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Living with Traumatic Brain Injury
Each year, an estimated 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI). That's 8 times the number of people diagnosed with breast cancer and 34 times the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS each year.
Living with the affects of traumatic brain injury is misunderstood by society every day.
We often think if the injured person would just try harder to remember or get organized it would be ok. This is not true. The symptoms are real and valid.
I have a family member affected. She helped me understand the true challenges she faces day to day. I became interested in working with brain injury clients for this reason.
It's not a matter of trying harder. It is about finding practical ways to help the person better function in their environment and giving care and understanding while they learn new ways of living with Traumatic Brain Injury.
Symptoms of brain injury can include:
Excessive sleepiness
Inattention
Difficulty concentrating
Impaired memory
Faulty judgment
Depression
Irritability
Emotional outbursts
Disturbed sleep
Difficulty switching between two tasks
Slowed thinking
Learn More
For more information about living with Traumatic Brain Injury please visit the following links:
Brain Injury
The Brain Injury Recovery Network
Case Study
My client is a physchotherapist in California who has experienced two brain injuries during his lifetime. In addition to an ADD diagnosis, he has made huge strides to continue his practice despite the affects of the living with a traumatic brain injury.
A Visual and auditory learner, my client specifically set up his office to meet with clients as a very non distractive environment. On the other hand, his home office and day planner were areas of concern for since yellow sticky reminders overwhelmed him and accumulating paper piles and books took over his home office.
We began with the daytimer. My client had a system of yellow sticky reminders that worked for him since it allowed him to move the stickys within his daytimer. The issue was that when he began his day and opened his planner ALL the yellow stickys were there on "today's" page and he immediately felt overwhelmed.
We discussed that since he is a highly visual person that perhaps we could prioritize the stickys, 1 - Urgent/Important, 2-Non urgent important, 3-non priority.
We created new sections his daytimer labeled 1, 2 and 3 and began to place the stickys into more appropriate classifications. Asking for each whether or not this was an item that could be delegated to his new office manager.
At the end of our session my client felt relief since not all items were of urgency. We discussed allocating time for non priority items that could not be delegated so that they didn't fall to the wayside.
If you or someone you know is living with a Traumatic Brain Injury and would like help living a great life
Contact Me
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