This week, BIAA partnered with Wounded Warrior Project to follow up with Congressional staff regarding the recent press around TRICARE’s non-coverage of cognitive rehabilitation for medically retired service members. Many initiatives spearheaded by BIAA in the past few years have been highlighted as a part of an ongoing story generated by National Public Radio (NPR).

In recent weeks, several Senators and Congressman have sent inquiries to the Department of Defense (DOD) to encourage a decision on whether or not this vital treatment should be covered. As a part of this push, BIAA has been invited to participate in a meeting held by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury. The meeting will include presentations by TRICARE Management Activity and all participants will be able to make statements before the committee.

BIAA is optimistic that its years of tireless advocacy on behalf of these service members will finally pay off and TRICARE will recognize the efficacy of Cognitive Rehabilitation as a medically necessary intervention for our wounded warriors.

This week, as part of the Disability and Rehabilitaion Research Coalition (DRRC), BIAA signed on to comments regarding the proposed long range plan (Fiscal Years 2010-2014) for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

The NIDRR proposal focuses mainly on employment, making only passing references to health and function research.

In the comments, BIAA and other members of the DRRC urge NIDRR to restore the broad focus of research and development activities by recognizing the critical importance of all major life domains affecting persons with disabilities, i.e., participation and community living, health and function, as well as employment.

On November 12, 2008, BIAA joined the Coalition to End the Two-Year Wait for Medicare – which represents over 75 health advocacy organizations – in launching its campaign to urge the next Congress to end the 24-month wait for Medicare coverage faced by people with disabilities.

At a press conference held on Capitol Hill, people currently caught up in the waiting period described their experiences and Representative Gene Green (D-TX) described legislative efforts to eliminate the waiting period.

In addition, at the press conference Coalition leaders released a letter signed by Coalition members – including BIAA – addressed to Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. The letter calls for health coverage for people with disabilities to be at the forefront of future legislative efforts to cover the uninsured.

The issue this Coalition is working to address is that people who become severely and permanently disabled qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare coverage. However, according to federal statute, they must wait two years from their date of eligibility for SSDI before their Medicare coverage begins. About one quarter of people in this waiting period are without insurance for the entire time. Many cannot afford to pay COBRA premiums to maintain coverage from their former employer, and private coverage on the individual market is unavailable or too expensive for this high-cost population, including many individuals with brain injuries.

In a formal statement circulated at the press conference, BIAA noted that, “In causing delay of proper treatment, this unnecessary waiting period promotes increased lifelong disability for individuals with brain injury and significantly decreases cost efficiency in medical and rehabilitative treatment.”

On November 18, 2008, BIAA Director of Consumer Services, Greg Ayotte, testified in Arlington, Virginia at a Social Security Administration (SSA) Compassionate Allowance outreach hearing on brain injuries.

The purpose of this hearing was to consider views about the advisability and possible methods of identifying and implementing compassionate allowances for children and adults with brain injuries. SSA’s Compassionate Allowance Initiative represents an effort by SSA to consider ways to quickly identify diseases and other serious medical conditions that obviously meet the definition of disability under the Social Security Act (Act) and which can be identified with minimal objective medical information. SSA calls this method “Compassionate Allowances.”

Among other things, BIAA’s testimony focused on illustrating some of the obstacles individuals with brain injuries encounter when trying to access Social Security disability benefits.

Reflecting one of BIAA’s biggest public policy accomplishments this year, a group of Senators issued a letter on August 4, 2008 to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urging official TRICARE coverage of cognitive rehabilitation.The group of 10 United States Senators, led by Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL), sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates calling on him to enact official coverage of cognitive rehabilitation within the military’s TRICARE health insurance program. Several major media outlets covered this story, and the press release announcing this letter included a quote from Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in which he described cognitive rehabilitation therapy as “one of the most accepted treatments for TBI.”

Throughout the summer, BIAA worked closely with Senator Bayh’s office to support the development of this letter and to urge the support of 10 highly esteemed Senators who signed on in support of this important effort to increase access to timely, state-of-the-art care for returning servicemembers with traumatic brain injury.

