Getting Michelle Johnson, 32, a receiving clerk, back on the job following her rehabilitation from a paralyzing, traumatic injury was not the first thing her colleagues at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Monroe thought about when they heard about the tragedy.

Her associates were most concerned about the quality of their friend’s life following a domestic dispute that resulted in serious injury.

“Michelle is the most positive person I know,” said Wal-Mart associate Becky Sanford. “We were all, of course, devastated when we found out that her life could be permanently changed by her injuries.”

Johnson had been working at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center for a year when she and her boyfriend got into an argument that led to violence. Her neck was broken, resulting in a C-5 level disability, leaving her with partial use of her biceps but no other feeling or movement below her chest.

While her friends, family and Wal-Mart colleagues rallied around her, Johnson spent four months in rehabilitation at the Shepherd Center, determined to get back to work to support her three children, ages, 10, 7 and 5.

“I really had no choice, other than to go back to work,” Johnson said. “I have to take care of my children and myself.”

Tonya Landis Jordan, a vocational specialist at Shepherd, was assigned to Johnson’s case.

“I work together with the state of Georgia’s Vocational Rehabilitation department to help patients or outpatients like Michelle adapt their work place,” Landis Jordan said. “In her case, I did an initial assessment after a doctor released her to go back to work. We set goals together after I did a site visit of her home and work place and then I worked with both Wal-Mart and Michelle on the modifications needed.”

Jordan’s job entails using a mix of sophisticated assistive technology, simple modifications and training for patients and their employers.

At home, Johnson uses a manual wheelchair, but at work, she must use a motorized, power wheelchair. Ramps lead to her workstation, where she receives truck drivers making deliveries and logs them into a computer.

“I use a brace strapped to my hand since I have no finger function,” Johnson said. “I also use a wireless headset to communicate with my drivers as they enter the center.”

“The modifications made for Michelle were relatively minor,” said Phillip Ingram, general manager of the Wal-Mart Distribution Center. “It was not difficult at all for us to accommodate the necessary changes, which include tools like her headset, an electric stapler and a large mouse for her computer.”

Beyond the workstation changes, Ingram’s employees and contractor truck drivers provided both financial and emotional support for Johnson.

“The drivers think so much of her that they put collection bins at their drive-in points to collect money,” Ingram said. “These drivers and our associates held fund-raisers that [helped pay] Michelle’s bills during her hospital stay and four-month rehab.”

Georgia’s Vocational Rehabilitation Program, a statewide program under the Department of Labor helped cover the cost of the power wheelchair and also will pay for a specially modified van that will enable Johnson to drive herself to work. Until the van arrives, Johnson’s mother, Cheryl, will continue to take her to and from her home in Locust Grove, a 90-minute commute to Monroe, as well as help Johnson care for her children.

Customized vans and power chairs are expensive, but may be approved by a Vocational Rehabilitation counselor for people with disabilities like Johnson if they are essential for returning to work. Rehabilitation engineers employed by Vocational Rehabilitation work with clients to identify the assistive technology and transportation requirements that can make the critical difference in the person’s employment.

The cost of assistive technology is not always expensive, according to Carolyn Phillips, program manager for the Georgia Department of Labor’s Tools for Life, an assistive technology project.

“It is somewhat surprising that most solutions cost employers less than $300,” Phillips said. “That is not a lot of money when you think about the overall benefits of a maintaining a talented and loyal employee.

“We live in an exciting time where barriers to employment are starting to tumble down, thanks to greater awareness of employing people with disabilities and the available technology.”

More than 700,000 Georgians have severe disabilities that can require one or more types of assistive technology for living, learning and/or working.

Tools for Life has a working relationship with more than 3,000 Georgia businesses — assisting them on many levels in getting people with disabilities back into the work force.

Phillips said that Georgia has an untapped, talented work force of thousands of individuals with disabilities who are knocking at the door of employment. Assistive technology is often the key to opening that door.

“Michelle Johnson’s story is one of collaboration at its best. We should all celebrate her success and create even more opportunities for other Georgians to succeed,” she said.

“I get teary-eyed just thinking of the day that Michelle first came back to the Distribution Center to work,” Sanford said. “Shortly after her injury, she set a goal to return to her job. Seeing her come into the building in her power chair that day was extremely emotional for all of us.”