treating, and learning to live as independently and healthy as possible with, a spinal cord injury.
Occupational Therapy addresses maximizing independence in SCI which often will include teaching the patient how to find, interview and hire personal attendants as higher level quadriplegics will be unable to live completely independently. Occupational therapy will help patients increase their ability to sit upright and balance themselves while working on eating and personal care skills such as hygiene, skin care, with breakdown prevention education and wheelchair mobility. They will learn wheelchair transfer techniques, dressing and bed mobility. The Occupational Therapist will assist with re-entrance into community life at a maximum level of independence by linking the patient with resources, advocacy/self help groups, peer support systems and recreational facilities.
The changes are dramatic and profound. The myths surrounding spinal cord injuries (“you know they can't have sex”) must be debunked. Along with the emotional and physical adjustments people with spinal cord injuries must adjust to a body that requires meticulous, regular care just to stay alive. Critical is the quality of ones bladder and bowel management, skin care and in some cases, respiratory care that determines not only how well a person faces the community but how long he or she will live. Self neglect may turn into passive suicide.
It can happen in an instant and the changes are dramatic and profound.
FOR SALE!!!!***
97 Mercury Sable LS; station wagon. Leather interior; 6-cylinder; 6-passenger seating; rear-facing third seat; Braun wc topper; Monarch hand controls. 93,000 miles. Price negotiable. Call Ruth @ 239-9754 after 5 p.m.
2001 Dodge Intrepid. 30,000 mi; leather interior; automatic transmission; Braun overhead wheelchair carrier & hand controls. Call Ruth at 239-9754 after 5 p.m.
*2003 Ford F-250 lift-equipped green/gray van; leather seats, TV, DVD player. Playstation hookup, am-fm radio. Rick Miller, 937-2245.
*Cookbooks for Sale: Recipes compiled by Chapter members; $10:00. Call David @ 589-6620.
*Video tapes for sale. Various topics related to spinal cord injuries. Call David Allgood or Buddy Lawson.
***If assistance is needed to pay for any of the above items, contact Kentucky Assistive Technology Loan Corporation atfor information on loans at 5% interest to qualified candidates.
