Ken Rensink’s path to special education teaching began when he was 19, just one day after he completed his training for the U.S. Army Reserves. He fell asleep at the wheel of his car, hit a telephone pole and nearly lost his life.
“I was paralyzed from the waist down,” Ken told friend Laurel Hill-Ward, a Chico State University professor who trains special education teachers. “My left arm was so weak, I could barely hold a plastic cup of water.”
After a long stay in the ICU, Ken eventually moved to a live-in rehabilitation center. He was told he could be out in nine months if he worked really hard. “I did it in five weeks,” he says.
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