Facing Disability for Families Facing Spinal Cord Injuries

Facing Disability for Families Facing Spinal Cord Injuries A spinal cord injury affects the entire family. Our mission is to connect families dealing with paralysis with others just like them.

Like many projects of this nature, FacingDisability.com was born out of personal experience. In the summer of 1986, after diving into a swimming pool, our daughter, Vicki Hill, sustained a neck injury resulting in quadriplegia. During her rehabilitation, Vicki was fortunate to be able to participate in a peer- mentoring program. The program introduced her to other people who had sustained injuries like hers a few years before. They helped her learn how to think about her disability and live with her new body. They offered a lot more than well-meaning help and advice. They were the undeniably believable and unquestionably honest voices of experience. And they were an enormous help. But there was no peer-mentoring program to help her parents, family and friends to deal with the new life situations that they themselves were experiencing as a result of Vicki’s sudden disability. There is still virtually nothing today—no program focused on personally supporting the people around the injured person. What’s more, even today, there are many people with new spinal cord injuries like Vicki’s who are not able to participate in peer-mentoring programs. The lack of such programs is the reason behind FacingDisability.com.

🎧 Listen now: One late-night drive left Amber paralyzed and shaped her future in ways she never expected. ...
09/02/2025

🎧 Listen now: One late-night drive left Amber paralyzed and shaped her future in ways she never expected.

Amber was 15 when a late-night drive with her family ended in a crash that left her paralyzed. Years later, what happened that night would haunt her in ways ...

08/21/2025

A song of strength, hope and community.

From our Blog: 2025 Best Rehabilitation Hospitals - A total of 1,049 rehabilitation facilities were evaluated and ranked...
08/05/2025

From our Blog:
2025 Best Rehabilitation Hospitals - A total of 1,049 rehabilitation facilities were evaluated and ranked the top 50.

U.S. News & World Report has released its 2025 rankings of the top U.S. rehabilitation hospitals.

New Podcast Episode:Rob was a 17-year-old star football player with big plans for college. But one rainy afternoon on th...
07/29/2025

New Podcast Episode:

Rob was a 17-year-old star football player with big plans for college. But one rainy afternoon on the job, a crash left him paralyzed and forced him to trade touchdowns for something way tougher.

Rob was a 17-year-old star football player with big plans for college. But one rainy afternoon on the job, a crash left him paralyzed and forced him to trade...

The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab would like your help with some input on on some SCI fact sheets. See the image below for mor...
07/13/2025

The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab would like your help with some input on on some SCI fact sheets. See the image below for more. If interested please email: MSKTC@air.corg

From our Blog: The pain relieving drug being studied in this trial has emphasized its non-addictive profile. ...
06/10/2025

From our Blog: The pain relieving drug being studied in this trial has emphasized its non-addictive profile.

Neuropathic pain is a common but hard-to-treat condition affecting people living with SCI. Current treatments often have limited effectiveness and significant side effects.

New in our Blog: The documentary highlights the achievements of the disability rights movement, shifting the narrative f...
04/17/2025

New in our Blog: The documentary highlights the achievements of the disability rights movement, shifting the narrative from pity to progress.

“Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act” premiered on “American Experience” on PBS last week,

From our Podcast - "Jorge - FINDING NORMAL"Jorge was nine years old, and playing at a friend’s house when one of the kid...
04/17/2025

From our Podcast - "Jorge - FINDING NORMAL"
Jorge was nine years old, and playing at a friend’s house when one of the kids suddenly brought out a real gun…

Jorge was nine years old, and playing at a friend’s house when one of the kids suddenly brought out a real gun…Help us improve the "I Was a Wheelchair Kid" s...

New Podcast Episode: "Reveca; I Looked Into the Future"Reveca was just 13 when she was injured in an MVA. Listen as she ...
04/10/2025

New Podcast Episode: "Reveca; I Looked Into the Future"
Reveca was just 13 when she was injured in an MVA. Listen as she takes us through her back-to-school memories. Some of them are quite amazing!

After 13-year-old Reveca was injured, she changed her plans for the future, and then discovered she didn't have to.After listening, please take our two-minut...

It's so interesting to see how different kinds of people with paralysis get around.
04/08/2025

It's so interesting to see how different kinds of people with paralysis get around.

🚨We Need Your Input/Survey🚨Have you listened to the "I Was a Wheelchair Kid" podcast? If not, pick an episode. If you ha...
03/12/2025

🚨We Need Your Input/Survey🚨
Have you listened to the "I Was a Wheelchair Kid" podcast? If not, pick an episode. If you have, we’d love to hear what you think. Take 2 minutes to fill out this quick survey and help shape future episodes.
📢 Click below to listen and share your feedback.

Please listen to at least one episode and then tell us what you think by taking our 2 minute survey.

New in our blog: How experts predict the game-changing AI technology could be implemented...
03/06/2025

New in our blog: How experts predict the game-changing AI technology could be implemented...

Get ready, Artificial Intelligence (AI) could revolutionize rehabilitation.

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