{"id":66483,"date":"2008-04-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uris-gateway-cafe-opens-doors-for-survivors-of-traumatic-brain-injury\/"},"modified":"2008-04-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-04-28T00:00:00","slug":"uris-gateway-cafe-opens-doors-for-survivors-of-traumatic-brain-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2008\/04\/uris-gateway-cafe-opens-doors-for-survivors-of-traumatic-brain-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Gateway Caf\u00e9 opens doors for survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 28, 2008 – John Downey and Patrick Surowice enter the Gateway Caf\u00e9 on a recent Saturday around noon. John heads straight for a Coca-Cola from the vending machine. Getting his dollar straightened out takes a bit of work, but eventually he has his Coca -Cola to sip on. Patrick\u2019s friend picks up an iced tea for him while he settles down around the table.<\/p>\n


\nJohn suggests a card game and starts to explain his favorite, scat. While explaining, it is difficult for him to get out certain words. It takes him more than 10 minutes to describe, a bit longer than average. Even while playing the card game, people are still a bit confused until they finally get into the rhythm of it as John further describes the game.<\/p>\n


\nBut that\u2019s ok because the two men are at the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Gateway Caf\u00e9, a comfortable and fun place for individuals with traumatic brain injury or stroke. The caf\u00e9, located in the Independence Square Facility, provides a venu for participants to interact socially with one another. Billie Connors, director of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Speech and Hearing Center, and Dana Kovarsky, 溏心vlog免费B站 Professor of Communicative Disorders, are co-directors of the Gateway Caf\u00e9. \u201cEvery year about 1.4 million people suffer traumatic brain injury, and this doesn\u2019t even include war veterans,\u201d said Kovarsky. Furthermore, \u201cwithin two years of having a traumatic brain injury, individuals can lose up to 90 percent of their friends.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nConnors added that \u201cthe Gateway Caf\u00e9 gives people with traumatic brain injury a chance to develop friendships and to combat feelings of social isolation.\u201d The caf\u00e9 is open at no charge and sandwiches and beverages are free. Visitors may choose to purchase drinks from a vending machine. Up to 10 survivors from Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts attend the bi-weekly program. <\/p>\n


\nOther than Patrick\u2019s wheelchair, it\u2019s hard to think of these two men as having disabilities after getting to know them. They\u2019re always cracking jokes. Patrick was excited to see there were so many women graduate students at the caf\u00e9, \u201cNow we can all share our beauty secrets,\u201d he joked.

\nAfter their game of scat, everyone decided to play black jack, and John and Patrick won the small pot almost every time. They had an amazing ability to make light of their own difficult circumstances. For example, Patrick said, in reference to himself and the coffee he drank that morning, \u201cHave you ever seen a guy with nerve problems on caffeine? It\u2019s a riot.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\t溏心vlog免费B站 three years ago, graduate students in the Department of Communicative Disorders at 溏心vlog免费B站 developed the program with the support of Connors and Kovarsky. 溏心vlog免费B站 one year later, these two faculty members applied for and received a grant to run the caf\u00e9. Everything at the caf\u00e9 is completely optional, visitors may choose to participate in certain games or not.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI have been coming since it began and it is fabulous,\u201d said Eve Downey, John\u2019s mother, of Warwick, R.I. \u201cThe women students who volunteer are great. They have lots of personality and they laugh easily. They are sweethearts, always bringing in treats and surprises for those recovering from injuries. This is an important resource because so many programs for those with traumatic brain injuries are being scaled back or eliminated due to budget cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe caf\u00e9 will be adding an optional physical therapy component in the fall for those who wish to take part. Current participants in the caf\u00e9 were asked about the physical therapy component and they said it was a good idea.<\/p>\n


\nFaculty members Connors and Kovarsky supervise the program; while students from Communicative Disorders engage the participants in the various social activities of the day, along with chaperones who come with the participants.<\/p>\n


\nIf you feel as though you may benefit from this program, call the 溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Communicative Disorders at 874-5969. This year\u2019s program ends May and will resume in September.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\nVisitors are right at home as they play a board game and enjoy a few snacks at the Gateway Caf\u00e9. From left Seth Austin of North Kingstown, Patrick Surowice of West Warwick, and Kevin Gallagher of North Kingstown. 溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Communications and Marketing Photo by Michael Salerno.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 28, 2008 – John Downey and Patrick Surowice enter the Gateway Caf\u00e9 on a recent Saturday around noon. John heads straight for a Coca-Cola from the vending machine. Getting his dollar straightened out takes a bit of work, but eventually he has his Coca -Cola to sip on. Patrick\u2019s friend picks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}