AU teacher hasn't let a disability slow him down

Scott Renner

Scott Renner, 42, snapped his spinal cord in August of 1992 when he dived into four feet of water, paralyzing him from the neck down.

"You know how your arm goes to sleep? It felt like my whole body went numb," Renner said. "I felt like my whole life was over."

Renner acquired a C4 spinal cord injury--complete paralysis from the neck down.

Despite his disability, Renner has accomplished more since his accident than most accomplish in a lifetime. Although he lives in Montgomery, he is an instructor at Auburn University, where he teaches independent living and assistive technology classes in the College of Education's department of special education, rehabilitation, counseling/school psychology. He received his master's degree from Grambling State and is now working on his doctorate.

Renner is also involved with the university's Assistive Technology Studio, which allows industrial design students to spend time with people who have various disabilities. They get a first-hand look at the struggles and constraints in the everyday lives of people with disabilities with the aim of creating new technologies and improving existing ones to aid them. Renner, along with assistant professor of industrial design Shea Tillman, provides students with feedback.

Chad Duncan, who was an instructor in education, started the studio in the spring of 2008. He and Tillman combined their classes to create the studio. After Duncan left the university later that year, Renner took over--giving creative input on the designs and advising the students.

"We have technologies that are of a universal design, meaning they can benefit someone with and without a disability," Renner said. "Like the raised garden bed--it is easily accessible for someone with a wheelchair, and someone who doesn't use a wheelchair won't have to bend over to tend to the garden."

Renner himself uses assistive technology that allows him to open the doors to his house, operate his TV and turn off his lights. His "sip and puff" wheelchair allows him to move back and forth, left to right, by blowing and inhaling in a plastic tube.

"If I could choose today to not have my disability, there would be a possibility that I would say yes," he said. "Am I upset that I have a disability? I'd say no because it has allowed me to impact so many people's lives and improve the quality of their lives."

He said one of the biggest challenges he faces is finding reliable people to help him. He has a live-in assistant who he pays out-of-pocket to aid him with his daily routine of showering, dressing and transporting him back and forth to Auburn from his job as executive director for the Montgomery Center for Independent Living.

"I've got to find those resources and those people that I can depend on to get me up in the morning, to feed me, to drive me to Auburn," he said. "People take all those things for granted, but when someone doesn't do those things for me, there's no way I can accomplish my goals. In a situation like mine where you depend on others, it can be challenging."

Renner said it takes about 50 hours per week to care for someone like him, and it can get expensive--especially for people who don't always have the resources.

He is still able to participate in regular activities, just with a slight twist. He connects a line to the back of a remote control boat, which he drives with his mouth. He cuts golf clubs in half and straps them on his wheelchair to play golf.

"People say I do more than they do," he said, "and I think that is because I'm very motivated and I enjoy life. I get to go to concerts and sporting events and casinos and I water ski and do things of that nature. I have a great quality of life, but it has taken me a long time to get there."

Although some people might have given up, Renner's optimism separates him from others in his situation. He didn't let his paralysis stop him in the least.

"I face some challenges, but some of my challenges are no different than some people without disabilities," he said. "I work 40 hours a week, I'm in school to get my doctorate and I also teach at Auburn."

Renner said he does have a disability, but don't compare him to a disabled car on the side of the road.

"We still do have those attitudes that people with disabilities are helpless and can't do for themselves," he said. "Sure I have a disability, but I can still compete in the market and have a life."

Renner was 28 at the time of his accident. He was water skiing with his friends, and they decided to take a break. They docked their ski boat on the riverbank in the shade for a few minutes. The river was deep in some areas and shallow in others, and Renner dove out on the left side of the boat into too-shallow water. He said he wishes he had dove in on the right, but "things happen."

Renner said the first two years after his accident were a bit tough for him because he was still in the process of realizing what had happened to him.

A military brat, his dad was in the Air Force so the family traveled frequently. Renner's dream was to become a manager in the restaurant business.

He received a management degree from Northeast Louisiana University in 1989 and went to work for Ford Motor Co., then worked as a dealer representative and quality control manager.

Renner said society still has a ways to go in treatment of people with disabilities, although people with disabilities have come a long ways in 17 years. He describes going to a restaurant and having the waiter completely ignore him, asking his date what he would be having.

"Individuals like Christopher Reeve and other figures that have acquired disabilities have educated society, but we still have those attitudes that people with disabilities are helpless," he said. "One of my missions in life is to show that yes, I am paralyzed from the neck down, but I can still compete in the market and be very productive and have a good quality of life."