HORIZONS
A NEWSLETTER FOR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF CROTCHED MOUNTAIN
WINTER 2009 VOLUME 9 NUMBER 1

Heroism in a Time of Urgency
by Don Shumway President and CEO
DOING BUSINESS from the top of a mountain has its perks and its challenges.
On a balmy summer evening, the sunsets are spectacular and it seems there is no more benevolent or beautiful place on earth.
But on December 11, Crotched Mountain, the surrounding Monadnock region and the entire state were hard hit by the ice storm
of the century.
Our generators were firing on all cylinders soon after the power went out.
And we were thankful again that we have our woodchip plant to keep the campus warm and with plenty of hot water.
As a health care facility serving people with disabilities, Crotched Mountain is responsible for the well-being of many who
are unable to care for themselves.
I’m proud and grateful to report that members of the Crotched Mountain staff made heroic efforts to keep all in our care safe
and comfortable.
The story after this article is an Incident Report filed about how the storm affected staff at one of our group residences.
This is just one of many reports I’ve heard illustrating the strength, courage and commitment of our staff during this 
disaster.
Crotched Mountain also stepped up and served as a resource to the Town of Greenfield.
We provided housing and gasoline for emergency workers and their vehicles, since electricity was out in the town for about
ten days.
We provided emergency shelter in the hospital for a town resident who needed this level of medical support.
And scores of residents came up to take showers in the pool changing room and get a hot meal in our kitchen.
On behalf of the clients, patients and students served by Crotched Mountain, I want to thank all those who went the extra
mile—or more in Marie Stevens’case—to insure the safety and well-being of those who depend on us.
As with most businesses and organizations across the country, the ever-shifting financial landscape has kept the finance
people at Crotched Mountain very busy continually assessing and adjusting the budget to ensure Crotched Mountain continues
to be a viable resource to those who rely upon us for education, rehabilitation and care management.
The good news is that we were proactive in our approach to the recent economic downturn, and our timely response has placed
us in a stronger financial operating position than we have enjoyed in more than a decade.
The challenges are multifaceted and complex, and the decisions have not been easy, but the end result is financial operations
running in the black with services that continue to be of the highest quality.
And on that positive note, I wish all those we serve, our staff, families and everyone associated with Crotched Mountain
a healthy and safe 2009.

Incident Review, December 13,2008
We’ve been without power since approx. 1 AM.
The girls were up, on and off, but were fairly easily kept calm.
As daylight and first shift approached, I wondered if there would be any way for staff to reach us, as there had been the
crashing of trees and breaking limbs throughout the night, in addition to the ice-covered ground.
I had already spoken with Jessica, who was at home with her children and no electricity, and agonizing about leaving our
program unattended.
I tried to assure her that she was where she needed to be, when shortly after 7AM Marie Stevens came walking into the
driveway of our program.
Marie was soaked!
She had walked up from the bottom of Onset Rd., all the way to our program.
Her car had gone off the road, and as she walked the mile uphill, she had to cross multiple trees blocking the road and
many downed electric wires.
I was so grateful for her efforts.
For sometime after that we still had phone service (even though my cell phone had already died) until there was yet another
crash of a falling tree.
This time the telephone was disconnected and we were stranded, with just Marie’s cell phone to keep us in touch with CMRC.
When Marie’s cell phone died, she again made the dangerous journey back to her car at the bottom of Onset Rd.to charge the
phone with her car charger.
And again, she climbed the impassable road to return to our program.