A copy of the letter, along with talking points in support of TRICARE coverage of cognitive rehabilitation, and a summary of evidence attesting the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation, is available on BIAA’s website at http://www.biausa.org/policyissues.htm.

In another promising development, the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force is currently working on a similar effort on the House side.

NEW YORK (CNN) — It’s been described as the closest thing to being buried alive — complete paralysis of the body, except for controlled movement of the eyes.

That’s how 24-year-old Erik Ramsey has spent the last eight years of his life. He suffered a brain stem stroke after a car accident when he was 16, leaving him with “locked-in” syndrome.

This condition is not the same as other forms of paralysis where you feel nothing in the affected areas. Ramsey has 100 percent sensation all over his body. An itch can become excruciating with no way to communicate that he needs it scratched. He has frequent muscle spasms as well, which can be painful.

“Even sweat rolling down his skin or something, there’s nothing he can do about it,” said Eddie Ramsey, 57, Erik’s father. “So he feels everything in the environment, but there is really just nothing he could do about it.”

Doctors told the Ramseys that their son has no chance of getting better.

“There’s always hope, but a large portion of it is in the category of miracles,” said Eddie Ramsey.

But new research may give Erik Ramsey the miracle he has been waiting for. Dr. Phil Kennedy, chief scientist at Neural Signals Inc., a company he founded to conduct research on the brain and communication. He came up with a revolutionary idea that he believed could turn Ramsey’s thoughts into speech.

He invented an electrode that detects the neural signals in the speech motor area of Ramsey’s brain. In December 2004, the electrode was implanted, and Kennedy, along with four independent labs, began decoding the signals in Ramsey’s brain. The researchers asked him to think of specific vowel sounds, then mapped his brain activity. By knowing what his brain looked like when he thought each specific sound, scientists could translate the activity into a language that a voice synthesizer could read.

Dr. Frank Guenther, associate professor of cognitive and neural systems at Boston University, said his lab, one of three others pursuing neural signal translation, had a breakthrough recently: They were able to hear the sounds Ramsey was trying to say using the decoder they built.

“That was a very exciting moment, where we knew this process of taking neural signals and driving a synthesizer was going to work,” Guenther said.

In the next two months, researchers will hook up the synthesizer. Ramsey will produce his first vowel sounds then. The next phase is getting him to produce consonants, which are much harder to synthesize. Conversations, they say, are still about two years away.

For Ramsey, this will mean expressing himself beyond just one word answers. The only way he can indicate what he wants is by moving his eyes up for “yes” and down for “no.” But even this method only goes so far. He gets so tired that he can answer only about six questions before he has to stop.

Former Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominque Bauby suffered from the same syndrome and was also able to communicate using only one eye. He wrote about the horror of having locked-in syndrome in his book “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” which was made into a film released November 30.

Bauby’s writing was an exceedingly slow process. He dictated the book by blinking his left eye when the correct letter was presented to him. He described his mind as a butterfly flying freely inside a diving bell — a chamber that is placed underwater, trapping the air inside.

His descriptions of life as a man who is paralyzed and mute gave Eddie Ramsey the first detailed account of what it must be for his son to live with locked-in syndrome.

“He had to blink that book with one eye,” Eddie Ramsey said tearfully. “Had he never done that, no one would ever understand what locked-in means.”

Asked if ever wanted to end his life, Erik Ramsey looked up, his way of saying yes. Asked if he still felt that way, he looked up again.

But he hasn’t lost all hope. Asked if he believes Kennedy’s research will allow him to communicate again, he answered “yes.”

Eddie Ramsey thinks so too.

“Dr. Kennedy said he believes Erik will be able to speak again either through a voice synthesizer or through some other means. I believe him and I agree with him,” he said.

It may do the same for tens of thousands of people living with Lou Gehrig’s disease, muscular dystrophy or even Alzheimer’s who have lost their ability to speak.

Local schools are called upon to make major investments in the lives of children with special needs
Name : Ronald Scaglia

Last year, 21 Long Island school districts’ budgets were defeated, and a record number were forced to adopt austerity budgets.

