new aquatic center for the disabled opens

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LOS ANGELES TIMES March 29, 2003

Aquatic Center for Disabled Is Launched

Cal State Northridge dedicates facility with several pools to expand

physical therapy.

By Karima A. Haynes, Times Staff Writer

Of all the people at a dedication ceremony Friday commending Cal State

Northridge for its work in helping disabled people to live more

independently, Jay Guttman had perhaps the highest praise.

The 45-year-old Northridge resident said the center's therapeutic

programs helped

him learn how to walk again after he was severely injured in a 1977 auto

accident.

" After the accident, doctors told my parents that I was going to die.

Then they said that I was going to remain in a persistent vegetative

state, " Guttman said. " But I refused to accept that. "

Guttman and 400 other people living with disabilities undergo rigorous

therapeutic

exercise programs at CSUN's Center for Achievement for the Physically

Disabled,

founded in 1960. Many of them are expected to use the newly opened

Abbott and Brown Western Center for Adaptive Aquatic Therapy,

which was dedicated Friday.

The $6-million center was made possible through a $2-million grant from

Abbott and Brown's Ridgestone Foundation. Brown is a

university alumna. In addition,Rep. P. " Buck " McKeon (R-Santa

Clarita) secured $1 million in federal funding.

About 200 people with disabilities and their advocates were on hand at

the ceremony, including Joni Eareckson Tada, who survived a 1967 diving

accident that left her a

quadriplegic and speaks about her ordeal internationally. She went

through an exercise program at the university in 1979 that enabled her

to drive a modified van.

" There are people in Southern California and beyond who are struggling

against despair, fearful of living a life with a severe disability and

stuck on geriatric wards who need help and hope, " Tada said. " This will

be a place where people will give them hope. "

Inside the aquatics facility, an array of equipment and services is

available to get disabled people functioning at a higher level.

A pool with a movable floor allows clients in wheelchairs to be lowered

into the water. A whirlpool spa has water jets positioned specifically

for joint relief to relax muscles and reduce pain.

The main pool features two underwater treadmills for water resistance

exercises for stroke rehabilitation, arthritis relief and muscular

recovery. And a cool pool allows those who are sensitive to heat to

participate in a fitness regimen.

Sam Britten, the centers' founder and director, said therapists Believe

there is no limit to what a client can achieve. " Who knows the human

potential? " he said. " We are only limited by our own expectations. "

Guttman, who today walks without support and provides rehabilitative

therapy to others with disabilities, agreed.

" With each session, I saw that I was coming back, " he said, recalling

his years of therapy at the center. " I kept moving to a higher level. It

was incredible. "