Freedom to Express
THIRTY-FIVE YEARS TEACHING ART AT CROTCHED MOUNTAIN SCHOOL
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE the color orange?
In Bill Corwin’s art class at Crotched Mountain School there are many roads to that understanding.
Low vision and blind students use scented markers, taste an actual orange and feel the textured skin as they render their
perceptions on paper, in clay and a myriad of other media.
Teaching visual arts to students who don’t see is just one of the challenges and joys that Bill Corwin encounters every day
as art instructor at Crotched Mountain School.
“Most students want to be creative, but often they haven’t had the opportunity,” says Bill.
“When they say they can’t do something because they never have, I ask them to think about what they would do if they could
and we go from there.”
Students who have limited muscle control are introduced to stencils.
To begin a picture, a student decides on background colors followed by shapes and objects.
If a student wants to paint a tree, Bill helps the student explore his or her concept of a tree, and then creates the 
stencil according to the student’s specifications.
Crotched Mountain students come to Bill’s class with attention deficits, vision impairments, limited motor control,
cognitive deficits and a host of other medical and behavioral issues that impact the way they learn.
His job is to strike a delicate balance that meets students where they are in ability and interest, while adhering to state
education standards for art instruction.
“Mostly we go with the flow.
So many of our students haven’t had an opportunity to play with and explore materials,” Bill says.
A student with autism might spend an entire class exploring and experimenting with one material — smelling, feeling and
manipulating it before actually using it.
“That’s the student’s interest that day and that’s how he comes to understand his environment.
We’re led by the student’s interest and ability, and we try to convey lessons in that context.”
Bill’s students have taught him much.
“I’ve found that it takes time to understand the many things that can impact a person’s ability to learn on any given day.
As a teacher, my job is to help them be creative in a way that works for them.”
One classroom wall is covered with colorful three-dimensional abstract pieces Bill calls tactile doodling.
Visually-impaired students created them by gluing lengths of string onto paper in whatever shapes appealed to them and, by
using the string lines as guides, filled the spaces with different colors.
“The sighted students liked them so much, they wanted to make them too.”
Bill credits much of the success of his students to the excellent communication among teachers, therapists and medical staff.
"I will know on any given day what’s happening in the life of the students.
If one has discovered a new area of interest, if there’s a medical issue or if there are psychological or behavioral issues
that might impact their class work that day,” Bill explains.
Mostly though, success for Bill’s students is measured by new-found confidence to try different things and by enjoying the
positive feedback they receive from peers and others - perhaps for the first time.
Bill recalls one student who struggled to control his anger when he made a mistake.
"He would say he couldn't do it.
For months he would throw his work away and leave the classroom.
We finally tried an overhead projector so he could trace large shapes onto paper.
Then he learned how to paint over his mistakes."
According to Bill, that was the beginning of a dramatic change.
From there the student went on to paint on 4’X 8’ pieces of plywood.
He started with a picture of a wolf, then a car and finally to painting the school mascot on the gym wall.
“There was a big ceremony when it was unveiled with everyone applauding.
You could tell he was pleased.”
As for working at CMS for over 30 years, Bill says it has become a kind of family for him “where professionals of all
disciplines combine their skills, efforts and encouragement to help our students become happy and productive people — and
that’s a good reason to come to work!”

