Department Overviews

The Center is divided internally, for instruction purposes, into four departments: Counseling, Independent Living Skills (ILS), Mobility and Fitness (MOB) and Speech, Language and Communication (Speech).
These departments are led respectively by a rehabilitation counselor, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, and a speech, language pathologist. The Center’s departments mirror the roles that comprise multi-disciplinary teams typically found in clinical rehabilitation settings. Art and recreational therapy are nested in the ILS and Counseling departments.

From the perspective of community college accounting and the cataloguing of classes at Cabrillo, the Center’s program constitutes one class with many sections. The college-certified formal curriculum documents the class.

Clicking on the headings below will bring you to
an index of classes and detailed course descriptions for each department.

Counselor with student during intake.The Stroke Center experience starts in the Counseling Department. The counselors are the first people to meet families and potential students. Initially, they arrange tours and intake interviews where they determine if the Center may be appropriate for the prospective student. Next, they arrange and coordinate a full-day evaluation. During this evaluation day, each member of the multi-disciplinary team assesses students. Simultaneously, students are assessing the appropriateness of the Center to meet their needs. If the Center is the right choice from the perspective of both the prospective student and the evaluation team, counselors assist students in clarifying their educational goals. If the Center is not appropriate, they spend the concluding hour of the evaluation day, providing support and information regarding alternative placements.

Counselors continue to be available through ongoing classes and caregiver groups, using their expertise to help students and families navigate the rough patches and unexpected turns along the rehabilitation journey.

Diane teaching counseling class.Stroke survivors and those living with a chronic acquired disability have serious readjustments to make in their lifestyles. Families and friends have to make equally profound readjustments. Rehabilitation success depends on both the individual with the disability and the efforts of those who are close to them. Support groups and classes are provided for both Center students and their caregivers.

Counseling and Recreation classes at the Center provide students opportunities:

  • to develop new friendships.
  • to express and feel comfortable with feelings.
  • to deal with altered relationships.
  • to widen interests.
  • to improve communication skills.
  • to improve understanding of reality of physical condition.
  • to experience safe ways to mainstream back into the community.
  • to become increasingly independent.
  • to improve quality of life by taking responsibility for self as much as possible.
  • to understand the dynamics of illness and aging.
  • to explore varying ways to enhance self-esteem.
  • to explore varying methods of stress reduction and relaxation.

Recreation classes at the Center focus on the healing power of play.

Student in cooking class.The goal of the ILS department is to assist students in becoming as independent as they wish to be. The underlying philosophy is one of Occupational Performance. In other words, all activities are designed to be meaningful and purposeful to the individual student. Functional tasks, based on careful task analyses, are keys to the curriculum. Task analyses are done to accommodate and strengthen vestibular system function, sensation, gross and fine motor movement (particularly in the upper extremities), motor planning, and cognition/problem solving. Activities are designed to be individually meaningful and to lead to greater involvement with family and friends.

Students working in ILS room.Students are urged to identify problem areas in tasks of independent living. Techniques are taught to increase independence in areas of self-care, home management, leisure and, occasionally, vocational skills. Upper extremity exercise classes are provided in this department,
as well as classes designed to assist students in adapting to and compensating for perceptual limitations.

Students in gardening class.Students at the Center are predominately interested in developing new leisure skills and exploring their creative potential. Fully half of the instructional emphasis is on creative leisure skill development. Self-care and work-related skills make up the balance.

Upper Extremity Exercise class.Classes are designed to:

  • increase students' independence or adaptation level of involvement in activities of daily living.
  • provide opportunities for students to participate in activities that are meaningful to them.
  • provide opportunities for practical problem solving and skill building to reach their goals.
  • explore developmental tasks appropriate to the stage of their life.
  • provide a niche or place in a supportive community.
  • explore creativity and become more curious about new possibilities.
  • encourage the pushing of boundaries.

Mobility and Fitness

MOB class with parallel bars.Classes in the Mobility and Fitness department provide students opportunities to learn and practice remediation exercises and activities in order to maximize their functional mobility and physical potential preparatory to increasing independence in the community.

Students riding adapted exercise bikes.A variety of classes are offered daily. Students learn and practice exercises and activities to reduce spasticity and to improve muscle strength, coordination, flexibility, balance, mobility, gait and endurance. Many classes incorporate the concepts of the Neuro-developmental Treatment (NDT or Bobath) approach. This approach focuses on the development of normal coordination of movement as the key to obtaining the best possible functional outcome

Students walking outside.Physical therapists are generally concerned with the learning of motor skills within the context of functional tasks. The role of the physical therapist is to incorporate physical skills into activities leading to increasing levels of independence. At the Center, this is done in a group instructional setting rather than a "hands-on" therapeutic medical environment. Classes are taught at various ability levels with emphasis on improving functional mobility (transfers, wheelchair mobility, walking), balance, strength, flexibility, coordination and endurance. In addition, certain classes emphasize injury and fall prevention, caregiver instruction, and relaxation techniques.

Imagine finding yourself plunged into a world of jumbled communication because brain damage from a stroke or head injury has left you with aphasia. Or, imagine the gradual decline in memory, cognition and speech production that comes slowly with Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis or other progressive diseases. Whether the changes are sudden, and unexpected, or come about more slowly, they are devastating to both the individual and to their families and friends.

Students singing.A great deal of what makes life worthwhile is received, processed and expressed through language, predominately speech, reading and writing. In fact, the most significant factor differentiating humans from other species is our ability to process language.

The overriding goal of all of the Center's speech, language and communication classes is to empower students to utilize a host of compensatory strategies so that they may actively communicate and participate in activities of daily living that are crucial to their quality of life.

Merritt teaching.When a lack of significant progress prompts a termination of medically based speech therapy, the need and desire to communicate has not ended. Family and friend’s frustration have not ended either. Unfortunately, the tendency for many people is to begin to avoid communication and complex social situations. Classes at the Center focus on the social and interactive nature of speech and language and often engage the participation of family and friends.

Group classes plunge the student into a new world where they share an empathetic environment with others coping with similar problems. It serves as a catalyst for communication. This solution-focused, social approach to speech and language therapy is very successful. And, at the Center, students have lots of opportunities to practice their emerging skills and strategies in a supportive environment with other students and with instructors in other classes. The overriding goal for everyone involved is to improve independent communication and help the student open his/her world.

Students in computer class.Class sessions themselves are always about giving the students the stage to create conversation. Then, helping students identify strategies and strengths. It is vital to always work from student’s strengths, guiding them to identify and become very practiced with their own strengths.

This kind of therapy incorporates non-verbal strategies. These are avenues that may not have been tapped earlier and especially in social groups. These strategies include pantomime, gestures, drawing, and use of props. The use of mime can be very helpful, but often does not appear spontaneously.

Writing and drawing can be another important alternative to oral speech, often giving clues to facilitate the interaction with family and friends.

Students practice and learn new alternatives by trying each others’ strategies. They also learn to take control of a new communication situation by learning to notify the listener that they have had a stroke or that they have another form of speech challenge. The listener is then alerted to actively participate in the communication process. Lots of counseling is involved in speech and language classes.

Students without obvious speech challenges also take classes in this department when they want to improve other communication skills. Choir, computer and discussion classes assist students in increasing attention, concentration and memory.
We are grateful to Congressman Sam Farr and the US Department of Education,
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation for the funding support that made this website possible.