Gail Allison, Orthotist and Polio Survivor

Gail Allison has worked for over twenty years as an orthotist. She is also a survivor of childhood polio, which helped set her upon her career. You can read more about her inspiring work here.

Grateful People:  Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Can you start by telling me a little bit about where you grew up and your family life? 

Gail Allison:  I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles. My parents are first generation in the United States. My grandparents were both Eastern European Jews, from Russia and Romania. They moved to Boyle Heights, which was a very diverse neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles. After World War II several housing tracts were being built in the suburbs and that’s where my parents moved. We lived in Monterey Park and Montebello.  

Do you have siblings?  

Yes, I have a younger sister, Bobbi and a older brother, Richard. I'm the middle child.

As I understand it, at some point in your youth you contracted polio? 

Correct. I was a year and a half. I don't know how I contracted polio. Polio is a virus that attacks the area in your spinal cord called the anterior horn cell, which is where your motor nerves are. You still have feeling, as opposed to somebody with a spinal cord injury; they don't have movement or feeling. Somebody with polio may have weakness or absence of movement, but they still have sensation.

So you’ve only known life having polio?  

Yes, I don't remember anything in my life before contracting polio. My parents weren't sure how I got it. I believe there was an epidemic at the time. 

What were your initial thoughts and feelings when realized that you had a condition that set you apart? 

As long as I can remember, I always had to go to physical therapy and my mother was doing exercises with me on a daily basis. I went to physical therapy for 12 years. I was considered to have a mild case of polio, which affected my left leg and hip. I can walk independently. I use a leg brace now, although when I was younger I was able to get by without one.  

Iron lungs, like the one pictured, helped polio victims breathe who couldn't do so on their own due to paralysis in their chest muscles. 

For those who don’t know, what are the common symptoms of polio and what exactly were you going to physical therapy for?

When you come down with the paralytic polio virus you develop a fever and then muscle weakness. For some it even affected the muscles that assist in breathing and they had to be in an iron lung - a device to help them breathe. After the polio virus subsides some people get their muscle strength back and some people don’t. The reason I went for physical therapy was to strengthen the muscles that were very weak. I also had to do exercises every day at home. I never had surgery, but several times over the years I had a cast placed on my leg for a few weeks to stretch out my Achilles tendon and calf muscles because they were much stronger than the opposing muscles. My affected leg is shorter so I had to wear a lift on my orthopedic shoes. I'm happy to say I no longer have to wear a lift or orthopedic shoes. To this day I am a shoe freak! I think I love shoes because I was always looking at shoes that I wished I could wear. I can tell you a cute story about what I used to call my "heavy shoe." 

I’d love to hear it.  

When I was in elementary school, one of my best friends loved my orthopedic shoes and she named the side with the lift "heavy shoe." One day when I was on the playground she came looking for me, and she said, “Could you come and kick so-and-so" – someone she was mad at – "with your 'heavy shoe.'" It was really empowering! [Laughs].  It really made me feel special. She made me feel much better about having to wear orthopedic shoes with a lift. 

That is a great story! You obviously had challenges with the symptoms and I was wondering who helped you navigate them? 

When something happens to you when you are very young I  think that you don’t know anything different. You may not like it but it is just part of who you are. So although I had to do certain things that were out of the norm, or I had some limitations, I really feel that I had didn't have big challenges… or maybe I was just able to accept and understand my situation. My mom was really great about making my physical therapy inclusive. If I was playing with a friend and it was time to go to my physical therapy appointment she would always ask my friend if they wanted to come with us.  

And did they? 

Yes, my friends wanted to come to my physical therapy appointments. I think they were very curious. I grew up in a neighborhood full of kids. Many times I'd be out playing in the neighborhood and my mom would say, “Gail, you have to come home now to do your exercises.” She would invite the neighborhood kids in and she would conduct an exercise class. Because my mother included my friends in my physical therapy appointments and home therapy it really made me feel more accepting about having to do my daily routine and I felt I was not missing out on play time. I feel I was pretty lucky I was able to participate in most physical activities. As a kid I loved being physical and playing outside. I also took dance lessons and ice skating lessons. I believe it kept my leg strong and flexible. I'm still physically active. I have a ongoing yoga practice and I have found ways to modify some of the poses that are challenging for me with my disability.

Are there positive things that came out of your experience with polio that maybe would not have happened otherwise? Things that you feel grateful for?

When I started college I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do in life. Initially, I wanted to become a physical therapist – probably from my 12 years of going to physical therapy. I liked science and I like being physical, so I thought it would be a good match. I was taking the prerequisites for the physical therapy program and I was working part time in a physical therapy department in a hospital. One day this man came to the physical therapy department to see one of our patients. He was an orthotist. He asked if someone from our department could assist him in casting the patient for a brace. I was interested and I was able to volunteer to help him. I was really intrigued with what he was doing. I asked where I could go to school and learn about orthotics. Even though it was something I had heard of – I think we’ve all seen somebody with a brace on or an artificial leg – I didn’t think about doing it as a profession. He told me where to go to school and I researched it and I completely switched what I was doing. To me it was very exciting and challenging. It was like mixing science and art together. I don’t know if I would have gone on that path if I hadn't had polio. I told my mother, “You know, I think polio has been a gift for me.” 

