“Spend a day with me…walk a mile in my shoes.” Amid the changing landscape of professionals, programs and agencies, families are the constant in the life of a person with a brain injury. Yet too few people realize what it is like, day to day, unless they are a family member.

“Grieve what you lost…. So you can celebrate what you have.”
Her child’s traumatic brain injury led Denise Boggs to look at the emotional recovery that must accompany physical recovery. She believes that survivors go through a process of emotional development after a traumatic brain injury that is necessary to develop a new sense of self and to form healthy relationships. For children and adolescents, this emotional recovery is critical for them to become independent and self-reliant adults. She uses examples from her son’s brain injury and recovery to illustrate the process of emotional recovery.

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An undiagnosed brain injury can have many consequences for survivors and family. Ethel Dimont reveals how a “minor” car accident resulted in an undiagnosed brain injury that had serious consequences for herself, her family and her caregivers. Assuming that things will get better with time is not a substitute for early diagnosis, expert assessment, and proper treatment. Social, cognitive and behavioral changes after a brain injury may be less visible than physical injuries but they can have life changing effects on the individual. Early diagnosis and treatment are critical.

A brain injury can affect short term memory. This is just one of many challenges that survivors struggle to cope with and adjust to as they rebuild their lives. The response, “I already told you” to a brain injury survivor’s question is not helpful. Donna Sue Hurst reveals her frustration at the impatience and insensitivity of others who simply do not recognize nor understand the cognitive impact of an acquired brain injury on short term memory, social interactions and communication.

Genie Zorbas had a severe brain injury as a child when she was struck by a car at age 6. Physical and cognitive disabilities made everything in her life more difficult while she was growing up. It was hard for her to keep up in school. Classmates and friends teased her because she looked different and had a hard time learning.

Despite these challenges, she has learned how to live life fully and is now a young adult. She has written a short fiction story based on her personal life that explores the question of many survivors ask, “If I had not had a brain injury…how would my life be different?”

These Fact Sheets are based on special issues published by Brain Injury Professional.

Back issues are available by calling the publisher HDI at (800) 321-7037.

Brain Injury/Professional is the largest professional circulation publication on the subject of brain injury and is the official publication of the North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS). Members of NABIS receive a subscription as a benefit of NABIS. Visit www.nabis.org to become a member.

Cognitive rehabilitation for children and youth with brain injuries (tbi) must address the developmental impact of brain trauma as the child matures. Children with traumatic brain injuries have unique needs for treatment and cognitive rehabilitation that are different from adults with brain injuries.

Children and youth with acquired brain injuries are less likely to receive inpatient rehabilitation than adults. School becomes the setting for cognitive rehabilitation for students with brain injuries. Consequently, families and educators become the long term providers of educational services and rehabilitation supports in local schools and the community.

The student with a brain injury will have changing educational needs as the latent effects of trauma to the brain emerge over time. So it is important for families and educators to work together as partners to identify and meet the needs of children and youth with brain injuries.

His wife’s brain injury left husband Philip Hasouris grappling with mixed emotions of joy for her survival and anguish for her losses. His poems capture the physical and emotional pain of surviving brain injury and the struggle within families to rebuild relationships while grieving their losses. Expressing a love that is unsentimental, unflinching, devoted and determined, Hasouris exposes the complexity of mourning what has been lost.

Changes in memory after traumatic and acquired brain injury can cause difficulty for survivors, families and caregivers. CT scans can help identify changes in the brain that affect memory. The differences between long-term memory, short-term memory and post traumatic amnesia are explained. There are suggestions for improving memory at home with daily routines and exercises.