美国国家公共电台 NPR At 'High Five' Camp, Struggling With A Disability Is The Point

 

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

There's a summer camp for kids with disabilities that does things a little bit differently. Instead of accommodating the campers' physical challenges, therapists make activities a bit tougher. They're trying to strengthen the children's ability to navigate¹ the world. Blake Farmer of member station WPLN visited one of these camps.

BLAKE FARMER, BYLINE²: Twelve-year-old Priceless Garinger is repurposing a plastic spoon to scratch her elbow underneath³ a bright pink cast.

PRICELESS GARINGER: Right there - where you bend your arm, it itches⁴ right there.

FARMER: That itchy left arm is wrapped from shoulder to fingertips. This is her strong side. It's the other that's been a problem since she was born with cerebral⁵ palsy. Everyone in this day camp has a condition that's weakened one side of their body. Others have survived a brain tumor⁶ or stroke.

UNIDENTIFIED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST #1: Boom. There it is.

PRICELESS: Yeah, there it is.

FARMER: Priceless attempts a high-five with a new friend and takes her turn on the indoor obstacle course at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. She rides a modified zipline and drops into a pit of overstuffed pillows.

UNIDENTIFIED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST #2: Woohoo. Oh, let go. Yay.

FARMER: The occupational therapists cheer her on but don't rush to help.

UNIDENTIFIED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST #2: All right. Climb out.

FARMER: The struggle is the point. She finds a way out then lays down on a scooter, trying to propel herself with a hand that's hard to control.

UNIDENTIFIED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST #2: Put that hand flat.

PRICELESS: I'm not going anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST #2: You've got it. Go. Go.

FARMER: Her therapist gives her a little boost toward the finish line.

UNIDENTIFIED OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST #2: And hit that buzzer⁷ - record time.

FARMER: This kind of rehab is known as constraint⁸-induced movement therapy. It's increasingly used with kids who have cerebral palsy. But there haven't been big studies showing it's any better than traditional physical therapy. Researchers found the gains often go away, and some kids become overly frustrated⁹.

STEPHANIE FRAZER: If the families have never heard of it before, it's kind of like, what? You're going to cast their good arm and take away their really functional¹⁰ hand?

FARMER: That's occupational therapist Stephanie Frazer. She says constraint therapy can seem mean. This day camp started a decade ago as part of a research project at Vanderbilt University, but it was temporary and shut down when the study concluded. Frazer revived it in 2015 because she's a believer.

FRAZER: Whenever we're casting that good arm, the brain is like, oh, I have this other arm here. And they start using it more, and it starts creating pathways. And they actually make a lot of progress in a really short amount of time.

FARMER: Nudging the kids to use their nondominant arm is even part of snack time.

PRICELESS: Thank you.

FARMER: Campers stab blocks of cheese with pretzel sticks.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLOWING BUBBLES)

FARMER: Some blow bubbles in their juice, partly out of frustration¹¹. This is the third summer for Priceless, who wasn't exactly enthusiastic when she started. But she's old enough to understand how useful two hands can be.

PRICELESS: I want to play with my iPad and watch TV, to turn on the TV with the remote.

FARMER: The parents are even more motivated because they're thinking of adulthood¹² and independence. Laura Garinger is Priceless' mom.

LAURA GARINGER: Well, you know, she talks about wanting to drive. So she's going to need to have two hands to drive.

FARMER: And Priceless has big dreams that are hard for her mom to talk about.

GARINGER: She hopes to be a police officer. So sky's the limit. We'll see.

FARMER: It seems like the idea of that touches something. Why?

GARINGER: It's probably not realistic. But I always tell her she can do what she wants to do when she grows up. So we'll see.

FARMER: The first step for Priceless is strengthening her arm enough for a proper high-five, or even a two-arm hug.

For NPR News, I'm Blake Farmer in Nashville.

(SOUNDBITE OF LOW SONG, "SHAME")

PFEIFFER: This story is part of a reporting partnership¹³ between NPR, Kaiser Health News and Nashville Public Radio.

1 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

4 itches   

n.痒( itch的名词复数 )；渴望，热望v.发痒( itch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His wool shirt always itches him. 他的羊毛内衣总是使他发痒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This wool shirt itches my back. 这件羊毛衫使我背上发痒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

6 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

7 buzzer   

n.蜂鸣器；汽笛

参考例句：

• The buzzer went off at eight o'clock.蜂鸣器在8点钟时响了。
• Press the buzzer when you want to talk.你想讲话的时候就按蜂鸣器。

8 constraint   

n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物

参考例句：

• The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
• The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

11 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

12 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

13 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。