Activities for Adult with Cognitive/Intellectual Disabilities

Taking care of aging parents or any adult is a demanding task. While caring for an adult senior is hard, it is harder for caregivers to understand the requirement of caring for adults with intellectual disabilities. Apart from daily activities, they need specialized tasks to improve their cognitive functions. Most adult day health care offers many types of activities for seniors with disabilities. Here are activities that are used for an adult with cognitive disabilities.  

Useful Activities for Adult with Intellectual Disabilities   

• Physical Activities

Senior adults need exercise or any physical activities to keep them healthy. The World health organization recommended that adults with disabilities, mental or physical should do 150 to 300 minutes of physical activities every week. Here are some useful tasks and exercises for adults.  

• Hikes and Picnic

Easy hikes with low inclines provide great exercise. Nature hikes allow them to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery. Picnics in the park with a little bit of nature walking are good for their health and morale.  

• Gardening

Gardening is one of the best outdoor activities for seniors. They can tend to the garden, weeding and watering the plants provides physical activities. They can do this sitting down too which allows them to enjoy it as well.  

• Bowling

Bowling is a fun game for every age, and it is a physical activity too. Going bowling with friends or other seniors provides a sense of community while exercising too.  

Activities for Cognitive Stimulation  

Adults with intellectual disabilities need cognitive stimulation. This will revitalize their brain function and restore their memories.  

• Board Games

Board games are fun activities that are useful for memory stimulation and keeping the mind occupied. Most board games are group activities that allow them to play games, exercise their mind and enjoy company.  

• Puzzles

Different types of puzzles offer various types of brain stimuli. For example, jigsaw puzzles allow them to find a pattern and remember the pieces. crossword puzzle offers them a better way to remember different words.   

• Learning New Language

Staring at a language class where they can learn a new language is beneficial for them. They can memorize small words and start to recognize new words by looks and sounds will help them with memories as well.  

• Music and Art Activities

Music and art are essential for everyone. Especially for those who have any kind of cognitive disability. It is known to enhance communication, self-expression and interaction with others.  

• Music

Everyone has memories attached to some kind of music. By listening to music, adult with intellectual disabilities can focus on the task at hand. They can use music to learn new things as they remember the rhythm of the task.  

• Paint and Coloring

Painting or any kind of coloring helps them with problem-solving. Many activities involve coloring objects which allows them to focus and steady their movement.  

• Writing

Writing is more than one activity that stimulates our minds. Adult need to gather their thoughts, memories and words to write something. This will help them highly as they start to write poems, and stories or just keep a daily journal.

Conclusion  

Senior adults require daily exercise to keep their bodies healthy along with mental exercise to keep them sharp. This is important for someone with a cognitive disability as they require extra attention. Most of the activities we mentioned here are utilized in adult day health care. Golden year ADHC is one of the best daycares for adult senior with intellectual disabilities as they employ physical and intellectual activities for their members.