Interview 4: Transcript

Question: What have you been up to since Shake It Up?

Answer: I've been going through school, college. I need a new career. Since the program ended it has brought me to new horizons, such as Access 2 Adventure, which has the same promotion as Shake It Up. I've been doing kayaking, some handcycling and occasionally sailing. That's pretty much it. I've been trying to stay active.

Are those things that Shake It Up introduced you to, or were you doing those things before?

Before Shake It Up I had no clue what was even out there. It has broadened my horizons. I've gone through Colt State Park with handcycles. I've been on the path with my mom. If I didn't know that from Shake It Up I would probably be sitting at home like, 'I wish I could go out and do some exercises or something, or just get some fresh air.'

How often do you get out to do those things?

Despite the New England weather, it's mainly in the summer. They're pretty much summer activities. I try to go every week, but the way it's been maybe every two weeks, depending on the weather.

In addition to all the recreational stuff we did we also had morning workshops where we talked about nutrition, talking to health professionals, skincare, various aspects of daily living and that sort of thing. Was any of that information valuable to you? Do you still use it, or have you used it?

A lot of it wasn't new. I'm pretty self sufficient. One thing that was brought to my awareness was the workshop on medication. I guess some of the medication goes on, and I talked to my doctor about if this medication was proper for me, and the dosage and is there an alternative. It had brought me an awareness. I guess also diet, I think we had a diet workshop. Being sedentary, you don't want to eat all the junk. It's so easy to sit there on the couch and blow up. It was very helpful.

Have you kept in touch with anybody from Shake It Up?

Actually there's one gentleman, I'm trying to think of his name. I've seen people through Access 2 Adventure. I really haven't talked to anyone. Maybe once in a while there was (name withheld), I talk to her about once a month, pretty much on the computer. I really haven't seen anyone.

You keep in touch through email?

Through email, yeah. If there's some questions I need to ask I just type away and hopefully they answer quickly. That's pretty much it. I have met new people I would have liked to see a little bit more but it's just the time, and since I'm going through school and everything it's just not really working out.

All in all what are the benefits you'd say you got being part of Shake It Up?

One of the major things was their goal of promoting physical activity for people with disabilities. I think they struck it right on the head. The benefit was to get me out, not just sit there on the couch and be a couch potato the rest of my life. It has helped my spirits, my emotions. Just being outside. Other than that, meeting new people, outsourcing — they had a lot of connections I looked at.

Was it helpful for you to meet other people who were sort of doing the same things as you?

I realized that I wasn't the worst off. There are people out there, unfortunately, who are worse off than me. I do have an illness of multiple sclerosis, but some of the people, quadriplegics and whatnot. To see them thriving and still continuing on with life, it helped out a lot.

Do you have any other general comments about Shake It Up?

It's definitely a good program. One thing I wish is that they keep me up to date on what's going on, like this interview. I wasn't really aware that they're going on, trying to get more funding, maybe set up the program again. I don't know if I'm the type of person that wants to know the inner workings of it, I just like to be aware of what's going on. I thought it ended. The volunteers are excellent, it was an awesome time. I really liked it. The food was great. Friends, food, the volunteers and coordinators. They're always asking me to do some other program, like MS for children or something. It all came from that.