Recent scandals involving the theft and misappropriation of taxpayer funds, an aging Long Island population and ever increasing property taxes all likely played a role in those defeats. And, while school officials in both Nassau and Suffolk County are working hard this year to ensure that their budgets are passed, taxpayers continue to ask why are costs so high?

One answer is the increased cost of providing an ever growing population of special education students with the vital services they need.

“Special education is a great expense,” said Lindenhurst Superintendent Neil Lederer. “Most special education expenses are mandated by New York State or the federal government and the expense is certainly justified. In Lindenhurst, we work to ensure that our special education program is comprehensive, sound and good and we are always looking to improve it.”

“All children deserve a quality education,” said Plainedge’s Director of Special Education, Mona Tobin.

William Bolton, superintendent of schools in Copaigue agreed: “We have children in public schools today that would never have been placed in public school when I began my career in education” he said. “But with the kind of support services we provide now-one-on-one aides, full-time nurse, bus monitors and special transportation to name a few-they have become our responsibility. If it were my child I would want it that way because I would want them to have the enjoyment of a normal educational experience with their peers.”

What school officials wrestle with is not the question of should these services be provided, but how to pay for them without overburdening the local taxpayer. “The brutal reality is that it is very expensive,” said Bolton.

Special education in the United States changed drastically with passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which was later modified into the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975. According to that law, all children are entitled to “a free appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.”

Under the law, children with disabilities are required to receive the same educational experience as other children. School districts are required to pro vide specially designed services, instructions or programs to meet the needs of students with disabilities and modifications to the programs or the school environment. These individual educational programs or IEPs help ensure that the students not only get what they need to succeed academically, but that they also are able interact with their peers as much as possible.

IDEA lists 13 categories that qualify a child for special education services: autism, deafness, deaf-blindness, hearing impairment, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, serious emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury and visual impairment including blindness. When a child is classified as disabled, the local education agency (i.e. the school district where the child resides) is required to provide services, accommodations, equipment, instructors or whatever is deemed necessary to provide the child with a free appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.

According to statistics from the New York State Education Department, more than 7 billion dollars was spent on special education services during the 2002-03 school year by New York State public school districts. This yields an average of $17,818 spent per special education student. By comparison, almost 21 and one half billion dollars was spent on general education students during the same year, which averages out to $7,595 spent per general education student or less than half on the amount spent per special ed student. Statewide, about 12 percent of the student population is classified as needing special education services. Locally, the eleven districts covered by the Massapequa Post, Amityville Record and Babylon Beacon spend about $8,100 per general education student and about $20,000 per special ed student.

“When the special education laws were passed in the 1970s, the federal government promised states a 40 percent reimbursement,” said Massapequa Superintendent Maureen Flaherty. “The reimbursement has only been about eight to ten percent. Therefore, the cost of the laws, fall on the homeowners.”

A common misconception is that these student services deal strictly with helping children who are struggling educationally. In fact, special ed money is spent on a wide variety of services such a speech, physical and occupational therapy, transportation and tuition reimbursements to out-of-district programs such as BOCES, special education teachers, teacher aides, home instruction, psychological services, technological devices such as microphones or audio equipment for children with hearing impairments, nursing and other health-care services. Districts may also have to hire paraprofessionals who can communicate with hearing impaired students using sign language, provide medical assistance as required or other medical or physical needs that have to be met for the child during the regular school day. Sometimes, those costs can be very high. For example, a child with a debilitating disease can cost a district more than $100,00 per school year.

School districts are required to pay for all of these costs, even if the child attends a private school and

they are not reimbursed through individual health insurance programs or plans that would normally assume some of these costs outside of the school environment.

Another major change to special education and general education occurred with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. The law, which resulted from educational proposals made by President George W. Bush during the 2000 campaign, was signed into law by Bush and received bipartisan support in Congress. The law expects all students to graduate high school. To help ensure that goal is achieved in every school district across the country, the law requires additional student testing, improved teacher quality and school choice for parents of children in failing schools. And, while the goals are laudable say many school officials, they have been hoisted on school districts with little or no additional federal funding to pay the costs associated with them. And, they apply to all students, including those with special educational needs.

Nonetheless, school districts scrambled to come up with a plan to meet the new challenges.

