Visiting with Matheny adult patient Rasheedah Mahali, clockwise from lower left, are: Jocelyne Munoz (glasses) and Michelle Pelaez, Bound Brook, NJ; Dayanna Mendoza, North Plainfield, NJ; Nancy Giamo, Bridgewater, NJ; Ina Geathers, Somerville, NJ; Daniela Lopez, Raritan, NJ; Sabrinna Miranda and Zoe Ledesman, North Plainfield; and Bethany Schultz, Hillsborough, NJ.
Health occupation students from the Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School in Bridgewater, NJ, regularly rotate through Matheny to observe treatment sessions in occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, music therapy, recreation therapy, dietary services and pharmacy services. During the most recent visit this month, the students, according to their instructor Kim Vasaturo, “were genuinely amazed at all the adaptive equipment and truly astonished at how, despite their disabilities, these young people (Matheny patients) are just like them.”
Among the activities the students experienced were driving motorized wheelchairs, riding on adaptive bicycles and getting raised into a wheelchair by Matheny’s overhead lift system. The SCVTS students are encouraged to connect conventional classroom instruction with work-linked experiences.
