Author Archives: rarigby

When I walked into headway for my second volunteer experience I noticed something was off… there was no one there! Well there were a few people, but the volunteers for that day outnumbered the members 2:1. Was this just case of craft day not being very popular or was something else wrong? I think the occupational therapist that came to our class a few days later may have revealed the real reason. HandyDARTs cost quite a bit of money. With each round trip to headway (or anywhere else for that matter) costing $5.50, and the members having a very limited living allowance, I doubt the members can make it to headway as much as they would like to. It’s upsetting to hear that HandyDART fare is as much as a bus fare. I thought it was a free service provided by the government, but it turns out it is a part of Translink, which explains the ridiculous price. To add to my frustration I found out they don’t accept Government Funded Annual Bus Passes (http://www.eia.gov.bc.ca/PROGRAMS/bus-pass.html). Considering many of the members rely on headway for their social and recreational needs and many are unable to work to make enough money for the bus, changes should be made.

As the volunteers were meeting in the office one of the members came in saying she didn’t feel well and needed to head home. As one of the staff called for a HandyDART I got her a glass of water and chatted with her. This member had a language deficit but she knew sign language, and was happy to teach me a bit of it. I’ve always wanted to learn American Sign Language (ASL). All I knew before hand was how to say “yes” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo1ErhNEWDU) or “no” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFRuI1OzzBk), but she sowed me a bunch of signs from the whole alphabet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M1ky9_nm4Y), to “family” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sqq90cBOOA). She said she has had to relearn ASL 3 time since her injury. It must be frustrating not being able to retain something you work hard to learn, but she didn’t seem discouraged. It was lots of fun learning from her, and I wish she could have stayed longer.

When it was time to start the crafts we still had more staff/volunteers than members. We were supposed to paint coffee cups, but the paint wasn’t sticking to the cups! Instead we glued coloured paper to them, which seemed to work better. One volunteer helped a member with impaired fine motor movements. I cut some extra paper into small squares, and decorated the half finished demonstration mug. As usual the conversation was great. We talked about our favourite movies and books, to current events. Some members had a hard time keeping up with the conversation, but it was nice how everyone was so inclusive in keeping them connected to the conversation.

Time flew by and before I knew it, it was time to head home. I hope we have a chance to go back again before the course is finished.

I honestly didn’t know exactly what to expect my Headway experience would be like. However, I had heard nothing but good things from students who had already volunteered, so I was excited. I arrived early, before any of the other members had shown up, so after the quick orientation I had some time to look around. I expected the place to have the usual slightly cold and sterile community center feeling, but I was presently surprised how homey it felt. I love how one of the rooms had one wall dedicated to the member’s art projects. Some of them were beautiful!

The staff member said that people had been showing up later than usual recently so we wouldn’t start until some members showed up. As they did I was surprised at the diversity of the members abilities. Some had problems speaking yet still communicated quite effectively (one in particular was very funny). Others loved to talk. I had a lovely conversation with 2 of the members. While their speech was sometimes slightly disorganized, you could still understand. We talked about lots of things, but mostly education. One was in an early childhood education program. I don’t recall if it was before or after their accident, either way they were intent on continuing their studies. That got me thinking about how accessible higher education is for people with TBI. I found a great article; the beginning is very basic TBI stuff, but it goes into a good discussion about education plans and strategies. Worth a read! http://www.brainline.org/content/2008/10/student-brain-injury-achieving-goals-higher-education_pageall.html.

When cooking the breakfast both the staff and members were giving me a hard time (all in good fun of course). One member in particular was very enthusiastic about cooking. He left hardly anything for me to help out with, but I did my best! Most members sort of stayed in the dining area doing their own thing. Those who were cooking didn’t seem to mind. One member, who had a language disability, was working on a program on an iPad. It would play an audio recording of a word and have the letters scrambled, and the player had to unscramble the word (I think this was the app: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd20GbDpW3E ). It was interesting to see how word complexity did not really correlate with the member’s abilities. While they unscrambled “cupboard” with ease, they struggled with words like “iron”. It is interesting how language impairments can be complicated like that. When that member was done they passed it on to another who used it to make cute Photoshop alterations of photos of other members. I’ve heard of tablets being effective for brain training exercises for patients with dementia, and it was interesting to see it in action in a similar context.

The trip allowed me to break down my preconceived notions of what someone with TBI looks and acts like. I had a blast volunteering there, and can’t wait to do it again!