Brain injury Survivor Forum information and how to submit an article.

BrainLine advisor Jean Langlois Orman, ScD, MPH (Scientific Program Manager for Brain Injury Rehabilitation Research and Development Service at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) wrote “How Is the Prevalence of Long- Term Disability Counted,” a short article that explains the processes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention use to collect this type of information.

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?”

Shaun Best, survivor of a brain injury over 30 years ago, discusses the stigma of stereotypes and labels for persons with brain injuries and other cognitive or physical challenges.

By emphasizing positive descriptive words, he focuses on including people with disabilities in our communities rather than isolating and excluding them.

Using positive thinking rather than negative thinking, he created the Challenged Conquisatador to describe how he lives his life fully after his brain injury.

A traumatic brain injury changed the life of Terry Morgan. He went from feeling like a million dollars as pastor of a large church and leading a full active life and career to feeling worthless. The fall that resulted in his brain injury changed his entire life – and that of his family. But as a brain injury survivor, it also resulted in his reevaluating what’s important in life. He now see there is a positive side to brain injury once you survive the physical and emotional trauma and rebuild your life.

Angie Machovec survived a traumatic brain injury on her last day of high school when she was 17. Struck by a car when she crossed the street to go home, it was like any other day. But her world completely changed at that moment. She was in a coma for about a month, spent 3 weeks in rehabilitation, was discharged home and then had out patient rehabilitation.

She wrote these poems in summer 2002 while in a creative writing course. Writing poetry after her brain injury helped her understand her emotions and accept what had happened in her life.

Gwendolyn Gibbons believes she is lucky to be a survivor of traumatic brain injury (TBI). She feels lucky to be alive. Despite being visually impaired in her right eye and having a few memory problems, she still enjoys life and many of the things she did when she was young, like going to parades. Meeting other survivors at a clubhouse for social activities is an important part of her life. She is still marching at the head of the parade of life.

The loss of speech can feel devastating to the survivor of a brain injury. Katherine Kimes writes about the frustration, persistence and sheer effort required as she learned how to speak and communicate again by forming syllables and words one by one after the car crash that resulted in her brain injury.

She is now an eloquent writer and uses language to express the emotional turmoil that accompanied her communication impairment.