Mark Desmond & High Hopes Head Injury Program
High Hopes is the first brain injury program in the country to provide desperately needed services to hundreds of people who need help. They own ten Quadricisers and use them daily. Their goal is to help patients, referred to as “students” at their facility, learn how to take steps, to work on arm and leg extension, and to work on left brain/right brain patterning. “These machines are exceptionally good and really make a huge difference to our students,” says Mark Desmond, Director of High Hopes Head Injury Program.
Patterning was invented in the 1950s and it took five people do what the Quadriciser does. Desmond says, “Being able to help more than one person at a time is phenomenal.” Their physical therapists agree and say it is great for them because it takes a load off of having to physically do all the patterning themselves. One therapist talks about how students want to go faster on the Quadriciser. “They try to trick us into getting it up to a speed they want and they think they can handle. They all love it. We love it,” she says.
The Quadriciser is not a machine that students at High Hopes shy away from. Desmond says, “It’s always important to have students enjoy being on the machine that’s benefiting them at the same time. They love being on the machine, they love participating at High Hopes and they love participating on the Quadriciser. For our students to be able to move a little further, to reach across the table, to grab their own food and bring it to their mouth is a major step in the right direction. This machine allows us to see movement as well as gross movement and fine motor movement, so it has been very beneficial.”
Another benefit of the Quadriciser is gait training. The students at High Hopes are wheelchair bound and they want to walk again. Using the Quadriciser is a way to repeat walking steps. The machine allows the therapist to change positions during therapy; students can be leaned back and put in a gait position where they are actually taking steps. By doing this, the students are using the same muscles and repetition. With brain injury, repetition is very important.
The optimal amount of time on the machine is close to an hour. At High Hopes, there are students who are on it several times a day. A physical therapist at High Hopes says that students come early, park their wheelchair, so they can get on the Quadriciser first. He points out that they have seen numerous physical improvements but one great thing about the Quadriciser is mentally. He says, “Students who come in brand new are very timid. They don’t want to move, they don’t want to be helped but then they get on the Quadriciser and they love it. They get on and they are ready for the next day, to go on it again. It’s a great tool. It’s a great machine.”
High Hopes is located in Tustin, California.
