Stuntworx Rebound

Eddy Anderson, the founder of Rebound Therapy, answers the question:
What is Rebound Therapy?
Summary: The phrase "Rebound Therapy" was coined by the founder, E.G. Anderson, in 1969
to describe the use of trampolines in providing therapeutic exercise and recreation for people
with a wide range of special needs.
Participants range from mild to severe physical disabilities and from mild to profound and
multiple learning disabilities, including dual sensory impairment and autistic spectrum.
Rebound Therapy is used to facilitate movement, promote balance, promote an increase or
decrease in muscle tone, promote relaxation, promote sensory integration, improve fitness and
exercise tolerance, and to improve communication skills.
The principles of Rebound Therapy form the basis of all gymnastic movement and teach logical
progressions of movement patterns designed to encourage the student to continually develop
whilst at the same time experiencing healthy exercise and enjoyment.
For these reasons, the Rebound Therapy training course is widely accepted as the logical starting
point for trampoline coach training - even for those who do not intend to work with disabilities.
Most of us have paused when confronted by yet another piece of jargon, "Oh no-Here we go
again! What on earth is Rebound Therapy?" In one sense that is a slightly inaccurate question,
for the true value of Rebound Therapy lies in the fact that part of what occurs is not "on earth".
The essential value of the process is that, for a brief moment, ‘earth’ is left behind, and a new
freedom is found in controlled movement away from gravity's straitjacket, in a sort of relaxed
'poetry of motion' available to all, irrespective of any disability.
The following statements have been culled from a large number of workshops in the U.K. over
the past thirty years. The work and its development continue, but the comments remain valid,
and, as I refer to them I would like to take the opportunity of expressing my grateful thanks to
colleagues, staff and students, parents and clients who have made such a valuable contribution to
the development and understanding of Rebound Therapy.
The unique properties of the trampoline offer ample opportunities for everybody to enhance
movement patterns.
The work is intrinsically motivating and returns high value in therapeutic terms for the time and
the effort involved. Benefit is enhanced considerably when the operator achieves the skill to
create variable patterns of movement in harmony with the needs of the user. The two then share
the surface of the trampoline with operator adjusting the effect of weight and speed in order to
ensure smooth transitions between the phases of movement undertaken.