<p>Okay, so my weekend was a bust. It started with a call from my child one that her apartment at college had been robbed ( she was not home), and then the next day it went down hill. My son had gone for a week with a friend at a lake four hours from home and a bunch of them were fooling around. A kid picked up my kid, dropped him to the ground, and fell on him.</p>
<p>I did not even find out about it until nearly 24 hours later. Long story short: someone drives my son home, and I take one look at him and tell him to get in the car. He had a dislocated/broken clavicle and it was behind the sternum. Local hospital transfers him to trauma unit because of the location of the clavicle. Emergency surgery. All went well. </p>
<p>However, he will now start his freshman year six hours from home with his arm in a sling, yes dominant arm. Any suggestions for helping him make this work? He will have the sling for two months.</p>
<p>Poor kid! I would contact the school’s disabilities office immediately, with the aim of securing some accommodations, such as a permission to record classes (or even a note-taker), someone to type assignments from his dictation, extra time to submit work, etc. I’m sure there are other solutions I can’'t conjure up, but no doubt they’ve dealt with this kind of problem before, probably most often after winter break when ski and snowboarding risks abound. My best to your son–someday this will be just one of those stories he tells his kids, of the “you think you have it hard?” variety.</p>
<p>OMG – how terrible – first, how is it “fun” for someone to pick up your son and drop him? Then fall on him? Were they drunk? Good thing they didn’t fall on his neck.</p>
<p>Not that it matters. My daughter fell during XC practice and smashed her right hand (also dominant) about 3 weeks into freshman year. It was swollen to twice its normal size and she couldn’t move her fingers for 6 weeks. She told me she had friends in every class who were taking notes for her. You can’t count on that with your son – can he record lectures (i.e., tape them)? Email all his profs and explain his situation and ask for some assistance?</p>
<p>Don’t get me started on the dumb part of this story…How could five adults look at a kid whose right collarbone is not visible and who can’t lift his arm and not think he should be taken to an emergency room? I have no medical training, but I figured that out quickly.</p>
<p>Oh, BTW, the kid who did it is really sorry. The collar bone could have severed the artery that runs back there. It could have been much worse.</p>
<p>Disability Support at his college will give him temporary services, yeah. I have an appointment for the day he moves in.</p>
<p>if your son needs help taking notes, he could use one of those pens that records lectures…I am blanking on what they are called, but my nephew uses one routinely.</p>
<p>All the suggestions regarding reaching out to the disability office are great. I would actually see if you can speak with them on the phone and try to settle the accommodations before you get to the school. You will have a lot to do when you arrive and why spend that time doing this then. Good luck, and don’t worry. Everyone will want to help him!</p>
<p>BTW-- maybe you can move in at an earlier time and they can get someone to help you guys carry everything up. also, can he carry a knapsack?</p>
<p>Ouch! Even if the disabilities office can’t directly help him out (I’m pretty sure they can, however!), they can probably put him in touch with someone he could pay privately to take notes.</p>
<p>Silver lining: EVERYONE will know his name. Other students, professors, cafeteria workers - and they’ll all be sympathetic. Make sure he comes up with a handful of snappy remarks for those icebreakers, and have him practice not rolling his eyes as he has to tell the story of “how it happened” and “how long will you be out of commission” over and over again.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ve already thought of this, but he should go up to each prof after the first class with whatever official disabilities paperwork he has, and set up a time to discuss accommodations. 99.99% of people will be very helpful.</p>
<p>(And btw, hugs to your D. Being robbed is SCARY, even when you’re not home.)</p>
<p>There is a pen called Live Scribe that sounds pretty cool. It records and you take notes and can do a key word search later. He will just have to get permission. We need to check the recording laws in Ohio.</p>
<p>I think I will have him e-mail his professors. He cannot carry a backpack on that shoulder. </p>
<p>The woman in the disabilities office was wonderful. She will set everything up for him. I will get the form to the doctor tomorrow and he can fax it to the disabilities office; then they will make a plan. I told them that he should be calling, but he is still on painkillers.</p>
<p>I know it will all be okay, but as a mom I just want everything to be great for him to start. ;)</p>
<p>Hello MD Mom. My D had to deal with having her dominant arm in a shoulder sling a couple years ago and found a rolling backpack was very helpful for carting around her laptop (which she used for taking notes in class).</p>
<p>Will your insurance cover doctor visits and physical therapy in the college’s local area?</p>
<p>Our insurance will need to be split. I knew that before, but it will be a real trick with therapy there and follow-up here. I have to talk with someone from insurance. That is on my list for tomorrow.</p>
<p>I thought about the rolling backpack, which absolutely would be a good idea. I am hoping it will be something he is willing to use.</p>
<p>Dragon might help too. You dictate and your words are typed on the computer.</p>
<p>Check out the Live Scribe Pen before buying. We felt a little overwhelmed by it! </p>
<p>Since he cannot take notes, a simple recording device might work too (like Zoom H-2).</p>
<p>Sometimes it helps to give the MD a list of accommodations to put in his or her letter, but with something like this, that is straightforward and temporary (though serious), I think the disabilities office will be great about it, as you have already found.</p>
<p>If his classes have TAs, he may want to talk to them too. When i was doing my PhD, as a TA I had a student had her arm in a sling for 2 months. </p>
<p>The professor allowed her to record the classes, but since I knew her arm was broken I was also able to give her my notes.</p>
<p>Oh, no, MDMom! I feel so bad for your D and your S. </p>
<p>I don’t have much to offer. But, please encourage your S to wear his sling all the time. It’s an important visual clue to everyone nearby that he needs a wide clearance. Both my D and my H had fx clavicles recently. They said the sling really helped. </p>
<p>Oh, and unfortunately, showering will be very difficult for a few weeks. I don’t have any advice on that, though. I helped both my D and my H. Your poor S probably won’t have that kind of help readily available. :(</p>
<p>I have to ask…Was this at Deep Creek? I know of 3 ppl who broke bones there this summer. Your S would be the 4th. :p</p>
<p>Luckily, we have the shower sprayer that comes off the wall. I would not have included it in the shower remodel, but the contractor suggested it. It is so handy for after surgery.</p>
<p>I have already been telling him that healing thoroughly and correctly is the most important part of this process. I know he will feel like doing more than he should before the healing is complete.</p>