“When the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, we reevaluated our program,” said Lindenhurst Superintendent Neil Lederer, a supporter of the measure. “We looked at the needs of the children and felt that the instructional program was not meeting their needs.”

In particular, he said, the district recognized that some special education students were being taught by special education teachers not curriculum-specific teachers such as those teaching the rest of the student population in math or science. As a result, the district expanded inclusion classes at the high school and the middle school giving special ed students the opportunity to be taught by teachers who are experts in the various disciplines.

“This also gives special education teachers the ability to modify the curriculum to the special ed students,” said Lederer. “We’ve had great success with it.”

Similar changes have been made in other districts. In Plainedge, for example, smaller class sizes have helped the district reach its goals.

“We structure smaller classes so that there is a lower ratio of teachers to students, which allows the teachers to spend more time with each student. For students who need smaller class size and more teacher support,” Special Education Director Monica Tobin said.

The district has 15 students a teacher and an aide in those classes. For students with autism the district has provide a teacher and two teacher aides to every six students.

“Our high school programs are geared to students earning a regents diploma and our special ed students do quite well on regents exams,” she said.

To help defray some of the costs of special education as students move through the district, educators have found that providing services early on in a student’s academic career saves money as they move to higher grades. An example of this is Plainedge’s autistic program called CHAMPS.

“It really meets the needs of the autistic students,” said Tobin.

“We spend money in prevention and put efforts into our early childhood program,” said Flaherty. “This helps children and the level of services needed is not as great.”

Massapequa also has an autistic program at its elementary level and teacher training, the Wilson Reading Program, as well as an extended day kindergarten to help students with special needs.

“Some issues are reading issues,” said Flaherty. “By addressing these issues, we’ve seen very strong results in our literacy program. Our extended day kindergarten is also highly successful. We’ve given the children the essentials while holiday down staffing costs.”

Consolidating the services of successful programs such as CHAMPS and offering them to other districts also cuts costs by making them available at a cost that is lower than if each district implemented it while at the same time offsetting the cost of the district providing the services.

“By creating such a good program, we are able to not only save the costs of sending our students out of the district but we receive money from the other districts who send us their students,” pointed out Tobin.

Lederer said that his district also tries to provide its students with services within the district.

“We’re always looking to not only service our children in district as well as take in other students,” he said adding that the district has had success with its 8:2:1 inclusion program, which is eight children to one teacher with two aides. “This may cost us less than $100,000. for all the students for the whole year while sending one child to BOCES costs about $60,000, which would make our costs about a half million dollars.” said Lederer. “Of course, if a student needs out-of-district placement, we will provide it.”

General education teachers can also be very helpful in providing special ed students with the education they need. Often it is a general education teacher that identifies a child who is struggling and determines what the child needs. Districts are relying upon general education teachers to make an early diagnosis, as well as provide the services that special ed students need in an inclusion setting.

“We have excellent general education teachers in Plainedge,” said Tobin. “They give the kids what they need and work very hard to meet all of the standards. All of our personnel work together.”

“We have effective use of our instructional personnel. Often they determine why a child is struggling and what the child needs. They help do a good job in making early determinations,” said Flaherty.

The experts predict that the costs of special education in each district will likely keep increasing. With better diagnostics, newer information, and an increased focus on educational reforms, more demands will be made on districts to help the special education student to achieve and move into adulthood with the educational and social skills they need to become productive members of society, which in the long run is a most cost effective and socially responsible approach. As one administrator said, “Special education kids get a lot of support, but if they could do without the support they wouldn’t be special education students.”

Source: http://www.massapequapost.com/news/2006/0503/Front_page/060.html

Rehabilitation

Chronic stroke patients benefit from robotic upper-limb rehabilitation,

Intense, short-term, upper-limb robotic therapy improved motor outcomes among chronic stroke patients. Investigators enrolled 30 patients with upper-limb impairment due to stroke. Over 3 weeks, 18 sessions of robot-assisted therapy were delivered with the use of a robotic exercise device. Significant improvements were observed for severely impaired participants, which indicates that improvement is not limited to individuals with moderate impairments. Moderately and severely impaired patients tolerated intense, frequent, and repetitive treatment. This information is useful for determining the optimal target population, intensity, and duration of robotic therapy and the necessary sample size for a larger trial.

