In a message dated 10/5/2003 5:39:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
writes:

What I'm trying to put together is for the special unit to
get funding from
local government. So I need to show the benefits of bonsai
for the students.

As far as benefits are concerned I would think the
benefits of Bonsai
as a practice would be the same benefit regardless of ones
abilities.
One of my oldest Bonsai Buddies, now long deceased, was
fond of saying
that Bonsai taught good horticultural practices of pruning,
watering, use of
fertilizer and etc. These are skills that transfer to later
life in any
gardening hobby even if not a vocation.
I think for persons with disabilities plants are a good
choice because
they aren't critical of you if you make a mistake. Most don't
bite. They
are cheap to work with as long as you don't buy things labeled
"BONSAI." They
can yield fairly rapid results if the right material is chosen.
The man I am working with has a job as a custodian but
wants to work
with plants. He has issues involving anger at times. The
plants don't care if
he yells at them and pruning can be good anger therapy.
Billy M. Rhodes Ed. S.
Habilitation Employment Coordinator

Another, and important, part of bonsai for not a few "disabled"
students would be the practice in various forms of manual
dexterity, from the more gross movements such as watering
individual trees, to the more detailed activities such as pruning
individual limbs, and even wiring, even it is only the major
branches. Not all of the students would be able to perform
these -- but perhaps some could do so, with practice and close
guidance by the instructor; or, perhaps they could do SOME of it
with hands-on (literally) assistance.

There also is a certain amount of "brain work" done with bonsai,
ranging from the simple and direct (such as when to water, etc.)
to the more abstract (design plans and carrying out the plans).

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

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