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Rehabmart.com $25,000 Scholarship Fund Winners

Rehabmart Scholarship Home   Winners

Madison Lee

School: The University of Texas at Austin
Major: Communication Sciences & Disorders Speech-Language Pathology

As a child, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. The daily pain and decrease of my physical abilities has given me a deep empathy and compassion for all people with disabilities. While I always knew wanted to help others, studying and working in speech-language pathology has developed my passion for disability rights. Currently, I am majoring in speech-language pathology with a concentration on ethics & leadership in healthcare at the University of Texas at Austin. I will use my education to help people with communication disorders through speech-language therapy and by pushing for meaningful legislation surrounding healthcare policy.
When I received my diagnosis, I was too young to comprehend the profound impact Rheumatoid Arthritis would have on my life. As the disease progressed, I lost the ability to play sports and keep up with my peers. As a young adult, I lost my ability to quickly write, type, and walk across campus. Over the past year, I have lost my ability to talk, eat, and sleeping without pain or difficulty. I will receive double jaw joint replacements this December to compensate for the deterioration of my jaw. Though I have lost some abilities and many others have changed, my disability has given me the unique ability to empathize with people with communication disorders, and emboldened my passion to advocate for those that cannot speak for themselves.
As a college freshman, I joined the National Speech-Language and Hearing Association (NSSLHA), and began volunteering at a local non-profit speech therapy clinic, which serves under-insured stroke survivors. I developed a deep passion for helping people with communication disorders regain their speech, confidence, and social skills. A year later, I am now the service director of the NSSLHA, and I coordinate all NSSHLA student volunteers with the non-profit. Working with the clients has shown me the deep inequities that exist within our healthcare system. Beneficial treatments like physical, occupational, and speech therapy are often unavailable to low-income individuals. Strokes are the number one cause of disability in this country. I want to advocate for people with communication disorders, especially stroke survivors, so they can receive the treatment they deserve and ultimately reclaim their hobbies, jobs, and lives.
In addition to my elected position as NSSLHA service chair, I am a member of Disability Advocacy Student Coalition. This group of students raises awareness for problems faced by students with disabilities, and fights campus legislation to improve the status of disabled persons on campus. I am also a member of Texans with Autoimmune Diseases, a student organization that focuses on the struggles faced by students balancing health issues and academics.
As a clinical speech-language pathologist I will give people with communication disorders their voice back. With my clinical experience and concentration in the healthcare ethics and leadership, I will gain the tools to affect meaningful change healthcare policy. Throughout my disease, I have excelled academically and personally. I should be selected for the AAHD scholarship committee because I have turned a painful and debilitating experience into a way to help others succeed. My disability has pushed me to become a better student, a better person, and a better advocate for other people with disabilities.


Essay: Adapted Eating and Drinking Utensils

As a person with a disability, I know the struggles disabled persons face functioning in a world designed for typically abled people. I am majoring in speech-language pathology so I can improve the lives of people with communication disorders. A large part of my future profession is fitting my patients with medical devices to accommodate their disabilities. The medical device that I believe makes the biggest difference in the lives of people with disabilities is adapted eating and drinking utensils.
I volunteer twice a week at a non-profit speech therapy clinic for low-income people with aphasia, also known as dysphasia. After a stroke or traumatic brain injury, many people struggle to feed themselves because of muscle weakness or swallowing difficulties. Every day tasks can become impossible to accomplish. Regular cups and utensils may be unmanageable and even dangerous as they can lead to aspiration, food or liquid entering the airway. These utensils allow clients at the non-profit to complete these tasks that once seemed unfeasible. Adapted cups and utensils allow people with aphasia to feed themselves, giving part of their independence back.
For children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms, fitting in with peers can be a huge source of self-esteem. If a child is unable to feed himself or herself, the child is likely to feel “different” or excluded. Accommodating the child with adapted eating and drinking utensils allows him or her to gain independence and feel more included with his or her more typically abled peers.
I believe the future of adapted eating and drinking instruments lies in self-balancing utensils. Debilitating diseases and disorders such as strokes, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease and more leave people with severe balance and motor control issues. Researches are currently designing and testing self-stabilizing cups, spoons, and forks. These tools can and will revolutionize how medical professionals treat people with disabilities. Even simple adapted devices empower people with disabilities to live more independently. This is part of the reason why websites like RehabMart are so vital – RehabMart gives people with disabilities access to medical devices that can dramatically improve their lives. While all medical devices are important to therapy and treatment, adapted eating and drinking utensils are a small change that can have an incredibly significant impact on a person’s life.