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From
Delmarva Now:
SALISBURY, Md. -- For Nicole Thompson (pictured), stretching out her legs, walking down a hallway and sitting in a chair are challenges the 23-year-old works to overcome at Dove Pointe in Salisbury.
Strapped into a motorized wheelchair since age 7, Thompson has made drastic improvements in her mobility thanks to the facility's MOVE program.
Last year, Dove Pointe became a certified basic provider for the international program that utilizes adaptive equipment for people with disabilities. Today, Thompson is one of 30 adults who are eager to practice their sitting, standing and walking skills on a daily basis.
"This is the most I've ever moved in my entire life," said the Salisbury resident, who increased her walking distance from 50 feet to 1,200 feet with the help of a Rifton Pacer Gait Trainer, a walking aid.
"I hate the wheelchair," she said. "I like the walker better."
Developed in the early 1980s by a special education teacher in California, MOVE puts people in natural body positions throughout the day, said Sarah Patterson, therapeutic recreation director at Dove Pointe.
"As many can imagine, a life spent in a wheelchair or sitting position can be hard on the body," she said. "We are battling muscle contractures, poor circulation, osteoporosis, skin breakdown and cardiovascular weakness."
That's why Dove Pointe staff organizes activities to provide motivation for these individuals, Patterson said.
Tied into the MOVE program, the facility's new Therapeutic Recreation Program focuses on "getting everyone, whether wheelchair-bound or ambulatory, up and moving and doing things on their own," she said.
"There is exercise equipment, ball playing, word games, singing, dancing, bowling and many other recreational activities that we have been using to promote the idea of independence and self-worth for all of our consumers," Patterson said.
On a day this week, people swayed to the music of The Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" song in the recreation room.
Kathy Hinman, 53, enjoyed the mini-party, but said "sometimes it gets too loud in there."
The wheelchair-bound Crisfield resident prefers her time spent in the Pacer.
"It makes me stronger in my legs," said Hinman, who explained that she can walk about 900 feet down the hall before she gets tired.
Patterson said the newly purchased equipment -- made possible through grant funding from the local and district rotary clubs, M&T Bank, as well as Choptank Electric and Caldwell Bank Community Foundation -- is vital to Dove Pointe's abilities to provide the program for people like Hinman.
"Some who had never taken steps before are now walking 300 plus feet," she said. "Others show improvement by rolling themselves over in bed or repositioning themselves in their chairs by pushing with their feet, rather than relying on staff to do the work for them."
One individual, who showed no signs of walking during his first 30 times in the equipment, is now taking steps up to a distance of 30 feet, said Patterson, who helped Thompson adjust her leg in the wheelchair.
Thompson, who is dedicated to increasing her distance in the Pacer, joked that the Dove Pointe director isn't pushing her hard enough.
"You're going to have to challenge me more, Sarah," she said.
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