at Skills for Life 3.Above right: Skills for Life 3 group photo.
Image courtesy of US ISPO.
The Skills for Life 4 (SFL4) Workshop for bilateral upper-limb amputees will be held in Houston October 22-25. Skills for Life is a unique program devoted specifically to issues faced by people with bilateral upper-limb loss. Presenters will include bilateral upper-limb amputees, their caregivers and family members, therapists, prosthetists, physicians, and others.
The U.S. National Member Society of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (US ISPO) is the organizing sponsor for SFL4 and is working with The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) Memorial Hermann, the platinum sponsor for the event.
The concept for this workshop was originally developed by Robert “Skip” Meier, MD, of Amputee Services of America, and Diane Atkins, OTR/L; the first three workshops were held in Denver. They have drawn participants from Canada, the U.S., Australia, Sweden, Germany, and Austria, and have brought together more than 50 individuals with bilateral upper-limb loss.
“These individuals and their family members [and] caregivers face a unique set of circumstances,” said Shawn Johnson, OTR/L, US ISPO board member, and SFL Planning Committee chair. “Skills for Life allows amputees to meet and share their ‘tips and tricks,’ adaptive equipment, and skills. Topics range from general tasks of daily life, to driving and returning to work, as well as coping, grief, and acceptance. We expect that the SFL4 will draw an even larger number of amputees, their families, and caregivers, as well as all the various rehabilitation professionals.”
The workshop will feature two keynote speakers: John Lawson, a bilateral amputee and television, film, and commercial actor, and Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program, who survived a bear attack while on the job in the Alaskan wilderness.
Activity Day will offer participants the opportunity to enjoy and learn new skills, including swimming, Kinect for Xbox, riding adaptive cycles, and using adaptive gym equipment.
The occupational therapist and prosthetic workshops will be held on Thursday, October 22, prior to the main workshop.
Other sponsors include Advanced Arm Dynamics, Amplitude Media Group, Baker Orthotics & Prosthetics, Coapt, Fillauer, Handspring, Hanger Clinic, Lake Prosthetics and Research, Liberating Technologies, Ottobock, ProsthetiKa, TOTO USA, Touch Bionics, Mayo Clinic, Muilenburg Prosthetics, Texas Assistive Devices, TRS, and Amputee Services of America.
Simultaneous translation will be offered for Spanish-speaking amputees and their families and caregivers.
Continuing-education credits will be offered by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics (ABC).
For more information, contact US ISPO at 614.659.0197 or visit www.usispo.org/skills_for_life.asp.