Hey Mom, I’m Awake!
JOSH AIKEN’S JOURNEY OF RECOVERY
THIS IS HOW it often happens.
You’re in the middle of some routine task or another and the call comes.
And your world changes in an instant.
In Candy Aiken’s case, she was painting the staircase of her home in Springfield, Vermont.
Two months later when she finally got a chance to notice, the painter’s tape was still there, the job waiting to be finished.
“Time just stops,” said Candy, mother of 27-year-old Josh Aiken, who sustained brain and spinal cord injuries last June when,
riding back from Bike Week festivities in Laconia, his motorcycle veered off the road and crashed into a stand of small 
trees.
Josh was airlifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where Candy works as a critical care nurse.
He remained there for four weeks, hooked up to a ventilator while monitors tracked his vital signs.
Josh was in a coma for four weeks and when he did wake up, he says he wasn’t really awake.
“It was like I was in a dream.
I just wanted to go back to sleep so that I could wake up and have this all go away.”
“He was oriented to time and place,” Candy concurs, “but his voice was monotone; he didn’t show much emotion — not the same
Josh at all.”
Upon discharge from the hospital, Josh’s doctors suggested that Candy consider placing him in a nursing home.
“I wasn’t going to do that.
I would bring him home first.
I’m a nurse, so I knew I could manage his medical needs at home,” she said.
Then a colleague suggested Crotched Mountain.
“It was relatively close to home, and my friend had heard good things about it.
I came for a tour and decided this was where Josh was going.”
When Josh arrived at the Mountain, he was off a monitor for the first time since the accident.
And even though he was stable, Candy stayed with him all night.
Josh made it through that first night and began the hard work of rehabilitation.
Daily rounds of cognitive, occupational and physical therapy filled his days.
His spinal cord injuries had left his upper extremities weak, with no use of his right arm, so rehabilitation focused on
regaining strength and dexterity.
Candy says throughout Josh’s stay, the staff has been supportive and upbeat.
“They’ve taught me so much.
From the nursing staff to the doctors and therapists, they’ve all been warm and caring.”
Then on September 4, something unexpected happened.
Upon waking up from his usual nap, Josh reports, “I was really awake.
My memory was back.
Everything was different.
We call it my grand awakening.
It was amazing.”
“I arrived that day for my usual visit,” recalls Candy.
“And the nurses said, ‘You need to see Josh; he’s interacting with the other patients.’
I looked over at him standing with his physical therapist, Donna Gosselin.
He smiled at me and said, ‘Hey Mom, I’m awake.’”
Since then his progress has been rapid.
Donna attributes this to his increased ability to focus.
“As his awareness increased, his physical challenges began to diminish.
I’ve seen people make this kind of progress, but never such a quick turnaround,” Donna observes.
“On that day, I received a miracle,” says Candy.
“I have my son back, anything more is a bonus.
As a critical care nurse, I have realistic expectations.
So when I use the word ‘miracle’ to describe Josh’s progress, people who know me are surprised.”
Hospital medical director Rocco Chiappini, MD, says the course of recovery from brain injury is often unpredictable.
“The short answer is that we really don’t know why these awakenings happen.
And, at this time, we can’t predict who will have them.
I can say that in Josh’s case, he’s young and with youth comes a certain resilience,” explains Dr. Chiappini.
“We hope that someday we’ll be able to identify predictors of recovery, a chemical marker or advanced brain imaging 
which we don’t currently have — that will give us this kind of information.”
Josh says his aim now is to keep his momentum going and get back home to his family — his finance Vicki and sons Deegan,5,
and Mason,1.
“I’m going to keep healing as fast as I can,” he says.
An avid motorcycle enthusiast and motocross competitor, Josh also hopes to ride again someday.
And, given where he’s come so far, he just might.
On September 26, Josh took his first two steps unaided.
Three days later, he was walking up a grassy slope outside the hospital to improve his balance.
On October 18, after a few more weeks of rehab, he was discharged.
Life for Josh truly is getting back to normal.
And for Candy too. 
Word has it that she’s planning to get back to that paint job any day now.

The Face of Philanthropy
PHILANTHROPY comes in all sizes.
From collections of pennies by children to the million dollar bequest, there are opportunities for everyone to make a gift
that feels right for them.
Getting in touch with one’s inner philanthropist can result in gifts that are heart warming, inspiring and memorable.
A young couple from the Monadnock Region asked that donations be made in lieu of wedding gifts.
The mother of grown children gave $1,000 in place of the stocking gifts that she felt her family did not need and stuffed
their stockings with thank you notes from Crotched Mountain instead!
In Amherst, a group of ladies who have tea together out-do themselves by giving gifts to their favorite charities rather
than to each other.
For the person who has everything, a charitable gift in their honor can be more meaningful than anything else.
Many have chosen a Crotched Mountain Charitable Gift Annuity that provides income and tax benefits during their lifetimes
and leaves a legacy of support for the programs and the people with disabilities we serve.
In a distant state, a troop of Girl Scouts collected 35 DVDs to augment a film library for the patients in our Brain Injury
Center.
At Crotched Mountain no gift is ever too small.
We receive single dollar bills in the mail accompanied by notes from people who wish they could do more.
What’s meaningful is that they shared their resources to help someone else.
And now there is a new way to show your support.
The Don Kent Legacy Society includes everyone who has ever made a bequest to Crotched Mountain or initiated a Crotched
Mountain Charitable Gift Annuity.
To be a founding member, you have only to notify us before June 30, 2009, that we are in your will, or begin a gift annuity.
We do not need to know the amount in your will — bequests, like any other gifts, come in all sizes.
We need only to know your intent.
It isn’t the scope of the gift that makes a philanthropist, it’s the desire to help others, to encourage, to support and to
make a difference.
We can assure you that every gift made to Crotched Mountain does make a difference.
If you have questions about philanthropy, the Crotched Mountain Charitable Gift Annuity or about giving for a specific
reason, please contact Michael Redmond, Vice President for Advancement, 603.547.3311, ext.1479.

