{"id":18478,"date":"2020-03-16T19:05:30","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T19:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=18478&post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-05-19T19:57:58","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T19:57:58","slug":"harnessing-power","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/harnessing-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Harnessing Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring 2020 | By Camille Dolan \u201998<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes, they wear harnesses.<\/p>\n

When Larry Lentz Jr. wears his harness in the Knights on the Go Caf\u00e9<\/a>, he glides from cash register to refrigerator, serving customers sandwiches, pastries and cold drinks, garnished with a big smile.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more than purposeful work for Lentz Jr. \u2014 it\u2019s physical therapy. The caf\u00e9 harness, suspended from crisscrossed poles, offsets his bodyweight allowing him to wait on customers, but more importantly, helps strengthen his muscles, finetune his coordination, and increase his endurance.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”19285″ title=”PegSpring2020-InFocus-Larry-Cafe1″ alt=”” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

Larry Lentz Jr. completes a transaction with a customer at the Knights on the Go Cafe. (Photo by Kim Go)

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Lentz Jr. was in his late thirties when he received his commercial pilot\u2019s license and soon after had a stroke. He lost not only his ability to fly, but also his ability to walk and talk.<\/p>\n

He has spent the past decade focused on regaining his speech and mobility with the help of programs offered by UCF, including the caf\u00e9 and the UCF Communication Disorders Clinic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lentz Jr. and his parents, Ruth and Larry Lentz Sr., appreciate the learning environment of UCF therapy services. In these programs, graduate clinicians work under the supervision of licensed therapists.<\/p>\n

\u201cLarry really likes working with the students,\u201d Ruth Lentz says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a win-win for everybody: students receive supervised clinical hours as part of their curriculum and gain experience treating patients who have conditions that they might not be exposed to in other clinical settings. And the patients benefit from therapy that is innovative and cutting-edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur graduate students are so thrilled to work with Larry,\u201d says Jennifer Tucker, clinical assistant professor in the physical therapy program<\/a>. \u201cThey have seen him make enormous strides in his mobility, and he is such an inspiration to be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the strides Lentz Jr. has made in physical therapy, he also is improving his communication through therapy at the UCF Aphasia House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aphasia House offers intensive outpatient speech therapy for individuals with aphasia, a disorder that results from damage to parts of the brain and can cause impairment in all aspects of communication.<\/p>\n

[photo id=”19283″ title=”PegSpring2020-InFocus-Larry-AphasisaHouse1″ alt=”” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

Aphasia House graduate clinician Sean Grace (right) works with Larry Lentz Jr. (left) to complete an exercise for phonomotor treatment, which aims to strengthen Lentz\u2019s ability to manipulate sounds and words. (Photo by Kim Go)

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While receiving therapy at Aphasia House, representatives from Canine Companions for Independence visited the clinic. Janet Whiteside, founder and director of Aphasia House, encouraged Lentz Jr. to apply for a service dog.<\/p>\n

The two-year process culminated in Lentz Jr. acquiring Bernie, who had learned 40 commands in preparation of meeting Lentz Jr.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Larry got Bernie,\u201d says Ruth Lentz, \u201cAphasia House clinicians worked with him to learn many of the commands Bernie had learned. They make a great team.\u201d<\/p>\n

At every step of Lentz Jr.\u2019s progress, his longtime friends Doug Etheredge and Stephen Wood have been alongside him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has such a natural, jovial, contagious, joking personality that you just want to be a part of his life,\u201d Etheredge says.<\/p>\n

Lentz Jr. has changed a lot since the day of his injury. What hasn\u2019t changed is his personality.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a big heart, big personality, big everything,\u201d Wood says. \u201cHe is such a great person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lentz Jr. continues to advance in his speech and mobility, far beyond what experts expected during his early days of recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past 10 years, we have seen so many new technologies and therapies,\u201d says Lentz Sr. \u201cWe have hope that in the next 10 years, something else may come along that can help our son even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no quick fixes to help Lentz Jr., so he puts in the hard work to continue to improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis favorite thing to say if he gets frustrated is \u2018One day,\u2019\u201d Lentz Sr. says. \u201cWe know he\u2019s saying, \u2018I can do this.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

[blockquote source=”Ruth Lentz” cite=”” color=”” css_class=””]\u201cUCF has really been a\u00a0blessing to us. Aphasia House\u00a0was just amazing, and the\u00a0caf\u00e9 has helped him in so many\u00a0ways. I have so much respect for\u00a0all the therapists and graduate\u00a0clinicians at UCF.\u201d[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n

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