Ok, update first. I have not been intending to neglect the blog of late, especially when Karen was nice enough to include me in her OT Practice article. However, I have had a few complications this week. One, I am procrastinating preparing for my inservice (11/21) and have been trying to do that before doing fun things. Two, I am having a lot of shoulder impingement problems and while I don't know what is causing them, I know the computer isn't making it better, so I've been online less. Anyway, I have several entries half-started and other ideas brewing, so there will be updates once I get my life in line.
On to the web gems!
OT Student Survey on working with adults with developmental disabilities. I can't remember if I posted this already or not, but I'm guessing that since it's in my inbox that I have not. Oops.
Kessler Rehab Research- this site will make it to my sidebar when I next update that. Research on SCI, CVA, TBI
NIH Clinical Trials- can't really remember why I bookmarked this, as I don't deal in pharmaceuticals, but it may be relevant to those in research
StrokEngine- love it! lots of good categorized info on the latest CVA research. Another to be added to the toolbar
MOHO Clearinghouse- an alert reader on one of the AOTA listservs (holiday time is a great time to renew your membership- new practitioners get 2 years reduced rates!) pointed this site out. Has some good free MOHO based stuff, as well as some research links and products you can buy. I intend to use the play inventories with some of my older kids when I have time to print them out.
Showing posts with label SCI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCI. Show all posts
11.16.2008
9.17.2008
Danger Zone Sports
Title LGT an article on the hidden injuries in cheerleading. Bonus points for the author, as the main character overcame years of physical therapy to become a physical therapist.
My mom used to work in vocational rehab and would always cross off cheerleading and football on my high school physical forms so that I couldn't participate in those. Same reason that ATV riding and some other typical fun teenager things were verboten. High risk of SCI and/or TBI. Since I had followed other paths, these forbidden activities weren't high on my interest checklist anyway. But, I did enjoy diving, and loved to do so at every opportunity. I did a lot of flips and acrobatics, at least as acrobatic as someone with no gymnastics training or natural grace. I had an incident where I hit the bottom of a hotel pool hard with both feet and jarred my whole back... thought I was going to have a serious problem but walked away from it. I dove into a friend's pool that was 2 feet shallower than I expected and scraped everything but my head on the bottom.
But even though my mom had always discouraged dangerous activity, and afterwards I always resolved to be more careful diving, the danger never sunk in until I became a lifeguard. That's when I got all the information about exactly every way you could hurt yourself in a pool, and how badly. Simultaneously, I learned that those who are being paid to protect your safety may or may not act appropriately to maximize your recovery. One little shake while putting you on the backboard, not stabilizing the head properly when retrieving someone from the bottom of the pool... there's a million opportunities to screw up. It ruined diving for me, and also ruined being a bystander. I hate to be at a public pool or riverside that's out of control... I don't want to feel responsible to help when the inevitable (to my jaded eyes) accident occurs.
I don't know how to best decrease injuries in kids who play sports, but I do think that you need a combination of parental interference and personal education. Parents can insist on safety measures for the child or team, and can ingrain good habits in kids (like seat belts and helmets). Until the child recognizes that yes, they can get hurt and need to be careful, there has to be a parent or responsible adult to step in and insist on safety.
My mom used to work in vocational rehab and would always cross off cheerleading and football on my high school physical forms so that I couldn't participate in those. Same reason that ATV riding and some other typical fun teenager things were verboten. High risk of SCI and/or TBI. Since I had followed other paths, these forbidden activities weren't high on my interest checklist anyway. But, I did enjoy diving, and loved to do so at every opportunity. I did a lot of flips and acrobatics, at least as acrobatic as someone with no gymnastics training or natural grace. I had an incident where I hit the bottom of a hotel pool hard with both feet and jarred my whole back... thought I was going to have a serious problem but walked away from it. I dove into a friend's pool that was 2 feet shallower than I expected and scraped everything but my head on the bottom.
But even though my mom had always discouraged dangerous activity, and afterwards I always resolved to be more careful diving, the danger never sunk in until I became a lifeguard. That's when I got all the information about exactly every way you could hurt yourself in a pool, and how badly. Simultaneously, I learned that those who are being paid to protect your safety may or may not act appropriately to maximize your recovery. One little shake while putting you on the backboard, not stabilizing the head properly when retrieving someone from the bottom of the pool... there's a million opportunities to screw up. It ruined diving for me, and also ruined being a bystander. I hate to be at a public pool or riverside that's out of control... I don't want to feel responsible to help when the inevitable (to my jaded eyes) accident occurs.
I don't know how to best decrease injuries in kids who play sports, but I do think that you need a combination of parental interference and personal education. Parents can insist on safety measures for the child or team, and can ingrain good habits in kids (like seat belts and helmets). Until the child recognizes that yes, they can get hurt and need to be careful, there has to be a parent or responsible adult to step in and insist on safety.
