A child’s traumatic brain injury can affect the entire family system. When a family is dealing multiple sources stress related to a TBI, it is often difficult to focus on the feelings and needs of the injured child’s siblings.

Coordinating services in school for a student with an acquired or traumatic brain injury can be challenging. Changes in a student’s physical well-being, cognition, emotional and psychosocial behaviors after a traumatic (TBI) or acquired brain injury (ABI) can stigmatize the child in school. Building a foundation to support the student in school requires a team effort with school administrators, community leaders, youths and families. Collaborative communication is essential to effectively address the specific needs of the student with an acquired brain injury. Training, support, and technical assistance for school staff can be a critical factor in effective educational programming.

If you have a brain injury or are a family caregiver, you know that your life encompasses much more than caregiving and TBI. It’s important to make your life as well-rounded as you can. If you journal (and I hope you do!), you know that inspiration for your writing can come from anywhere. You’re much more than a caregiver for a person with a brain injury or TBI.. But when you need a jumpstart, you can try these three methods for fun and enlightening writing sessions. They will spark creativity, open up your heart, and provide a look into your life. You’ll need to do a little prep work, which can also be fun, but then you’ll be set for many journaling sessions, alone or in a group.

Veteran Matt Brown’s poem, Events, captures the power of the mind for veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. The events of the past have a powerful hold on the mind as veterans come home and transition from military to civilian life. Families, including spouses and children, often say the wounded warrior is not the same person who left for the battlefield. Matt Brown captures how powerful these changes are for the individual who has been to war and back.

I watched her sleep today. Always the first one up in the morning, my brain often waking up an hour or more before I do, today I had the luxury of not jumping tight out of bed.

And she was smiling in her sleep.

And I was glad… glad that she was able to find a measure of peace away from the daily challenges of life.

We’ve all heard that old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words. But looks can indeed be quite deceiving. A face smiling back at you as you look at a picture tells you so little. Rather than a using picture to tell the tale, today I opt for the Thousand Words.

Mike Strand reflects on how words such as brain damaged, brain injured, disabled, or crippled send powerful messages about the value of the individual. Survivor and recovery are also used freely but what do they really mean for the person who is living with a brain injury. As a survivor and a person who has lived with a brain injury since 1989, Mike Strand shares his perspective and personal views on the words that he chooses to use to describe his life.

Whether you’re living with your own brain injury or are a family caregiver, you can benefit from writing your thoughts and feelings for just a few minutes a couple of times a week. It helps to have some good techniques available both to help you start a writing session and to broaden your journaling practice to make it more satisfying and productive. Some of these techniques are the Unsent Letter, Perspectives, Captured Moment, and Dialogue.

So much has changed since the day of my accident. I still struggle to live the life I used to live. As more time passes the reality that there is no going back settles even deeper into the very core of my being.

As I put my thoughts on paper today I am at 30,000 feet heading back North to New Hampshire, both Sarah and I are foot weary from a few days walking around Disney World. Though now well into year three of my post-TBI life, I still marvel at my naiveté.

How innocent I feel looking back on last week’s simple request.

“Sarah, can we take a short vacation from all things TBI?” I asked as we packed for our trip. “I just want to forget about it all for a few days.”

In almost everything I have written, I have referred to the importance of advocacy. Whether it is yourself, or someone advocating for you, time has shown me over and over again why it is so important. I recently completed my book, Who Am I Again? At the end of my book, I noted that I was working with a major clinic in southeastern Minnesota where I began with hope, lost it, and now thanks to self-advocacy, I am filled with hope for results there once again. Here is my story…

Brain injury caregivers can feel the pressure of “not enough time” even more during the holiday season. Even if your family doesn’t follow a religious or secular tradition, the frenetic energy of others can be unpleasant. Here are five ways to give yourself a special gift of time this year.