CROTCHED MOUNTAIN continues to need your help to make our wonderful and effective services and programs available to the 
hundreds of children and adults we serve each year.
If you would like to make a gift to help individuals with disabilities achieve their optimal independence, we would be
grateful.
Many companies will match their employees’ donations to a charitable organization, thereby increasing your gift to your
special charity.
If you are interested, please see your Human Resources Office for further information.

BRIEFLY NOTED
REUSE, REDUCE, RECYCLE, REACHOUT
The New Hampshire Rehabilitation Association has recently honored Crotched Mountain’s Refurbished Equipment Marketplace (REM)
with its Public Service Award, which recognizes an organization that has demonstrated leadership in improving rehabilitation
services in New Hampshire and has improved the lives of persons with disabilities.
REM services donated durable medical equipment such as manual and power wheelchairs, mobility aids, hospital beds, bath aids,
scooters and portable ramps to be purchased at a fraction of its original cost by persons who find the cost of new 
technology prohibitive.
For information, call 1.800.427.3338.

STUDENTS GET IT RIGHT AGAIN
As the rest of the nation voted in the 2008 Presidential election, students of Crotched Mountain School conducted their own
mock election as part of a school project designed to teach students about the election process.
A voting booth was set up with a computer connected to an Intellikeys keyboard.
Students cast their votes for McCain or Obama by pressing a button with their candidate’s picture.
Obama won the mock election earning 62% of the vote to McCain’s 38%.

BAE SYSTEMS SUPPORTS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
CM was delighted to receive a Veteran's Day grant of $25,000 from BAE Systems in support of our work with veterans.
The grant recognizes our work with veterans with brain injuries, and provides resources for care from CM’s Specialty Hospital
and its community support programs.
The grant will support CM’s Center for Excellence in Neurorehabilitation, a national model to support people with brain
injuries.
“We are proud to make this grant to the Center of Excellence at Crotched Mountain as part of our ongoing pledge to serve
veterans and their families,” said Michael A. Heffron, president of BAE Systems’ Electronics, Intelligence & Support 
operating group.
“We chose Crotched Mountain because they are nationally recognized for specialty rehabilitation services and have made
outreach to include veterans in their work,” he added.

WINTER FASHION AT CM!
It’s not the holidays without a visit from our in-house costume designers Denise Lefebvre and Hope Whitcomb, seen here with
Don Shumway.
This year they made the rounds decked out in winter camouflage.
If they’d been outside, we wouldn’t have seen them at all!

THE VIEW FROM CROTCHED MOUNTAIN
Crotched Mountain wants you to see what we see.
Toward that effort we’ve created a podcast with regular updates available on our Website where listeners can hear experts
on our staff discuss a wide range of topics related to disabilities and rehabilitation.
Currently ready for download or listening are interviews with Carl Cooley, MD, on autism; Rocco Chiappini, MD, discussing
head injuries and sports; and Dave Kontak, director of Assistive Technology, on video game therapy.
To see more, just go to www.crotchedmountain.org, and click on The View from Crotched Mountain podcast link under the
Foundation section.

CROTCHED MOUNTAIN HOSTS “NO WIND CLASSIC”
On November 15, 2008, the Northeast No Wind Classic II, an indoor kite flying competition, was held at the Crotched Mountain
School gymnasium.
Five kite flyers from across New England competed for the top three places to earn points toward the National Convention to
be held in Rochester, MN, in 2009.
This was an official American Kite Fliers Association sanctioned event with three judges and five of the top kite fliers in
the country competing.
Fliers were judged on choreography, execution and entertainment value.
After the competition, Crotched Mountain students and clients came out onto the floor to try their hand at indoor kite 
flying.
Everyone was amazed to be flying kites, indoors with no wind!
To see a video of the event go to crotchedmountain.org and click on News and Events.