6.12.2008
30 Days in a Wheelchair
I have been a fan of Morgan Spurlock's for awhile, though not rabid enough to catch every show or appearance. But I was interested to see the episode of 30 days that had football player Ray Crockett spend 30 days in a wheelchair. I was interested to see how this would play out. I have read several articles from different members of the disabled online community that were outraged by disability simulation experiences held in schools or other groups. But I feel that this show made a good effort to stray away from the stereotypical simulation experience. For one thing, Ray's experience lasted a full month, which is at least 29 days longer than the average. This gave him a longer time to feel the effects of his situation on himself and his family, and gave him time to grow.
Another key point was that Ray was part of a community of legitimate wheelchair users. He played wheelchair rugby (with some of the most famous and skilled American players), worked with people at a rehab center, and had support from a counselor that has been a quadriplegic for several years. We weren't left with only Ray's opinions of what being in a wheelchair was like for him, and neither was he. Ray turned a corner after meeting the rugby team, and started lifting weights in his own gym again. I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically said that he had thought that since he was in a chair, he was supposed to be frail. If he hadn't met people living vibrant lives, he would have felt confined and isolated, and portrayed a very biased picture of what living in a wheelchair is like.
I liked Murderball, and I liked this show too. I thought it was very telling when Ray was sharing videos of his rugby sessions with his family and trying to correct some of their misconceptions about quadriplegics and disability in general. My mom has always had lots of friends in our community that have different disabilities, so I had a lot of experiences growing up with people who walked or talked differently, and I like to think that I learned to treat people equally and with respect at all times. But some people don't have those kind of experiences in their everyday life (or rather, haven't YET), and I feel that shows that are done well can provide a window into another world for those people. A window that allows someone to think: "huh. that person drives a car, goes to work, and spends time with his family just like I do. Maybe we're not so different after all."
Here's some of my random thoughts I had while watching the episode. There are videos of portions of the episode online here if you missed it.
Another key point was that Ray was part of a community of legitimate wheelchair users. He played wheelchair rugby (with some of the most famous and skilled American players), worked with people at a rehab center, and had support from a counselor that has been a quadriplegic for several years. We weren't left with only Ray's opinions of what being in a wheelchair was like for him, and neither was he. Ray turned a corner after meeting the rugby team, and started lifting weights in his own gym again. I'm paraphrasing here, but he basically said that he had thought that since he was in a chair, he was supposed to be frail. If he hadn't met people living vibrant lives, he would have felt confined and isolated, and portrayed a very biased picture of what living in a wheelchair is like.
I liked Murderball, and I liked this show too. I thought it was very telling when Ray was sharing videos of his rugby sessions with his family and trying to correct some of their misconceptions about quadriplegics and disability in general. My mom has always had lots of friends in our community that have different disabilities, so I had a lot of experiences growing up with people who walked or talked differently, and I like to think that I learned to treat people equally and with respect at all times. But some people don't have those kind of experiences in their everyday life (or rather, haven't YET), and I feel that shows that are done well can provide a window into another world for those people. A window that allows someone to think: "huh. that person drives a car, goes to work, and spends time with his family just like I do. Maybe we're not so different after all."
Here's some of my random thoughts I had while watching the episode. There are videos of portions of the episode online here if you missed it.
- One of the first people Ray gets to meet is Kenny the OT!! I was very excited.
- The doctor talked to Ray about the risk for blood clots from being in a wheelchair, but didn't even give him a stinking pair of drugstore knockoff TED hose?
- I found it both interesting and ironic that they chose a football player to be in a wheelchair, as they walk the line between athlete and injury everyday
- The family has a very nice home that was obviously built with no thought to universal design. 5 steps to enter the house, sunken and raised rooms throughout, sunken shower, steps to the backyard... I wish they had time to touch on that concept, but it's only a 60 minute show.
- Ray was lucky enough to have the cash to plunk down a bunch of ramps all over his poorly designed house, but if he's seriously interested in keeping his buddies from the show close, he better look into making the house visitable
- I liked watching Ray playing basketball with his kids, it also demonstrates that he was an exceptionally strong person before the show. I played basketball for years and years, and hurt my ankle late in high school, keeping me from ankle plantar flexion but not from standing. I couldn't even shoot a form shot. Try sitting down on the court next time you're playing and see how much arm strength it really takes to push a ball over 10' in the air.
- Woo! Justin Dart! I met him :)
- After all the growing that Ray had done, he still admits that he would want to help the girl in rehab do her BADL and mobility tasks.
- As the girl was 'graduating' from rehab, they did touch on how close the staff and patients can become when working so closely for so long. It's an odd relationship though, which I may have to go more in-depth in another time.
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