The Electronic Directory for Quadriplegics, Paraplegics & Caregivers

                                    Because no one should cope with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) alone  

Create a Safe Bathing Experience for your Child with Special Needs

Does your child enjoy taking a bath?

Push a button, and the Surfer Bather lowers your child to within two inches of the bottom of the tub. Once the bath is complete, push a button and the platform elevates your child up to the height of the side of the tub and then to the slide-out transfer. The Surfer Bather is operated by the rechargeable, battery- powered Airflo compressor system, which is safe and portable.

Mangar USA, maker of the Surfer Bather, is sponsoring a short survey in order to learn more about the needs of exceptional families as it applies to bathing assistance equipment.

If you would like to participate in this voluntary, information survey, please click here to complete the five short questions.

*The Surfer Bather is safe for individuals weighing up to 110 lbs. and up to 45 inches height.

Published: 2008-07-17

Voting Preferences for People with Disabilities

I would like to ask your assistance with some research on voting preferences for people with disabilities esp. with regard to how much influence disability interests will have on their voting decisions. I am collecting information for an article to disseminate for national publication.

Please take a moment to complete the following survey. (It is just 10 questions and should only take 5 minutes to complete.) No personal data will be collected and individual answers will not be shared.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=wAhs39TCszIMLHeAsMIFPQ_3d_3d

Data collection will close on August 15.

Thank you VERY much. :) 

Karen Hwang, Ed.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Outcomes Research Department
Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corporation
1199 Pleasant Valley Way
West Orange, NJ 07052
Tel: (973) 324-3566
E-mail: khwang@kmrrec.org

Published: 2008-07-15

Kids STEP Study at UF and Brooks Rehabilitation

STepping Excites Plasticity

The Kids STEP Study at UF and Brooks Rehabilitation is investigating recovery of walking in children with incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI). The study is directed by Dr. Andrea Behrman, PhD, PT, a physical therapist and researcher at the University of Florida. This investigation is funded by the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation (www.chnfoundation.org), an organization dedicated to spinal cord injury research and recovery.

WHAT is involved?

Children enrolled in the study will undergo extensive testing and complete 12 weeks of locomotor training.

TESTING

Tests to examine functional status include:

Tests to examine the child's injury include:

TRAINING

Locomotor training is an activity-based therapy to promote plasticity and recovery. Children will participate in 60 sessions of locomotor training, conducted daily (5 days/week) for 12 weeks. Locomotor training is an intensive walking program that uses a treadmill with a harness and partial body weight support, as well as over-ground environments, to practice the task of walking. Children will work closely with therapists, researchers, and trainers to practice walking skills.

WHO can participate?

Children who may participate will be:

Is there a COST to participate?

There is no cost to participate in this study. Tests and training are completed at the University of FL in Gainesville, FL and Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital (www.brooksrehab.org) in Jacksonville, FL (75 miles from UF). Reimbursement for travel and housing expenses is available. If provided, housing will be at the Ronald McDonald House in Gainesville (www.rmhgainesville.com).

FOR MORE INFORMATION

UF Physical Therapy Locomotor Lab: 352-273-5278
Project Coordinator: Emily J. Fox
Email: ejfox@phhp.ufl.edu
Web Site: http://locomotor.phhp.ufl.edu/KidsStepStudy

Published: 2008-07-09

Study Seeks Participants with Sensory and/or Mobility Impairments

If you have a sensory impairment and/or mobility impairment, you may be eligible to participate in a new research project. This research aims to understand what people with sensory and/or mobility impairments do in their daily lives, how their environments affect their community participation and what, if any, help they need to complete activities.
 

Eligibility requires that you:

* Are between the ages of 18 and 75

* Live in the community

* Have access to a computer

* Can read at or above the 6th grade level

* Can enter responses into a web-based survey or direct another individual to enter your responses into a web-based survey
AND

* Have either a mobility impairment, a visual impairment, or a hearing impairment

If eligibility is established you will receive a code to log on to the survey site and complete the study. All information will be kept confidential and no connection between you and your survey answers will be made. Participants will be reimbursed by either a personal check or by a gift certificate to either Target or Walgreens, and may choose the method of reimbursement they prefer. The web-based assessment contains a set of two surveys and will take approximately one hour to complete.

Please click on the link below and you will be directed to a short pre-survey to determine eligibility.

Study Participation Eligibility and Registration Survey

This study is conducted by the Washington University Program in Occupational Therapy in collaboration with Paraquad, Inc. This research is funded by the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research at the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research at the US Department of Education

SCI Recovery Study (UK)

The National Centre for Neurospinal Research (NCNR) at RNOH, Stanmore, together with researchers from Imperial College and University College are currently carrying out trials with volunteer spinal cord injured participants. The purpose of the trials is to develop more reliable methods for detecting recovery from spinal cord injury. Two "therapies" are being used that are known to improve the muscle, sensory and autonomic (e.g. heart, blood vessels) function. One novel therapy is magnetic stimulation of the brain, quite painless and non-invasive, while the other is a tried and tested weight-assisted treadmill walking exercise.

We believe that both the rTMS and WAT therapies alter the way the brain and spinal cord makes use of the surviving pathways in your spinal cord after an incomplete spinal cord injury. If we are correct, the study should result in greater muscle power, better sensation and improved autonomic function below the site of a spinal cord injury.

Participants on the trials could benefit from the therapies and will contribute to much needed improvements in our assessment techniques. In this study we are looking to recruit volunteers with affected hand function for the rTMS (incomplete cervical injuries) or with affected walking (incomplete lesions above the first lumbar spinal level) for the WAT therapy.  We do not provide any accomodation and we also cannot cover any accomodation costs so subjects have to be able to come to Stanmore and to live at a reasonable distance. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Radmila Maksimovicon 07722147893 or by e-mail (stanamuk@yahoo.co.uk) for further details and to receive a full information sheet.

Professor Peter Ellaway. Principal Investigator, The Clinical Initiative
sponsored by the International Spinal Research Trust (Spinal Research).

Join Our Campaign Against Pain!

Do you have a spinal cord injury? If so, the Department of Anesthesia at Brigham and Women's Hospital is conducting a research study for individuals with spinal cord injury both with and without pain. We are looking for volunteers from the Boston area. You will receive $75 for completing one short visit. We hope that the knowledge gained from this research will lead to improved treatments for SCI pain.