United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi. I am new here. I have a delightful young friend who suffered BPI as a result of an accident at age 15. He had a nerve transplant not too long after the accident and did all of the physical therapy, etc. I have two questions that I am looking for help with. The first is that now at age 18, while he has full use of his hand and good forearm control, he can do nothing with his upper arm or elbow and has to move his lower arm with his good hand onto a table, etc. to use it. The upper arm and shoulder has little to no remaining musculature. Anyone in this circumstance out there? Might muscle transplant be an option?
The second question is about work and disabilities. He has only every made very token efforts to find a job because he is afraid that his one-handed methods will be too slow or possibly too clumsy - he is very self-conscious and conceals his injury. Any suggestions - job market is awful and he is looking for hourly college-student work.

His limitations sound just like my son's. Dustin has full use of his hand. His upper arm can only move when supported or out of gravity. Dustin has to use his right arm to move the left one into position. Dustin has other limitations from the accident, ie walking is slow and clumsy. He has however had jobs in Shopko's electronics dept., worked as summer help at Appleton Papers(he was in the maintenance shop), camp counselor. Saturday he will begin in Wal-mart's shoe dept. He hasn't had a lot of luck with the jobs because of the walking. He has an MCL, ACL and something else where the dr's said he shouldn't be walking more than 2 miles per day. I know there is a calling center near here and I suggested that for Dustin as it wouldn't require the walking. He also knows several foreign languages and I understand they pay better for those who do. Your friend could also try to sign up with the Division of Vocational Rehab. They will help to get or train him for jobs. They also work with employers to make any adjustments that your friend may need to be able to do a job. Dustin is in college full time and receives SSI so it has been ok that he hasn't had a permanent job at this phase. Many of the adult BPI's have jobs in all different fields.
Sue

Well..... that sounds familiar. I'm 31 now and had my accident 1yr 3 months ago. I have good hand control and decent forearm (now bicep too actually) but it feels like forever I had to use my right to put my left up onto a table. Most likely the physical therapy will not do much. Don't get me wrong I still work my arm DAILY! The stretching and exercising helps keep the joint loose, and if just for a brief moment, gets it off my side just hanging there. Plus I'll never give up hope that it'll one day spark and work again. I had Ulnar nerve surgery for mine (thats where some bicep has come back) Muscle transplant is probably not a viable option as typically the problem is that he's getting no electrical signal into the muscle through the nerve. I have a severely atrophied shoulder too.
A lot of going back to work is mental! Don't discount the physical though, he is probably still in pain often and hides it well or is used to it as I am. No one can deny him a position based on his impairment though, that's illegal. But I have the same obstacle, I feel somewhat clumsy at easy tasks, I hide mine a bit, and I'm slow now. The only thing I can say is that I'll know when I'm ready as will he, but my Mom frustrates me to no end when she asks me about it even though I know shes just concerned for me. Believe me, it's frustrating not doing much! He'll do something as soon as he feels he able. I can't wait to work again, never ever thought I'd say that!

Thank you for your ideas and support. This young man has so much potential, but he is so afraid of failure and rejection. He absolutely refuses to go to counseling of any type, which I was hoping might help him focus on overcoming these fears. He is finally convinced not to quit college, but is now using his classes as an excuse not to get a job. I am worried that the longer he puts this off and the older he gets with no job experience on his resume, the worse things will be
Does anyone know how to get job protection under Americans with Disabilities? I don't know how he gets qualified as having a disability. All I can find on the internet is about applying for Social Security, which he is definitely not disabled enough for.

Does his school have any/many job opportunities on campus? I know my school has lots of jobs available to students and almost all of them are BPI-friendly: working in the library, giving tours, working in the IT department, tutoring. I also worked in a photo studio, helping print out pictures, coating them, sorting them. Or working at a bank as teller.

It's a matter of figuring out what he absolutely can not do and then looking at what he can do. I know I'll never work in a clothing store because the folding and hanging is too much for me for me to do one-handed, but I'd love to work in a bookstore.

If you want, you can direct him my way - I'm 18 as well, although I've had my injury since I was 9 rather than 15 - so I can understand what he's going through.

Thank you very much - these are great ideas. His campus is a small branch college, but they might still have some things, especially if they understood why he might want help finding a particular type of job.

When you have looked for jobs, did you focus on posted positions that you thought would work, or did you mention limitations while searching? I have been working hard with him on the job hunt, but he won't let on to others why he won't consider some positions. Unfortunately it can sometimes seem like he is being picky or is above some jobs.

I have talked to him about this board - I'll have to try again to see if I can get him to visit. He is very private, but this is pretty anonymous:)

The degree of disability seems to be determined by each area on different scales. When Dustin went to the DVR he was graded a level 1 right away and moved to the top for aid. This is because he has several other problems in addition to his LTBPI. The DVR helps some with school and will do job training and help employers make adjustments to accomodate his diabilities. With SSDI they took over 100 days to make a decision as they were waiting for him to recover. Each one needed dr records to verify. As far as jobs Dustin has applied where he thinks he will be able to handle the work. He doesn't go into the injury much. He has worked some in retail. Shopko electronics dept. and now at Wal-mart. While he can handle the work one handed he is having difficulty with the standing 8 hours because of the MCL/ACL and ligament damage in one leg. I think if he talks with his worker at DVR they can work it out with the employers to make an extra break or sitting time for him to be able to continue to work. So far he hasn't asked for any of that though. Other jobs: he's done summer help at his dad's work which last yr he did grounds, so basically water plants, pull weeds, ride the mower. And special assignment 5S which was to organize and mark a place for all equipment to be kept. Also camp counselor but the walking became to much and he did have to quit that one. It was at our Y camp.
Sue