Former Neuromotor Research Clinic Patient Returns – as a Student Researcher

We're going to squeeze that sleeve really tight in our right hand. When I was around five months old, I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. And at that time, my parents had taken me to a neurologist. And that neurologist who diagnosed me told my parents that I would never walk or talk. So I first went to Alabama to visit the DeLuca team in 2006. And the last time I visited was around 2011. I remember playing with toys, playing with different board games. I would play outside with the therapist. So what sets the Neuromotor Research Clinic at Freeland Biomedical Research Institute apart is the intensity of the therapy. Good, get a good ponytail for your right hand. Good job. Where they're putting a cast on the dominant arm of the child with hemiparesis, which is weakness in one side of their body. So they're putting a cast on the dominant hand in order to encourage use of the non-dominant or impaired side. Also what's unique is they are doing so many hours every day for an entire month. And so now I'm on the pre-health track in school. I'm a neuroscience major and so those things have really influenced my interests and I'm hoping to become a neurologist someday. Throughout the years I always had this internship at the back of my mind as a possibility. And just this past spring I applied and it worked out. It's been really incredible. I think being on the other side of things has definitely been different, but being back as an adult I have a different perspective and a different appreciation for the work that they do in this lab. I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for the people in this lab. In the end my goal is to help kids who have neurological conditions like me. Thank you.