Not a Hopeless Cause

Alex's story of his journey with ALS is indeed a moving one. It is incredible to see how rapid the deterioration of ALS occurs. This assignment originally caught my eye because of the fact that the cause of ALS disease is unknown and usually occurs very quickly leading to death. Diseases like these catch my attention because I believe that many times individuals with a disease that cause certain decline in the body get overlooked in a therapy setting due to the fact that regardless of the therapy that occurs, decline in the client will still happen. However, it is vitally important to remember that regardless of the deterioration that will occur in the individual, that individual is still a human and they are not hopeless. This can obviously be seen in Alex's case. Alex can be seen throughout the documentary interacting with his kids and his wife. Specifically theres is a segment within the documentary when Alex is playing "Hungry Hippos" with is son and has adapted to playing this game through using his foot instead of his hand to cause the Hippo to retract. Another segment that attributes to the fact that Alex is still human and not defined by his disease is during the segment when he is watching football and the Seahawks score. Alex proceeds to celebrate the winnings by doing a victory dance in his wheelchair. When these segments are shown, it is obvious that Alex is still a human, and still deserves to not be deemed a hopeless case. Individuals who have been diagnosed with ALS and other diseases like it, have feelings, cognition, and motivation that can be encouraged by the people around them. Another important motivating factor that rides throughout the documentary is Alex's belief in God. It would be easy for an occupational therapist to write off religion and tip toe around the subject when it comes up with a client, but in the case of Alex, his entire life and motivation is built on his religion. If the therapist ignored his religion, the holistic approach of the occupational therapy profession would be reduced to treating a hopeless disease. This shows that there is incredible importance in keeping in mind that religion is more to people than just an idea that they have about life, it dictates how they live their life. Health professionals in all settings should see this documentary in order that we may not reduce any individual to be defined by their disease.

References
Henderson, W. (2018). Alex Coriell's Journey With ALS. ALS News Today. Retrieved From      https://alsnewstoday.com/2018/02/01/alex-coriells-journey-with-als/?utm_source=ALS+News&utm_campaign=856209f0b7-RSS_FRIDAY_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0593028b75-856209f0b7-71721017

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