Robotics and functional neuromuscular stimulation improve arm/hand use following stroke,

Stroke patients improved functional use of their impaired arms and hands by participating in robotics plus motor learning or neuromuscular stimulation plus motor learning. Investigators randomly assigned patients with chronic stroke to one of two treatment groups: robotics with motor learning (ROB-ML) or functional neuromuscular stimulation with motor learning (FNS-ML). All participants received treatment 5 hours a day, 5 days a week for 12 weeks. Results showed that ROB-ML participants had gains in functional tasks, accuracy, and smoothness of movement. FNS-ML participants had gains in upper-limb coordination and hand/wrist function.
Narrative discourse evaluation identifies subtle changes in language poststroke

Researchers used narrative discourse to identify patients experiencing language difficulties poststroke. A cohort of individuals who had experienced a left-hemisphere stroke and had not been diagnosed with a language disorder were evaluated for narrative discourse cohesiveness at 1, 6, and 12 months poststroke. Data indicate that during the first year poststroke, the average number of cohesive ties in narrative discourse remained constant, while the percentage of correct use of cohesive ties increased significantly during. These findings suggest that subtle disruptions in expressive language can be present initially but are recovered naturally over time.

Coping resources improve quality of life for caregivers of stroke survivors,

Coping ability is the most important influence on the quality of life for stroke caregivers. Investigators examined data collected at 1 and 6 months poststroke to determine the influence of stroke survivor and caregiver characteristics on quality of life (QOL) for stroke caregivers. At both time points, the most influential factor was sense of coherence (SOC). SOC is the caregiver’s ability to mobilize coping resources during periods of stress. Caregivers who effectively mobilized these resources experienced less burden and fewer symptoms of depression.

Walking increases bone density following stroke,

Daily walking and ground reaction forces can potentially modulate bone loss in stroke survivors with impaired walking ability. Demographics, functional outcomes, bone mineral density (BMD), and gait-related parameters were evaluated in 33 volunteers with poststroke walking deficits. BMD at the hip was significantly lower on the impaired side. Investigators also found a relationship between BMD and a newly developed gait-related parameter that incorporates the number of steps per day and ground reaction force (the reaction to the force the body exerts on the ground). These findings stress that walking is an important component of rehabilitation for maintaining lower-limb bone density in persons with poststroke walking deficits.

Constraint-induced movement therapy improves recovery of upper-limb function following traumatic brain injury,

Constraint-induced therapy may improve upper-limb motor function following chronic traumatic brain injury. A group of 22 participants with chronic traumatic brain injury and upper-limb paralysis participated in constraint-induced movement therapy for 2 weeks. Treatments included massed practice, shaping of the more-affected upper limb, behavioral contracts, and other behavioral techniques for affecting transfer to a real-world setting. Significant improvement was seen in participants’ use of the more affected upper limb to accomplish activities of daily living.

Multidisciplinary treatment program improves long-term outcomes of individuals with Parkinson’s disease,

Over 75 percent of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) enrolled in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program demonstrated stable or improved motor function scores up to 3 years following treatment. Patients’ disease progression was measured at baseline and 1, 2, or 3 years follow-up with the motor subscale of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. Multidisciplinary interventions included neurology, physiatry, nursing, psychology, medication changes, rehabilitation therapies, functional diagnostic testing, support group, home exercise instruction, and disease and wellness education. This is the first long-range study to assess the efficacy of a multidisciplinary clinical program in management of PD patients.

Muscle vibration may enhance controlled movement in people with central motor disorders,

This study examined whether muscle vibration enhances the brain’s ability to control voluntary movement. Sixteen healthy men and women participated in studies involving the application of 15 or 30 minutes of vibration to the wrist extensor muscle. Fifteen minutes of vibration significantly increased muscle twitch responses, which indicates increased output to the muscles. The effects of muscle vibration were not sustained after 20 minutes. These data provide a basis for exploring the effectiveness of muscle vibration in improving muscle function in people with central motor disorders such as stroke.

