Training vest or the like

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a training aid such as a training vest or the like for teaching children and handicapped persons manipulative skills in operating clothing fasteners.
The training aid resembles a vest-like garment and includes a first panel and an associated second panel which are situated respectively over different portions of the body when the training aid is worn as a garment.
For example, the first panel may contain an armhole and overlie the right portion of the body while second panel contains an armhole and overlies the left portion of the body.
The two panels may be integrally joined at the rear or may be interconnected by a fastening means with which manipulative skills may also be developed.
The training aid also includes a replaceable practice panel which is positioned intermediate the first and second panels during a practice exercise.
The practice panel is comprised of separable sections situated in a generally side-by-side relationship between the first and second panels when the training aid is worn on the body, and complementary fastening means for connecting the two sections together.
The replaceable practice panel is one of a series of interchangeable practice panels, each of which has different fastening means and which are individually substituted between the first and second panels.
The fastening means are the fasteners for which manual skills are to be developed by the training aid and include various clothing fasteners such as buttons, snaps, zippers, hooks, laces and buckles.
The two sections of the practice panel are joined respectively to the first and second panels of the training aid by means of releasable attaching means for holding the practice panel and the other panels together.
The releasable attachment means may take various forms but in one preferred embodiment of the invention, readily releasable adherent strips are attached to the panels and are utilized in multiples to permit adjustment for various body sizes.
Such a training aid is compact since the interchangeable panels represent only a portion of the overall garment which is utilized during a training exercise