Disability Justice

Danielle Lancelot Watson is an occupational therapist who specializes in hand therapy. Before becoming an OT, Danielle dreamed of becoming a physical therapist and right before she started applying to PT schools, she sustained a T6 level spinal cord injury while rock climbing in Colorado. Her dreams of becoming a PT might have not happened, but the way her story plays out is amazing.

One thing I took away from Danielle's story in this podcast was to never give up and to trust the process and that everything will work out the way it is supposed to. After being rejected from several PT schools time and time again because of her disability, she never gave up hope and she was persistent. Finally, a PT had reached out to an OT at their college and the OT told her that there's nothing wrong with her having a disability and admitted her into the OT program if she would consider it. Since Danielle knew it probably wasn't a possibility since she had been rejected so many times before, she decided to give OT a shot.

That spoke volumes to me about our profession. Number one, the simple fact that the OT program that accepted her was looking at her holistically rather than seeing her disability, was a perfect representation of our profession. I completely understand about the safety of patients with transfers and gait, but after hearing Danielle's story about constantly being rejected by PT schools and finally getting a chance from an OT program, really made me proud to be a future OT and proud to be a part of this profession. Number two, I think it's wonderful to have an OT practitioner who knows first hand what clients we work with are facing daily such as the struggles, the rejection, the judgment, and the whispers because they look different from us. I think it's important to have a diverse field in order to connect with clients from all backgrounds, all disabilities, and all beliefs. Danielle said that with her being in a wheelchair, she feels like she has an instant connection with patients and she feels like her patients can understand and instantly trust her.

Something that really broke my heart was when Professor Lancaster said that a young girl she knew who was in a wheelchair was saying how it's difficult to find places in the community where young adults want to go that are wheelchair accessible such as restaurants and bars. When the girl said that the only wheelchair ramps were in the back by the trash and the dumpsters, a little voice in her head tells her that she is not worthy of a front door entrance. This statement broke me because so many people who are not in wheelchairs do not think about a wheelchair ramp or putting a couple steps in front of their restaurant or business and how it might make someone feel who arrives and realizes they can't get in. This is something I believe should change and should be a law for every business, restaurant, and anywhere in the community, that there should be a ramp in the front of the building for wheelchair users. It opened my eyes to think that even if it isn't intentional, we don't know what goes through someones mind who is a little bit different from us when they can't maneuver the same way as us. This is something I would love to petition and advocate for and see put into action in the very near future. When Danielle said that when she was in New York and she and her two other friends who were in wheelchairs had to take the bus because the subway is not accessible, the bus driver told them they couldn't all three go together because he can only take two people at once, and when she went to a concert and they said she could only have one friend with her, it really put into perspective how badly we need to fight for disability justice. There is no reason why they should be treated unfairly just because they maneuver differently than we do.

Overall, this was such an inspiring podcast and Danielle's story and her persistence and positive attitude is amazing. I am attaching the link for others to listen to it if they choose because it's something I believe can inspire anyone, not just students or people in the healthcare field.

http://www.ontheair.us/podcast1/episode-16-disability-justice-adaptive-sports

It Can Wait

Today, we had the opportunity to meet Fletcher Cleaves. Fletcher was a starting freshman football player at Lambuth University under coach Hugh Freeze. But the story doesn't start there. All Fletcher's life he was constantly told that he was too little and he couldn't do it. Fletcher didn't let it get to him and get him down, though. He always took that and let it motivate him to prove people wrong. When he worked his tail off to sign a national letter of intent with Lambuth to play football, he was only 1 of the 2 freshman out of 30 that Coach Hugh Freeze would be taking on the bus for away games, the other was his roommate. Just two days before he was supposed to start in his first collegiate football game, Fletcher and his roommate decided to drive to Buffalo Wild Wings and pick up some supper and head back to the dorm to watch Ole Miss and Alabama play. After leaving Buffalo Wild Wings, Fletcher was driving with his roommate, the other freshman that would be suiting up for away games, when his roommate called his name and told him to watch out. Fletcher swerved to miss an oncoming car that had crossed the double yellow lines onto his side, overcorrecting, and landing upside down in a ravine, trapping him and ejecting his friend. Once he realized what had happened, his friend had gotten help and next thing he knew, he was in the back of an ambulance. Before anyone had told him any details of his own condition, he knew one thing: he wasn't hurting. When the EMT asked him to move his right leg and then his left leg, he thought he did, but the EMT knew that it was bad. His legs never moved. Fletcher had sustained a C5-C6 spinal cord injury and was forever paralyzed from the chest down.

