[News] Min Yoongi Treatment Center Introduces Basketball Therapy 'MIND-PLAY' for the First Time
'Mind Play' Developed with Support from BTS SUGA: An Integrated Therapy Aiding Social, Physical, and Emotional Development
Severance Hospital's Min Yoongi Treatment Center has launched a basketball-based therapy program for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
According to Severance Hospital on the 3rd, Min Yoongi Treatment Center has developed and is piloting a basketball therapy program called 'MIND-PLAY' with the active support of BTS SUGA (real name Min Yoongi), a global ambassador for National Basketball Association (NBA) and a basketball enthusiast.
The Min Yoongi Treatment Center is a treatment center that opened last September after Suga donated 5 billion won, and it has been conducting social skills therapy using music for children with autism spectrum disorder.
Severance Hospital developed a Korean version of a US program
by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korean American Center for Special Education (KASEC), a non-profit organization supporting Korean Americans with developmental disabilities in the US, and developed 'Mind Play' tailored to the domestic situation based on KASEC's Integrated Basketball Program (DRIB) model.
The program will run for 12 weeks until September 17 at the basketball court of the Sports Science Building on campus, with support from the Department of Physical Education and the Department of Applied Sports Industry at Yonsei University. Classes are held once a week for 90 minutes each.
Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder participating in the program are paired with volunteers to engage in basketball activities, receiving therapy that enhances social skills, physical abilities, and emotional satisfaction.
Cheon Geun-ah, Director of Min Yoongi Treatment Center (and Director of Severance Children's Hospital) stated, "Mind Play aims to go beyond simple treatment to promote children's social skills and improve motor abilities, and to lay the foundation for enhancing their quality of life and social independence in the future."