<p>I recommended speech therapy a couple of months ago to you, and I still think that it's a viable health profession for you to look into. </p>
<p>It does seem as if PT requires a lot of physical movement and strength. I don't know what you are capable of doing physically or what the program requires. I am not sure whether someone can be trained only in one specific area of PT such as hand PT. My initial guess would be that the student would not be able to participate in the program while only participating in certain aspects of training (i.e. those related to hand PT). I think that your advisor was insensitive and went about his job badly. It is his responsibility to prepare you for the rigors of the field, make sure that you are informed, and make sure you want to and are able to succeed in the field. I do think he should have acted differently than the way you described. His concerns, though, do not seem to be unfounded. He should question whether you've thought this through completely, whether you are truly dedicated to working around or working with your disability for this job, and whether you will be physically capable of succeeding. I think it would be worse if he encouraged you into the program, didn't ask questions, and told you that your disability wouldn't be a problem if he believed otherwise.</p>
<p>I had PT with an athletic trainer in high school everyday for the duration of the sport (I was out for the season, but remained on the team). I had similar experiences as many of the other posters. Lots of moving around, lifting, pushing, walking, standing, bending, etc. This often included bracing herself on the floor with her legs while using her whole body's strength with the patient. I have no idea whether these things would be a problem for you, but there was a lot of leg and lower body movement and strength required while using the upper body to manipulate or provide resistance or whatever else. One of the trainers I worked with for a couple of weeks was incredibly strong. He was one of the trainers for the Boston Red Sox, so the brute strength and balance he needed throughout his body to provide adequate resistance was immense.</p>