Coping with Spinal Cord Injury - Video and Resources

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Coping with
Spinal Cord Injury

How to live with a spinal cord injury

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FacingDisability.com connects families who suddenly have to deal with a spinal cord injury to people like them who have already been there.

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REAL PEOPLE, REAL EXPERIENCES

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is living with a spinal cord injury

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WHAT THE
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Top medical experts
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WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

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RESOURCES

More than 600 of the best spinal cord
injury resources on the web

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ANIMATED SCI LEVELS CHART

Mouse over the spinal column to see how the level of injury affects loss of function and control

More About Spinal Cord Injury

Cervical Injuries

Cervical injuries above the C-4 level may require a ventilator for the person to breathe. C-5 injuries often result in shoulder and biceps control, but no control at the wrist or hand. C-6 injuries generally yield wrist control, but no hand function. Individuals with C-7, C-8 and T-1 injuries can straighten their arms, but still may have problems with their hands.

ANIMATED SCI LEVELS CHART

Mouse over the spinal column to see how the level of injury affects loss of function and control

More About Spinal Cord Injury

Cervical Injuries

Cervical injuries above the C-4 level may require a ventilator for the person to breathe. C-5 injuries often result in shoulder and biceps control, but no control at the wrist or hand. C-6 injuries generally yield wrist control, but no hand function. Individuals with C-7, C-8 and T-1 injuries can straighten their arms, but still may have problems with their hands.

Thoracic Injuries

The first thoracic vertebra, T-1, is located approximately at the same level as the top rib. Injuries to nerves in this region usually affect the chest and the legs, and result in paraplegia. For injuries from T-1 to T-8, there is usually control of the hands but lack of abdominal muscle control. (Individuals with injuries from T-1 to T-6 are also at risk for Autonomic Dysreflexia)

Lumbar Injuries

Injuries to nerves in the area of L-1 to L-5 generally result in some loss of functioning of the hips and legs. Bowel, bladder and sexual function may also be impacted.

Sacral Injuries

The sacrum runs from the pelvis to the end of the spinal column. Injuries to nerves in this area generally result in some loss of functioning of the hips, legs, ankles, and feet. Loss of control of bowel and bladder and sexual functions is also common.

Facing Disability Blog

As a disabled person, I know: American bootstrap culture is a lie

A Perspective by A. Andrews from The Washington Post

A. Andrews is a thirty-something disabled queer non-fiction writer and cartoonist. They were named one of The Advocate’s 2021 People of the Year and is a 2020 Tin House Summer Workshop Scholar, and has created comics and content for Autostraddle, TV Guide, Glamour, Women’s Health, Oh Joy Sex Toy, Visual AIDS, The Minnesota Department of Health, Carnegie Mellon University.

I’ve been thinking a lot about bootstrap culture: that American ideal that anyone should be able to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and succeed at anything. There’s a toxic root to the notion that we should all ascribe ourselves to impossible tasks. All of this affects life in a disabled body – a body that is constantly observed and assigned both too much expectation and little whatsoever.

...

Read More About Bootstrap Culture

Facing Disability Blog

As a disabled person, I know: American bootstrap culture is a lie

A Perspective by A. Andrews from The Washington Post

A. Andrews is a thirty-something disabled queer non-fiction writer and cartoonist. They were named one of The Advocate’s 2021 People of the Year and is a 2020 Tin House Summer Workshop Scholar, and has created comics and content for Autostraddle, TV Guide, Glamour, Women’s Health, Oh Joy Sex Toy, Visual AIDS, The Minnesota Department of Health, Carnegie Mellon University.

I’ve been thinking a lot about bootstrap culture: that American ideal that anyone should be able to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and succeed at anything. There’s a toxic root to the notion that we should all ascribe ourselves to impossible tasks. All of this affects life in a disabled body – a body that is constantly observed and assigned both too much expectation and little whatsoever.

Read More About Bootstrap Culture

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HELP YOU CAN TRUST

FacingDisability presents current information on spinal cord injury which has been developed by working with medical experts at major hospitals universities and rehabilitation institutions. They include: Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago; Harvard Spaulding Medical Center, Boston; Shepherd Center, Atlanta; Craig Hospital, Denver; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. FacingDisability staff members serve on committees of the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The National Institute on Disability and Independent Living (NIDLRR).

Spinal cord injury medical experts who are interviewed on FacingDisability.com come from: Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Chicago; Craig Hospital, Denver; Shepherd Center, Atlanta; Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, Philadelphia; Shriners Hospital for Children, Chicago; TIRR Memorial Hermann, Houston; VA Palo Alto Health Care System, CA; Memphis VA Medical Center, TN; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, D.C.;

VA Boston Healthcare System; Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City, Missouri; Case Western University, Cleveland; Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee; Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia; Arkansas Spinal Cord Injury Commission, Little Rock; VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle; School of Public Health, Indiana University.

Personal interviews of people living with spinal cord injury were recorded by FacingDisability in Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New Orleans, and California.

FacingDisability is regularly invited to make presentations at the national meetings of spinal cord injury associations: Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals (ASCIP), American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA), Rehabilitation Psychology Conference, The International Spinal Cord Injury Society (ISCoS), American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) and at the Paralyzed Veterans of America Summit (PVA).

FacingDisability.com is funded by the Hill Foundation, a 501(c) (3) non-profit.