The Recreational Therapy Department provides intensive practicum and internship experiences for college and university students. Programs in therapeutic recreation for children, youth, and adults with developmental disabilities are provided on a year-round basis. The department follows the therapeutic recreation process of assessment, intervention and treatment planning, program development, and implementation, and evaluations.

In addition to providing applied professional preparation in Therapeutic Recreation, the Recreational Therapy Department provides students with an opportunity to interact with other students and allied health professionals within MMI, to relate agency services to theory and practice, to supervise volunteers, and to provide outreach educational experiences with the Kids on the Block educational puppet programs.

Students ages 12 to 25 may volunteer for programs offered by the Department of Recreational Therapy. Volunteers provide support to program participants to ensure safe and fun activity participation. The program strives to increase the volunteer’s awareness of individuals with disabilities. Volunteer training is required and includes instruction on safety rules, behavior management, universal precautions, use of adaptive equipment, and disability education and advocacy.

Recreational Therapy uses play, recreation and leisure activities to improve physical, cognitive, social, and emotional functioning. The primary goal of the program is development of lifetime leisure skills. Individualized goals and objectives are established based on observational assessment results and in consultation with the participant and/or his/her parent or guardian. Interventions may include prescriptive recreational activity, leisure education, community transition training, and leisure and play activities. Recreational Therapy includes art, community outings, cooking, crafts, dance, music, organized games and sports, swimming, and other developmental recreational activities.