Everyone wants to place a time frame on recovery, and to know if they will succeed. Our program is not a one year, two year, or even three year program. We do not know how long it will take someone to recover, if ever, because every person has individual need, and SCI is different for each person. No two injuries are alike, so recovery duration and workout programs will be completely different.

Trial Week and In-House Training programs are available to you. You will learn about the latest scientific research and gain an understanding of all aspects of recovery and what it takes to be successful. Through either of these programs, you can continue with a Home-Based program. If your goal is a Home-Based program, please let us know at the beginning of your training so we can start making preparations.

One of the most important aspects of Project Walk-Austin is the opportunity to talk with other people with spinal cord injuries and watch them work out. They understand what you are going through and are able to give you insight as to how hard this program is as well as the improvements that they have achieved.

Phases of Recovery (The Dardzinski Method™):
 

• Phase I (Reactivation) /Phase II (Development/Stabilization) - To stimulate the nervous system with load-bearing and active recruitment to develop joint stabilization.
• Phase III (Strength: Eccentric/Concentric Muscle Contractions) - To initiate muscle contractions through positional movement or stimulation.
• Phase IV (Function & Coordination) - To Control coordinated movement through all planes of movement and motion.
• Phase V (Gait Training) - We don't teach you to walk; we teach you the skills necessary to walk well.

Trial Week

Our five-day Trial Week gives you an overview of the program and a chance to participate in the exercises and training.

Day 1 Orientation
You begin your day with a 30 minute orientation with one of our directors and your supervising Spinal Cord Recovery Specialist. At this time, we will go over your health history and paperwork. This meeting gives us insight on your abilities and gives you a better understanding of what you will be doing during your Trial Week. Most importantly, we get to know each other.

The Daily Workout
Your workouts are to provide your nervous system with different types of stimulation to learn what your body can and cannot do. We will ask you to perform movements and exercises that you have not done since your injury. You will be pushed hard physically and mentally. You will see for yourself what is going on with your nervous system, and how it needs to “fire” to get your body active again. Throughout the course of the week, we will be evaluating your abilities and you should be evaluating us.

Day 5 Exit Interview
During the last 30 minutes of your final workout, you will go over your week with your supervising specialist. The exit interview gives you the opportunity to pose any questions and/or comments regarding your experience with us, and discuss your future plans.

In House

After your Trial Week, you can continue with our In-House Program. This is the program all of our clients who have made the most recovery have gone through. Project Walk-Austin and The Dardzinski Method™ offer a long-term plan for recovery; one that is based solely on the individual and his or her goals and needs. We have learned that a developing human nervous system does not follow time frames, rather it responds to external stimulation and thousands of repetitions.

Home Based Program

For clients who cannot relocate to Austin, we designed the Home-Based program to help maintain the nervous system, and through repetitions, improve it. While this is not the same as being at Project Walk-Austin and working one-on-one with a certified specialist, it does allow you to perform the repetitions necessary to improve.

Low T injuries and L injuries have an easier time doing our program at home because they have the most function and, unlike higher injuries, do not need as much spotting.

Those with high T injuries and C injuries can certainly benefit, but will need more help. For most C injuries, it will take two helpers. You must consider this fact when deciding about the future. Clients who have failed at the Home-Based program did so because of lack of help, or the person helping gets hurt working with the client. Understand that with our program, clients get out of their wheelchairs, and the process of moving and working paralyzed legs is very demanding on the helpers.

With the Home-Based program, you are always welcome to return to our facilities for more training.

Click on the application below to begin your recovery! Fill out the appropriate application and mail it to us, either electronically (email) or mail it to 1109-B South Congress Ave. Austin, Texas, 78704. (need link to application)

Benefits of our Program

In the first six to 24 months, our clients have reported:

• Increased hope and improved mental state
• Increased central nervous system activity
• Increased muscle mass
• Increased or maintained bone density
• Increased controlled movement
• Increased functional gait
• Decreased pain
• Decreased health problems associated with SCI
• Reduced pressure sores
• Reduced blood pressure issues 
• Reduced depression

Some clients have also experienced these benefits:

• Increased sensations (touch, hot and cold, bowel and bladder)
• Ability to sweat and control body temperature
• Increased sexual function

Lifestyle Gains

We are very proud when our clients can regain use of their bodies and can start taking care of themselves. However, we do not teach occupational skills. As function returns, so do functional and occupational skills.

Majority of clients receive these benefits:

• Ability to roll over in bed
• Ability to sit up
• Ability to dress and feed themselves
• Ability to drive
• Greater independence
• Reduced dependence on medication
• Over 90% of clients return to school or work

Not everyone regains all of the above functions. One client may be able to walk but not feel pain; another may have bladder and bowel, but not hot and cold. Each person’s recovery comes with different functions. However, the majority of our clients are regaining all types of function; the main difference  between clients' recoveries is the time frame.

Symptoms showing potential to regain function
 

• If you can move a toe, you have the potential to walk! Your toe is furthest from your injury site, yet you can move it. Logically, if the signal can get all the way down to your toe, we can re-train the nervous system to fill in the gap.
• If you have spasms, burning, tingling, pain, or any type of sensation that travels down your legs, you have a dysfunctional nervous system which can be trained. Spasms are not bad unless your goals are occupational. All of our clients who have regained the ability to walk have had spasms (uncontrolled muscle contractions), and over time they were able to control them (controlled movement).
• If you can move only one muscle in your leg, you have a greater chance of getting them all back. Most injuries cause a strong side and a weaker side of the body. This is normal and needs to be addressed at the beginning of recovery. Training only the strong side causes the body to become more dysfunctional, and will eventually cause walking to be almost impossible. Stimulating the dysfunctional or weaker side with developmental movement patterns creates balance and ultimately results in a functional gait.