The Weinsteins are a middle-class family with two teenage children, Walt and Kara. They have some savings in the bank. They are all covered by Mr. Weinstein’s health coverage at work. Walt has an interest in mountain biking. He has worked at a part-time job and bought, with his own money, a good mountain bike. One day, riding in the hills with a group of his friends, Walt loses control of his bicycle and goes over the side of the trail, dropping some 50 feet into a ravine. The searchand-rescue team retrieve him from the ravine. He has a broken neck and is paralyzed. Although the family’s health coverage pays for the immediate expenses, it does not pay for prolonged physical therapy or for at-home nursing care. Walt recuperates from the immediate injuries, but he will be confined to a wheelchair the rest of his life and needs constant care to function.

1. If the family’s insurance doesn’t cover at-home nursing care, how do you think the family will handle Walt’s need for supervision?

2. What do you see as the family’s most important adjustment to Walt’s accident?

3. Do you know a family in which a child or a parent has a serious, long-term illness or injuries? How do they cope with the ongoing crisis?

4. List the many adjustments that Walt’s family will likely have to make as a result of his accident.