Rigid pylons as effective as shock-absorbing pylons for absorbing gait impact,

Shock-absorbing pylons (SAP) are as effective as rigid pylons for people with below-the-knee amputations. In this study, a commonly prescribed SAP is compared to a conventional rigid pylon. The pylons were assessed for effect on gait mechanics, transmitted accelerations, and functional outcomes using step counts and questionnaires. The only statistically significant finding was for the prosthetic-side knee angle at initial contact. Volunteers displayed an average of 2.6° more flexion with the rigid pylon than the SAP while walking at a controlled speed. This result indicates that individuals with below-the-knee amputations can adjust the stiffness of their residual limb in response to changes in prosthetic component stiffness.

Foot and ankle ligament geometry,

Little is known about how conditions such as diabetes affect the ligaments of the foot and ankle. In this study, researchers developed a new technique to determine the cross-sectional ligament area for a broad range of foot and ankle ligament sizes and shapes. The technique detailed in this study, together with its baseline data, will expand knowledge of foot ligament properties and foot function, and contribute to the development of a model that can be used in studies of conditions associated with foot deformity.

New insight may help avoid unnecessary hand surgery in elderly,

Motor nerve conduction is a common clinical test used to diagnose nerve problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Current techniques use a single recording site over a superficial muscle. This approach does not take into account the electrical contributions from the other muscles innervated by the nerve being stimulated. This study recorded 15 sites over the thenar eminence (muscles at the base of the thumb) during motor nerve conduction studies. Data suggest that standard nerve conduction studies in elderly patients with a common arthritic change in the thumb may result in unnecessary hand surgery.

Neurocognitive enhancement therapy improves work outcomes for people with schizophrenia,

In a recent study, neurocognitive enhancement therapy (NET) significantly improved work outcomes in 145 volunteers with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Study patients were randomly assigned to 6 months of paid work therapy (WT) or to NET plus WT. Volunteers receiving NET along with WT worked more hours than volunteers receiving WT only. These differences emerged after rehabilitation. Volunteers assigned to the NET plus WT group worked the most during follow-up and tended to have more competitive-wage employment.

New hearing loss test cuts clinical evaluation by half,

Investigators developed a test that quickly measures speech understanding in background noise. An established 70-word hearing test was reduced to 35 words, which cut testing time in half. A shorter word list will help clinicians rapidly evaluate patients’ abilities and address their needs (e.g., hearing aids with directional microphones, FM technology, or digital signal-processing noise-reduction algorithms).

Wheelchair durability and user satisfaction,

A pilot study found that users of wheelchairs are generally satisfied with their mobility devices. A convenience sample of 130 participants who use wheelchairs as their primary means of mobility was recruited. Participants completed a questionnaire about their wheelchair, its maintenance and repair history, and their satisfaction levels. Results showed that 26 percent of participants had completed wheelchair repairs in the past 6 months, 16 percent had completed general maintenance, and 27 percent had completed tire repairs. Neither hours of wheelchair use nor wheelchair age affected repair or maintenance frequency. Better understanding of wheelchair maintenance and repair issues will guide improvements in wheelchair design and enhance the community participation of individuals who use wheelchairs.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/vrcs-jtf050906.php

Name : Walt Reichert/Sentinel-News Associate Editor

Amateur photographer Molly Raper has captured hundreds of horses on film in nearly every kind of setting, from wild horses splashing in water on the beaches of North Carolina to a pair of therapy horses rough-playing in a pasture in Shelby County.

Raper is donating 53 of her framed photographs to a fund-raiser for the Luci Center Saturday, May 13, from 3-6 p.m. at the Smith-Berry Vineyard and Winery in New Castle. The event, including live music, wine tasting and appetizers, is free. Glasses or bottles of wine are extra. The photographs will be displayed and sold from the winery’s Clifford Amyx Gallery, built inside a refurbished dairy barn. The event will also include a drawing for a night for two in the Snug Hollow Bed and Breakfast near Berea.

Raper is one of more than 100 volunteers at the Luci Center, a therapeutic riding program for children and adults with physical, mental or emotional disabilities. Among the center’s 30 to 40 clients per week are people with autism, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injury. The Luci Center has been in Shelby County for eight years.

