Growing up with a spinal cord injury.

Much of what we need to know to be independent adults is learned in the first five years of life. In the toddler, instead of reteaching learned skills, as we do with older spinal cord injury persons, we are teaching skills for the first time. It is therefore imperative to have a creative therapeutic team who can teach skills which were never acquired and encourage the child's cognitive growth as well as growth towards independence. This paper will include a case report of a 2 year-old C3-4 quadriplegic child rehabilitated through an interdisciplinary family-centered model of care. We will share some of the issues our team has encountered when "rehabilitating" very young children with spinal cord injuries based on the observations of the team members as well as the scant literature available. This will also include a parent's reflections of modification needed in family structure and roles.