The Fall 2015 session of the Amputee Walking School convened on October 21, 2015 at the University of Maryland Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Institute (UMROI) on Kernan Drive. This event, more formally known as Advanced Gait Training for Individuals with Lower Extremity Amputations, is co-hosted by the Amputee Support Group, UMROI and Dankmeyer twice a year. Amputee Walking School is designed to bring Paralympians and self-styled “professional amputees” Todd Schaffhauser and Dennis Oehler together with other amputees and their families, physical therapists, prosthetists and support staff - to teach and practice training exercises for lower limb amputees. Todd and Dennis, both lower limb amputees, co-founded the Amputee Walking School (AWS) in 1989 to take amputees beyond traditional rehabilitation.
The session this fall welcomed some guests from the Liberian Amputee Soccer Team. Some of these team members have elected to receive some patient care here before returning to their country. Other participants have completed more than one session of Walking School. Indeed, the goal is for patients to come to multiple programs in order to gauge their progress after any continued therapy and practice of the exercises.
Walking School always welcomes new participants. As soon as the next session date is determined, we will let you know!
