Working in PT with a disability

[parkington]

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I have a friend who was born with a very non handicapping disability, yet is still visible. He was born with amniotic band syndrome with had caused a clubbing effect on two fingers on his hand. They look like short mini carrots instead of fingers.

Studying PT, I have convinced him how awesome it is, and I got him interested. Recently he asked if this would be disadvantageous a PT. First off, he has limited dexterity with fine movements. Typing is more challenging (yet extremely possible) because the length of his fingers are shorter, and he has no joints in them either (pesudoarthotic I believe).

My impression is that he may have trouble with perhaps a few manual treatments, but the bigger concern is if patients would receive him differently as a therapist, or if he would have trouble finding employment.

I understand that there is laws to protect people with disabilities but there is still a stigma about people with visible impairments, especially in such a hands on work setting.

I'm just wondering if anyone is school or out of school has heard of anyone in a similar situation so I can give him better advice. I told him not to let it hold him back if he was really interested, but I also don't know of anyone facing that sort of challenge. Any feedback would be great. Thanks

 

[Azimuthal]

That wouldn't stop me. As long as he provides good PT, I don't see many patients minding.

 

[GTT4DPT]

I did some observation in a hospital/outpatient setting where there was a PT who had only one arm and an OT who couldn't walk.

For the PT, I never saw him do any manual techniques, but he clearly had a lot of credibility when working with new amputees. He also helped patients customize assistance devices. I loved the time I saw him adapt the hand breaks on a wheeled walker for a young woman who'd lost both legs and most of her fingers to meningitis...previously I would have told you that you need two hands to retool a break system. Shows what I know.

So most anything is possible. As human beings we tend to get unsettled when confronted with anything atypical. But if you're working with a patient population that is experiencing atypical challenges, I wonder if it's less of an issue...

If he's really serious about it and wants some more context, maybe he could try to track down a practicing PT in his area who has similar challenges. Perhaps reach out to the head of the local district of the state chapter of the APTA and see if they know of anyone?:

http://apps.apta.org/custom/wstempl...title=Chapters and Sections&navID=10737421970

Best wishes for your friend.

 

[DPTHopeful921]

Was the PT with one arm already working as a PT when he/she lost their arm- bc that's a different story...