Kerri Morgan Research Paper

Demographic
Kerri Morgan is a forty-three-year-old woman who lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Kerri was born in New York, and at a young age, her family relocated to St. Louis. St. Louis is unique in that it has the Special School district. Upon arrival, Kerri’s parents fought hard for inclusion. As a result, Kerri attended a mainstream school throughout her primary and secondary education. After high school, Kerri attended college at Texas Christian University where she received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She then received a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy and a PhD in Movement Science from Washington University. Currently, she is an assistant professor in the occupational therapy program at her alma mater, Washington University.
Transverse myelitis is an inflammation across the width of the spinal cord, and her condition affected her vertebra from C6 downward. At the start, she lost complete function from the chest down, but the outcomes of transverse myelitis vary. Some some individuals will regain full function, but some do not regain any. Others only regain partial function. Kerri falls into this category. She does not have sensation from the waist down, so she uses a wheelchair. Also, she stated that her upper extremities are strong, but her hands and wrists are weak (K. Morgan, personal communication, 2017, March 8th). In addition, her top two abdominal muscles fire, along with back muscles that spasms but are not in her control. Due to the diagnosis at a young age, Kerri is accepting of her condition and states that, “I do not know life any different, and that this is my normal” (K. Morgan, personal communication, 2017, March
Kerri has taught at Washington University since 2003. She teaches a course on adaptive technology in the Occupational therapy program and a course in Neurology in the School of Medicine. Through the occupation of teaching, Kerri has the ability to share her knowledge and passion for adaptive technology and mentor future practitioners.
Later on in life, she discovered the meaningful occupation of playing wheelchair rugby. She was first introduced to wheelchair rugby through a friend, and she began to play the sport for recreation. The sport allowed her the opportunity to be competitive for the first time in her life. Her competitive fire inspired her to train, and later on, she even tried out for the Paralympic national rugby team.
Despite not making the team due to her small stature, the experience introduced her to another meaningful occupation. The coaches for the Paralympic rugby team encouraged Kerri to try out for the wheelchair track Paralympic team because of her fast sprint times. Kerri had never competed in the sport, but it was a natural fit. After her first tryout, Kerri made the team and traveled to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Now, Kerri continues to train and compete at the highest level. Kerri stated that she trains, “two to three times a day and six days a week” (K. Morgan, personal communication, 2017, March 8th). As a result of her training, she has participated in three Paralympics games and has medaled in