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Dear Greg,
I have posted before that when I was in rehab for four months .... I was assigned a "peer counselor". If it were not for him I am sure that I would have a much different outlook toward life than if it was not for him. He was also a quadriplegic and, at that time [1980], he had already been a quad 10 years. I was only 15 years old and he was the most upbeat, funny, and generous person that had come into my life! I was three hours away from my home and his visits were the highlights of my days.
I am not sure whether he was paid to go into the rehab Hospital to do/offer peer counseling or if he was a volunteer. Myself and one other guy were the only two quadriplegics in the whole rehab hospital near Albany, New York. And for some reason he really got attached to my family and we became friends and stayed friends long, long, long after my accident.
Even though he lived three hours away ... he would come down every so often to visit us because he was able to drive himself. We also kept in touch via letters and phone calls. I can't explain it but he was the best thing that could have happened to me especially with the severity of my injury and my age.
There are certain people who come and go in your life and he is a definite person who will never be forgotten. He was a pivotal turning point in my outlook on life.
The one thing that I always remember was that he was full of so many jokes. And he was not overbearing -- he was really funny! Along with his personality plus!
So that was my experience "receiving" peer counseling help.
Next .........
When I finally got back into the world and finished high school and college and went on to work ... my first job was at an Independent Living Center. I was not the peer counselor for the center but I did my fair share of counseling parents of children with disabilities because that was part of 'my' job.
Anyway, at the time I was hired ... there were five or six of us that were all hired at the same time because of a federal grant. One of the employees title WAS "Peer Counselor." She was an individual with brittle bone disease. To sum up her responsibilities as a peer counselor ... she met with anybody with a disability who is interested in being counseled or helped or assisted by talking to somebody with a similar disability or to be part of a support group.
If you click on STIC Services ... it will show you a list of what our center provided. When I worked there ... there were only 15 of us. But now that they have opened a home and community-based waiver VIA the center .. the number of employees is well over 40! Every once in awhile I will e-mail my old boss see what is up with everybody.
The only thing that I disliked about my job was that I began to be in a lot of pain about six months after beginning. So it made working hell. I did not know then that it was the beginning of being diagnosed with syringomyelia.
And the other thing was that I have a Bachelor of Science Degree and my position as an 'Education Advocate' only required an associate's degree. I was paid by salary but when I broke it down I was only being paid $7.50 an hour! Unskilled workers get that! But it was the only job I could find at the time and I never searched any further because of the pain that became a part of my life.
Hope that helps!
Lori
-------Original Message-------
Date: 06/05/06 13:27:52
Subject: [QUAD-L] pEER mENTORING
I want to get more active. I just talked with a rehab nurse who is putting me on the AZ SCI Newsletter. She mentioned Peer Mentoring. Has anyone been involved with that? Either the mentor or mentored. I know I never wanted to talk with other quads when I was in rehab, but my friend really liked it.
Greg
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