title: Thinking through every step: how people with spinal cord injuries relearn to walk.
abstract: In this article we explore how people with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) create meaning out of their changing bodies as they undergo a therapeutic intervention called locomotor training (LT). Therapeutic interventions like LT are used to promote the recovery of walking ability among individuals with iSCI. The chronological nature of this study--interviews at three points throughout the 12-week intervention--enhances understanding of the recovering self after spinal cord injury. Drawing on a constructivist theoretical framework, we organize data according to three narrative frames. Participants interpreted LT as (a) a physical change that was meaningful because of its social significance, (b) a coping strategy for dealing with the uncertainty of long-term recovery, and (c) a moral strategy to reconstitute the self. We offer findings that lay the conceptual groundwork for generating new knowledge about what is important to people with iSCI as they relearn how to walk.
authors.affiliation: University of Florida, Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Law, 3219 Turlington Hall, PO Box 117330, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. megganjordan@gmail.com
authors.forename: Meggan M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berkowitz
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hannold
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Velozo
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Behrman
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008606:Mental Processes; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D010807:Physical Endurance; D036301:Qualitative Research; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*; D012649:Self Concept; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: constructivism; disability / disabled persons; embodiment / bodily experiences; lived body; lived experience; physical therapy; recovery; rehabilitation; spinal cord injury; symbolic interactionism