The cause of the accident that could have been avoided? DISTRACTED DRIVING

Fletcher spent a total of 10 days in the hospital where is doctor gave him a list of things he would never be able to do again. He wasn't phased, though. He had been doubted all his life. But he always worked his hardest and proved people wrong. He even proved the doctor wrong. Fletcher spent the next 9 moths in Atlanta at The Shepard Center receiving top notch therapy from 8 am until 5 pm every single day. Today, Fletcher travels the world as a motivational speaker and advocates against distracted driving. One thing Fletcher didn't do was let his situation affect his outlook on life. He knew that there were people out there who were worse off than he was and he was going to make the best out of his "new" life. Fletcher went on to move into his own apartment by himself, learn how to do his own wheelchair transfers, go back to college, drive an adaptive truck, graduate from the University of Memphis with a computer science degree, and now has a career with AutoZone headquarters in downtown Memphis as an IT professional. Fletcher has never let his disability get to him. He has found the positive side of every negative situation he has ever been faced with.

"Whether someone tells you that you can, or someone tells you that you can't... they're right." 

It's all about how you respond to the circumstances that life has given you. If you believe when someone tells you that you can't do something, you will never be able to do it. But if someone tells you that you can't do something and you use that as motivation to work hard to prove them wrong, you will win every time. Something that stood out to me was when Fletcher said "You've heard that when life hands you lemons you make lemonade. Well the way I look at it, life handed me lemons and I planted the seeds and built a lemonade stand." Fletcher has spent his time traveling the world advocating against distracted driving and as a motivational speaker. His mission is to motivate, inform, and inspire people with his story and hopefully, save lives by showing people first hand why distracted driving is incredibly dangerous and selfish and can absolutely be avoided. We live in a world today where the young drivers have been texting longer than they've been driving and they more experienced drivers have been driving longer than they've been texting, so both age groups think that they can multitask. The truth of the matter is that multitasking is a myth. Our brain simply switches back and forth between the two or more tasks so quickly that it makes us believe they're happening simultaneously, or multitasking. Another point Fletcher made that really made me realize how selfish our world is today is "If I told you that you were three times as likely to be in a car wreck if you're wearing a red shirt, I guarantee that you would make sure you weren't wearing red. But That's the same statistic with distracted driving. You are three times more likely to be in a car accident if you are a distracted driver. So why do we still do it? We know the laws and the dangers of distracted driving, yet we still choose to do it." So many people say "It'll never happen to me" and the sad part about it is it might not happen to you, but you could be the cause of taking someone else's life. 

So, what now? Going forward, I believe that this was a good base of learning and knowledge about spinal cord injuries and what the challenges are that they face daily, as well as how distracted driving doesn't only affect the person is distracted behind the wheel, but can affect an innocent persons life tremendously. I am 100% on board with advocating against distracted driving and helping share Fletcher's story. This is a very serious issue and going into the occupational therapy field, it's something we should all be advocating.

In closing, don't be a selfish driver.
Don't be a distracted driver.
No text is worth it.
No email is worth it.
No google search is worth it.
No Netflix show is worth it.
No "selfie" or Snapchat is worth it.
Put the phone down. Keep your hands on the wheel. Keep your eyes on the road. It can wait.

Click HERE to watch Fletcher's video by AT&T about distracted driving.

"How can we say the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon?"

Click the link to visit Fletcher's website and hear his story. I promise you will receive a blessing. https://www.fletchercleaves.com/

Media Project

When blindly choosing an item to center our media project, I drew a manila folder. How in the world I was going to come up with an intervention centered around a manila folder was beyond me. After trying to think of the most creative and innovative projects, it hit me that it didn't have to be extravagant to be effective. After reading about my client, I realized that simplicity would be the way to go in order to accomplish his goals.