“The horse and the human gait are strikingly similar mechanically,” said Paula Nieto, executive director of the Luci Center. “If they have difficulty walking, putting them on a horse gives them a new set of legs. It helps with posture, trunk control and breathing issues.”

The Luci Center recently moved from Ky. 55 North near the Henry County line to the former Tir Na Nog farm at 500 Hebron Road. The new location has fewer acres but more space for the horses, Nieto said. Included in that space is an indoor arena, which will allow for riding year-round. At the Ky. 55 North farm, the Luci Center was limited to lessons in the late spring, summer and early fall. With year-round capability, Nieto expects to expand clientele to as many as 100 per week. The center will give private as well as group lessons. The indoor arena will also allow the Luci Center to work with the school system, Nieto said.

“Before, we were getting ready to close just when the schools were opening,” she said.

With more clients comes the need for more horses and the feed, bedding and tack they need. That means Nieto has to spend more of her time raising money as well as the profile of the Luci Center.

“We have kept a low profile but we can’t be quiet anymore,” Nieto said. “We want to be a growing part of Shelby County. We want to have a positive impact on the riders’ lives, the lives of the horses and the lives of our volunteers.”

Source: http://www.sentinelnews.com/articles/2006/05/11/news/news10.txt

By David Tisdale

Brooke Jorns Davis of Hattiesburg will walk the walk at graduation today at the University of Southern Mississippi, only because the university’s Children’s Center for Communication and Development enabled her to talk the talk.
As a child, Davis had an articulation disorder that prevented her from engaging in normal speech.

“I pretty much couldn’t speak at all,” she said.

Today she receives her diploma at Reed Green Coliseum, within shouting distance of the CCCD facility where she got the help she needed to overcome the disability 20 years ago.

Ironically, she began working part time as a teacher’s aide at the Children’s Center this spring to gain experience in her chosen field of speech pathology and in the course of her work learned that she was assisting her former teacher, Diana Sawyer.

“I needed some experience as far as going into my field, to get my feet wet,” Davis said. “I didn’t realize Miss Diana (Sawyer) was my former teacher. Margaret (Buttross-Brinegar, co-director of the Children’s Center) told me, and I was just kind of shocked.”

Davis’ memories of her time at the Children’s Center are fuzzy two decades later, but after working with Sawyer she has gained a glimpse of the interaction the two likely had.

“She is so loving and reaches out to them (children). I see first hand the effort she puts into her work, and I’m sure she put that same amount of effort into helping me.

“If it hadn’t been for Diana and the Children’s Center’s staff pushing me to achieve my potential, I would not be graduating. It just makes me admire her and the work being done here even more.”

The Children’s Center’s mission is to provide an interdisciplinary team approach to the assessment and treatment of communicatively and developmentally delayed children ages birth to 5. Services are either home-based or center-based, depending on a child’s needs.

“They have a range of problems and disabilities, from Rhett’s syndrome and traumatic brain injury, and then there’s a variety of different language and articulation disorders,” Davis said of the children she works with. She plans to start graduate school at Southern Miss this summer to earn her master’s degree in speech pathology.

Sawyer said she had seen Davis on campus, but did not recognize her after so many years.

“Margaret (Buttross-Brinegar) mentioned that one of our former students was now enrolled at USM majoring in speech pathology, and when she said her name I said, ‘That’s one of my babies.’ I remember her as being very sweet and very cooperative.”

The two soon got in touch, and through Davis’ assistantship she came to work with Sawyer and other teachers at the Children’s Center in their classrooms.

Sawyer said her job always has been rewarding, but to have one of her former students come back to graduate from college and follow in her footsteps is “extra special for me and everyone here at the Children’s Center.”

Buttross-Brinegar said Davis displays a strong motivation both in her work in the classroom and as a teacher’s assistant because “I believe she has an extra determination to give back to the community because of what it did for her through the Children’s Center.”

For Davis, her career choice just comes naturally.

“There’s a part of me, having been here, that I can identify with these children on some level.”

Source: http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060512/NEWS01/605120310/1002