Neuo Note - Life as a Quadriplegic: Sophia Malthus

For my third neuro note, I chose to watch a YouTube video called Life as a Quadriplegic: Sophia Malthus. Sophia was 19 years old when she was flown off of a horse and sustained a C4-C5 spinal cord injury. This resulted in her becoming a complete tetraplegic, she can cannot feel or move anything from the collarbone down. She was given a level A on the ASIA Impairment Scale, which means she has no motor or sensory function. She spent over a year in rehab facilities working to regain muscles strength and become as independent as possible. She looks for the small wins each day as becoming as independent as possible is her ultimate goal. In this video, she discussed how she has high tone and muscle spasms which makes it more difficult for her to do some of her daily task. She talked about how she uses a “palmar band” which we call a universal cuff to help her hold eating utensils and her make up. She really pushed for as much therapeutic input as possible. Relearning how to get dresses, eat, and put on make-up are all things we as OTs will help our clients with to regain independence.

I chose to watch this video, because I have really been interested in how spinal injuries effect people and how to OT can play a huge role in recovery. Sophia’s mindset was either the injury will make or break you, and she was not going to let it break her. She was extremely motivated and worked very hard in therapy to reach her goals. From this video, I learned that attitude and determination is a key factor in the therapy process. Every spinal cord injury is different and it is our jobs as an OT to find out what each client can do and help them adapt to become as independent as possible. If you are interested in learning more about spinal cord injuries, this is a great video to watch. The video discussed many things that we are currently learning about in class, and allows you to see Sophia’s experience.

Attitiude. (2018, May 28). Life as a Quadriplegic: Sophia Malthus. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voPlqTOdVU8