A few months ago, I was in a very severe car accident.
After a head-on collision, both my arms and both my
legs were broken in multiple spots, requiring a massive
surgery on three of my four limbs in order to repair the
damage with metal rods and plates. Not surprisingly,
I needed a great deal of physical and occupational
therapy to relearn how to do everything from walking
to holding a spoon to tying my shoes, and countless
other things I had taken for granted before the
accident. One thing that struck me through this
process was the creative ways my occupational
therapists adapted simple items to aid in my therapy.
Tiny beads hidden in Silly Putty were used to help
improve the fine motor skills in my fingers. They taught
me to use a trigger grip reaching device to put on my
socks. In fact, for every problem I came across, my
therapist would dash from the room and return with an
almost laughably simple device that worked exactly
the way I needed it to. Of course, there were plenty of
high-tech and complex items used as part of my
therapy too. For example, in an attempt to quicken the
regeneration of nerves that were damaged, my physical
therapists employed a machine that sent electrical
impulses into my arm.
Disability in the
Modern Age:
How Rehabilitation
Robotics is Changing
Lives Across the World
By Morgan Berry
42 SERVO 12.2013
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