{Karlton Bontrager}

In September Terry called for a meeting because there had not been any meetings since just previous to Karlton’s experience at Shake-A-Leg. We in the family had witnessed tremendous improvement, and Karlton had evidenced a renewed interest in finding a job. So one purpose of the meeting was to get feedback from the therapists at Sargent concerning his present status. Another purpose was to explore the possibility of changing funding back to the Office of Rehabilitation Services so that Karlton could receive vocational counseling.

Karlton’s enrollment in the course at the local community college began after the meeting date was set. Because he did poorly on the first weekly quiz, the speech/language therapist helped him plan a schedule for studying. That included 2.5 hours of study per day. Karlton earned 94% on the second quiz, and so their efforts paid off. At the same time, it became apparent that he could not devote so much time to studying and hold down a job as well. Thus, the issue of vocational counseling had become less of a focus for this meeting.

The meeting was scheduled for 10:30 at the Sargent Rehabilitation Center. The program director called the meeting to order.

The Speech/language therapist spoke first. She talked about focusing on practical problem solving. She mentioned that Karlton is great at setting goals, but he often overlooks planning the steps necessary for reaching the goals. A case in point is the fact that Karlton would like to start a meditation group at Sargent. Whereas he was able to visualize the end result, he needed guidance in thinking about planning for location, time, leadership, etc. The speech therapist commented on Karlton’s reduced resistance to accepting the fact that he must now accomplish goals in different ways than he did before his accident. He displays greater flexibility, improved insight, more responsibility, and his humor is less biting. Moreover, he has reduced the delay between receiving a message and initiating action.

The speech therapist complimented Karlton on advocating for himself. She sited the incident when RIde, public transportation for the handicapped, dropped him off at one college campus and then a few hours later went to a different campus to pick him up. Whereas the Sargent staff could have intervened to report the problem, Karlton dealt with the situation himself and did so diplomatically.

The physical therapist spoke next. She suggested that Karlton could do exercises at home to complement his regimen at Sargent. For instance, he could work on abdominal muscles and strengthening his left shoulder at home. At Sargent, then, he would have more time to work on balance, jumping, and running. The physical therapist has noted a tremendous change in attitude. Karlton has greater acceptance of how his body works. Sometimes he lacks focus, but she was generally very pleased with his work and his progress.

The occupational therapist affirmed the comments made by the others. She is working with Karlton on using his left arm. Lately, she has been having him throw magnetic darts. She has been impressed by his persistent attempts despite failure so far to be successful. She noticed that he is not nearly so persistent on tasks at which he has success. On those, he becomes easily distractible, wanting to change the CD that is playing, or doing other off-task things. The occupational therapist commented too on Karlton’s behavior during the Friday excursion into the community, the outings to local restaurants. She noted that he is less ready to educate the other members of the excursion about their infractions, and he is able to defer comments until another time when it is more appropriate to discuss them.

All in all, the meeting had a very positive tone. Karlton was complimented on making significant progress in a number of areas. Whereas strength and agility have improved noticeably, so have changes in his attitude and his ability to get along with others.

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