Independence depends on the tasks a person can complete on his own.

Occupational therapists help people learn tasks, like dressing and writing, to live as independently as their disability allows.

University of Mary occupational therapy students are learning different ways to help teach people tasks they once knew.

"I think it's a good opportunity to serve others," second-year occupational therapystudent Michelle Grode said.

She wants to work in a school environment and likes the holistic approach of occupational therapy, she said.

She was putting together a writing station Wednesday as part of her classes' efforts to show other students the types of equipment used in occupational therapy. She pulled out pencils, watercolors, a dry-erase board with lines and blue carbon paper from a white crate.

The students are showing off their trade as part of occupational therapy week. April is occupational therapy month.

Teaching a person to write again includes proper pencil grip, paper position and posture in the chair.

"If you do not hold the pencil the right way, you do not use the right muscles," she said.

A table nearby showed a selection of clothing, another table had puppets, and on the door was a pulley system with hand grips on each end of the string.

Sometimes finding ways to make life easier for a person with a disability is as simple as listening and being creative. It doesn't always have to be expensive, occupational therapy Professor Carol Olsen said.

Graduate student Kate Munds listened to a woman who was having difficulty with using the mouse on her computer. She found a way to slow the speed on the computer, as well as increase the size of the arrow on the computer screen. The woman had difficulty moving a traditional mouse across the pad, but she could use her fingers to move the marble on a trackball mouse, Munds said.

The students also learned about independent living from a quadripelegic who spoke at Heskett Hall on Wednesday. Nate Aalgaard is from Moorhead, Minn. He is the executive director of the Freedom Resource Center for Independent Living.

He also is one of the first team members of the University of North Dakota's quad rugby team. It was the sport featured in the movie "Murderball," a film the occupational therapy students watched.

Aalgaard was injured in a car accident before he was 18. He's now 46. His spinal cord is damaged at C 5-6, which means the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae.

He looks for ways he can be more independent. He has a modified minivan to drive and a house that is accessible. He had a surgery on his left thumb so that he could pinch things to grab them better.

He believes in disabled people being active. He's noticed differences since he's stopped playing quad rugby.

"I've put on weight, I'm not as strong and my back hurts," he said.

He's taken up other activities to get back in shape. He's playing pool and entering tournaments that have him going 25 to 30 games. He and his friends have helped create adaptive equipment so he can shoot the balls.

"I don't want to just show up I want to finish in the middle of the pack," he said.

When he travels to other places, he notices how accessible or inaccessible it is. At the University of Mary, for example, he could not sit with his legs under the table because the tables were too short. No one could readily tell him where an accessible bathroom was located and, when he did find an accessible bathroom, the sink faucets were difficult to use because they had knobs and not levers and the mirror was too high for him to use.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)