Students at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, visit the local YMCA twice a week to work one-on-one with adults who have multiple sclerosis. Staff at the YMCA train college students in therapeutic treatments. Students provide treatments such as stretching and massage therapy in the swimming pool to keep the patients muscles limber. After an hour of water therapy, students and their adult partners spend a social hour together talking and eating. Students report that this time spent in conversation reminds them that the communicative capacity of people with multiple sclerosis is great; likewise, the adults appreciate the opportunity to interact in a social setting.