My client, Maurice, is an 83 year old retired dairy farmer who was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease a decade ago. He also has bilateral cataracts which contribute to his poor vision. His speech is somewhat difficult to understand at times, especially when he is fatigued. He reports increased feelings of isolation and frustration as a result of his speech production problems, the inevitable decline in his speech skills with disease progression, and his increasing reliance on others for help with his ADLs. Maurice is a very social person and enjoys visits from friends and neighbors. His wife reports that his memory is becoming more impaired; however, he consistently recognizes familiar people and is oriented to person and place. He likes to have choices in his daily routine such as what shirt he will wear, even though he needs moderate to full assistance for all ADLs. He is bound to the bed for several hours out of the day. Maurice's wife, Dina, injured her back while trying to help Maurice move in the bed so she is sending him to live in a skilled nursing facility until she heals, but it is not determined when he will go back to live at home or if he will remain at the facility. Maurice's main concern is that he is worried he will get bored and/or lonely if he can't go home soon.

While reading the short case study of Maurice, a few different things stood out to me: dairy farmer, cows, worried about being bored and lonely, and the fact that his intervention should be focused around trying to prolong the inevitable decline in speech, handwriting, vision, and memory due to his Parkinson's Disease. I decided to take my item (a manila folder) and make a book out of several manila folders of different activities that Maurice could do that would keep him busy as well as something he could enjoy.

Since Maurice is a retired dairy farmer and he currently leases over 80 acres of his land for dairy and cattle grazing,  I decided to center his folder around a theme that he would enjoy: cows.

 On the inside of the folder, I used another manila folder to make a pocket for storage, and I made a phone log with his family and friends so he would be able to contact them if he needed anything, or if he felt lonely and just needed to talk to someone. Since his wife raised concerns about his memory, although he recognizes familiar faces, I made sure to include a picture of each person beside their name and phone number in case there was ever any confusion.

With Parkinson's Disease, it's important to try and prolong the inevitable decline of memory loss, hand steadiness, and eye sight. Trying to think about a fun way to pass time, work on some fine motor and visual perception skills, and have fun, I created a puzzle that has Velcro attached to the back to avoid disorder of the puzzle pieces as a result of his spontaneous extremity movements and rigidity from his PD. This skill also focuses on fine motor skills.
Since he also likes to have a choice in his daily routine and his memory is declining, I thought a laminated weekly list would be perfect for him to be able to write something down on a certain day, so he would remember. This is also great for practicing his grip and handwriting.

Even though his wife stated that he consistently recognizes familiar faces, I thought it would be a good idea to get a picture of each close friend or family member and laminate them with a blank space underneath so he could write their names with a dry erase marker. This would be great for his memory as well as handwriting and grip.

Even though he is moderate to full assistance with ADLs, I'm sure that with some practice, Maurice might improve to be able to complete some ADLs independently. He takes pride in being able to do things for himself, so with practice and the absence of pressure and frustration, he can practice tying, zipping, and buttoning to hopefully improve enough to be able to complete his ADLs with minimal to no assistance.

The last page has a crossword puzzle (yep - about cows) to keep his memory sharp, and is also laminated so he can use his dry erase marker. It also includes a dot-to-dot (again - of a cow) to work on his spontaneous movements and rigidity, working memory, and visual tracking skills.

The back of the book, I chose a picture (who I would like to think is Maurice several years ago) that would not only display something he loves doing, but would hopefully make him happy.


I think the most meaningful thing I learned during this assignment was that interventions don't have to be anything extravagant. Study what the client enjoys and what makes them happy and think about their goals and go from there. I learned that even the most simple tasks can be the most difficult to create. I spent a lot of time wanting to make Maurice's folder specifically for him and tried to base everything around things that he would enjoy and that he would benefit from. I think that by completing this assignment, I will be a more creative thinker which will benefit me in the clinical field. This assignment required me to think out of the box and try to get some creative juices flowing and I was impressed with the result. It's important to be client-centered and think about not only what will help them reach their goals, but centering it around something they will enjoy and do because they want to without dreading it, and if I was Maurice, this would be my new favorite item that would constantly keep me busy :)