Thinking Through Every Step: How People With Spinal Cord Injuries Relearn to Walk

Abstract

In this article we explore how people with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) create meaning out of their changing bodies as they undergo a therapeutic intervention called locomotor training (LT). Therapeutic interventions like LT are used to promote the recovery of walking ability among individuals with iSCI. The chronological nature of this study--interviews at three points throughout the 12-week intervention--enhances understanding of the recovering self after spinal cord injury. Drawing on a constructivist theoretical framework, we organize data according to three narrative frames. Participants interpreted LT as (a) a physical change that was meaningful because of its social significance, (b) a coping strategy for dealing with the uncertainty of long-term recovery, and (c) a moral strategy to reconstitute the self. We offer findings that lay the conceptual groundwork for generating new knowledge about what is important to people with iSCI as they relearn how to walk.

Exercise is medicine? Most of the time for most; but not always for all

“…In this instance 'normative' activities referred to standing, walking and cycling, many of which the participants could no longer carry out independently post-injury. Exercise programmes that involve aspects of walking have been identified as representative of both normative and desirable activities for people with SCI (Jordan et al, 2013). Furthermore, in line with restitution, engaging in exercise programmes are associated with a momentary return to one's past self (Frank, 2013).…”

What is it like to walk with the help of a robot? Children’s perspectives on robotic gait training technology

“…The findings of this study begin to unveil taken for granted assumptions in rehabilitation related to therapy technologies and walking, and contribute to an emerging body of literature on participant's perspectives using robotic gait training interventions [18,55]. The study illuminates two common assumptions of rehabilitation professionals, researchers and parents that underpin the emerging use of robotic technologies and shows that they may not be always be shared by children.…”

Exploring narratives of physical activity and disability over time: A novel integrated qualitative methods approach

“…This form of communication revolved around trainers and participants insulting each other, telling sexual jokes, and recounting stories of past dating escapades. These acts can be part of the process by which men with SCI re-establish culturally normative masculine behavior that aligns with their post injury identity (Gerschick and Miller, 1995;Jordan et al, 2013). Therefore to effectively carry out my observational research as a female within ABR, I tried to fit in with this narrative environment and integrate myself within these ways of interacting and communicating.…”