I recently visited a child who had mental retardation. It was immediately obvious that she could not communicate and would not "get" the jokes in ANY of my routines. I checked her "red cells" (phones) which ring and have an operator speaking and she grabbed one to hold and then didn't want to give it back. The nurse finally pried it away from her.
In these situations what is the best thing to do?

Blow Bubbles. The child will probably love seeing them and catching them.

I love the "red cells" for adults, particularly.

[This message was edited by Clown Dode on June 10, 2003 at 09:46 AM.]

A couple of suggestions:

Play peek-a-boo.

Play this-little-piggy. First hold your hand out to the child so he can put his/her hand in yours. (Don't just grab the hand, that can frighten the child because he won't know what you want to do.)

Sing songs.

Smile and waive at the child and walk into the wall; back up and repeat from the start, making the smile and waive exaggerated. Some children like to see this over and over. Some children get scared. You have to be ready to change your antics instantly. If the child is frightened, immediately position yourself in front of the child and about 5 ft. away from him and softly chant his name while smiling and making small, gentle hand movements.

You can't use props, as you saw.

Having worked with developmentally delayed and/or mentally ill children and adults for several years, this population of folks is very near and dear to my heart.

It's hard to determine what is age appropriate for someone you don't know at all. I knew a young man who was in a wheelchair, stooped over, had droopy eyes, slurred speech, and drooled - he appeared to be retarded. In reality, his IQ was normal...he tragically had MS.

No one likes to be talked down to - there are folks with Down's syndrome and other disabilities who could carry on quite a conversation with you and understand many jokes, especially children's jokes. Treating them like a baby would be an insult, and a great disappointment since they would be expecting a clown to be magically aware and sensitive (like Santa).

Here are some ideas:
1. Get educated. Have a professional come and talk to your group about what to expect when working with someone with DD. Ask a lot of questions: How to assess age appropriateness, how to deal with autistic patients, words/actions that might be mispercieved, how to get out of a situation like the one you described, ect.
2. Have a container of simple children's jokes in a medicine bottle. If they get the first one, you'll know where you are. If it's over their head, throw it on the floor and stomp in it. Ptooey! That was a bad joke anyway (you don't want them to feel dumb for not understanding it).
3. Ask about THEM. Everyone loves it when someone is interested in what they like and don't like. Ask their favorite: joke, TV show, song, pet, toy, food. Pretend to be their favorite flavor of jello...just play. Ask if they are married. Guess their name (Cinderella? Elmo? Barney?)
4. Something I learned from my neice...if little ones are too scared to talk but are interested: nod your head "yes." They might shake their head "no" at you. Grin. Nod "yes" again. Then shake your head "no." Pretty soon they are in control of you, making you copy their nodding. Let them trick you!
5. Lastly, coping skills are not always taught to this group, nor are they always aware that they can set boundaries, and they might feel especially trapped in a hospital. If they start rocking, chanting, or hitting/pinching themselves, this is a sign that a clown is too much stimulation so make your exit as quickly and gently as possible.

~M

Mary O'

Thanks for the advise. I am new caring clown and found your short letter very interesting.