started both of them on standard sixed Legos when they were 2 and 3 years old. It is amazing to see how Lego as helped their confidence and their overall attitude towards life. Sounds tacky, I know; but if you can focus on the things that help people and make them happy, it really does take their mind off of the negative thoughts. My kids can't play sports, so we just focus hard on the things that they CAN do to distract from the things they can't do. LONG LIVE LEGO!!!!!

That`s truly touching. Very good to hear true accounts of how the little plastic bricks have the potential to change lives for the better. I wish you and your boys continued success in the future!