Oh wow.

Because I found something in life I wanted to do, and I also feel like I’m giving back. Over the years I’ve met so many inspiring people with disabilities and their incredible families. Many of them have much greater challenges than I have.

Who are some of the people that you have been able to help through your work?

As an orthotist we design and fabricate braces. It’s part of the same profession as prosthetics, which is fabrication of the artificial limbs. My specialty is children, so I work with children with disabilities. The majority of children I work with have spina bifida, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and some very unusual disabilities such as arthrogryposis. I've had the privilege to provide their orthotic needs and get to know them and their families as they are growing up. The bracing will help prevent deformities and help them be mobile. Several of the children I work with participate in sports. There are sports teams available for children with special needs. I feel many them of  are going forward in life and they are happy with what has been handed to them.  

When you say they're happy with what is handed to them, what do you mean? I would imagine it would be easy to fall into resentment or other difficult emotions because of what they’ve faced.  

Right. I think that happens more often when it’s a disease or injury that happens later on in life. But if you’re born that way, or something that's acquired early in life I think that people are often accepting of their circumstances. There certainly have been times in my own life when I wished I hadn't had polio. As I’ve gotten older there have definitely been some changes. 

What kind of changes?  

I didn’t have to wear a brace on my leg until about 10 years ago. And now, I have to wear one or cannot get through my work day as easily. I don’t love it, but that is what I do for a living so I guess I’m marketing myself! [Laughs]

I’m curious if wearing a brace gives you a certain authority for some of the people you help because they know that you know what it is like to need one. 

When I'm at work you can't see it because I wear it under my pants. Many times if I'm working with a teenager that doesn't want to wear a brace I will say “Did you know that I wear a brace?” They usually have a very surprised look and I'll show them my brace.  I think it's helped to make it more accepting.  

Polio has been eradicated in the U.S. through vaccines, although there are still cases abroad. For those who don’t have the context, do you remember what it was like here in the U.S. when polio was still common? 

I don't really remember when polio was common. I think the vaccine came out about 3 years after I had polio. I do remember getting the sugar cube vaccine in elementary school.

The vaccine was administered through sugar cubes? 

Yes, sugar cubes vaccines were given at school and also injections from the doctor’s office or clinic.  There were two different types of vaccines developed by two medical researchers named Sabin and Salk. Sabin developed the live or weakened virus vaccination and Salk the inactivated or killed virus vaccine. For many it was a devastating disease so I think that the fact that they found a vaccine to eliminate it is very fortunate. I know there are organizations still working to help eradicate polio globally.  In some countries it's been difficult to provide the vaccine due to politics, but I hope it will happen.

Who are some people you think deserve our special appreciation for the work they’ve done in helping those with disabilities?

Parents and their families are certainly on the top of the list and deserve the most special appreciation. Working with children with disabilities takes a team approach. They are usually managed by a orthopedic doctor, along with a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and a orthotist and/or prothotist. It definitely takes a group of dedicated professionals. 

Somebody once asked me, "If you didn’t get paid for what you do, would you still do it?" If I knew that my needs were taken care of and I could volunteer to do what I do, yes, I would. I feel like I can make a difference in somebody else’s life if I can help them walk or be mobile. And I think its the same with people who do the prosthetics. And the therapists. It's that whole team approach to take care of these people that are just part of our society. They’re just different. That’s all, they’re just different. 

What is something we can do to help those with disabilities, such as the people you work with?

Awareness. There are several types of support groups. I’ve had the opportunity to participate in a group called PossAbilities, which is a community program that provides support and resources for people with disabilities to stay healthy and active. I took part in a triathlon that was fun and quite inspiring. I saw several of my patients in either wheelchairs or specially-made bicycles, or walking or running with their brace or prosthesis, along with able-bodied people. It was an amazing experience. I think as humans we need to keep in mind that when we see someone with a disability that they are just different, but we are all human.  

Thank you. Lastly, I was wondering if you could share something that you are grateful for today.

Today?  I’m grateful it’s Friday!  It’s the end of the week but it’s also a time for rest and renewal.  

I was also thinking about the word grateful since you are exploring what makes people grateful. I think most of the time when you think of the word “grateful” you think, “somebody did something for me, therefore I’m grateful." For me, it’s not only when somebody does something for me that I feel grateful. It can happen when there’s some sort of connection. The person I'm connecting with isn't necessarily doing something for me, but I feel grateful that they are the kind of human being that touches my heart. They may be sharing something about them themselves I admire in a way that I can connect with. When that magic happens I'm grateful to know that human. Somehow it make me feel hopeful about our world.

Thank you so much for taking time to talk to me with me today. I’ve really enjoyed our conversation.

I’m very glad. Thank you.