Spinal Cord Injury Month This September

This month is about Spinal Cord Injury Awareness, by the US Senate in an effort to raise awareness about SCI, the need for better treatments and education on prevention, which can be really important in more ways than one. We need to work together, and all of us see, and reject the stereotype that confines people to those wheelchairs.

For myself, I have always felt sympathy for those stuck in the wheelchairs, because I thought they just needed them. It wasn’t until I did a little more digging, and tried to see those eyes, what it really means, and I’m still having to work on that. The people with those injuries may not walk like a lot of us, and they have a lot of other things to consider and deal with, but they are able to have a lot more independence then any one can think of if they have the right tools.

Wheelchairs can help them move freely, and even stop them from being in pain. Exercise can help them stay strong, and they can move in and out of the chair and do a lot of other activities. Those with types of spinal cord injuries, a lot of the time, learn how to be quite self-sufficient, even with others there to help them. There are also a number of activities that one can do, with or without the chair.

People can adapt when they have the knowledge, and are able to learn through their own, or other’s experiences. Organizations like Triumph Foundation are working getting others to be aware that everything that goes with SCI. I believe it’s very important to place yourself in those positions in order to understand.