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© 2007, Lee Tarte Wallace
This page is dedicated to a special and courageous group of people -- my clients with brain injuries, and the families who love them.
Brain Injuries
Some of the most heroic clients I have ever had have been people who have suffered brain injuries. Most people have no idea how hard these clients had to work to re-learn ordinary tasks like walking, reading, talking, and remembering. One client, who had loved to read, wound up with not just double, but quadruple vision. I still marvel when I think about it, but somehow he figured out how to read again by staring at the center of the page and then rotating his eyes in a circle.
These clients have spent countless hours working crossword puzzles and playing memory games to try to regain their skills. They carry notebooks and devise systems that will help them remember to do the routine tasks most people remember effortlessly.
Unfortunately, many of these clients had injuries so severe that regardless of how hard they worked, they could never recover all of the abilities they had before the injury.
Some of these clients were left in a coma-like state, unable to move, speak, or even blink voluntarily. A number of them were probably suffering from “locked-in syndrome” – meaning they could hear and perhaps even see what was going on around them, but they could not communicate in any way. One especially precious client could not speak or communicate in any way, or even blink – but tears rolled down her face every time her very young children came in the room.
Many people are surprised to learn that a brain injury can change a person’s personality. A person with a brain injury may become aggressive or angry; on the other hand, the person may become more passive. Either way, all of the person’s relationships are affected.
Which brings me to another group of courageous folks – the families of people with brain injuries. I have seen a husband polishing the nails of a wife who could not speak or move in any way – “because,” he told me shyly, “she always just had to have her fingernails done!” I have seen a father put aside his career plans in order to help a son – who had become angry and aggressive – learn to live with an irreversible and serious brain injury. Outsiders see that one person has been injured, but the truth is that the whole family has been injured – and the whole family is responsible for the triumphs, both large and small.
So to all of these people -- I salute you, and I dedicate this section of resources to you.
Brain Injury Facts
A brain injury can occur when the brain is deprived of oxygen, as sometimes occurs in a birth or a respiratory arrest),
The brain also can suffer a traumatic injury, which means sudden, physical damage. The brain can suffer a traumatic brain injury, often called TBI, even when there are no signs on the outside of the head. The brain is relatively soft, and it can be damaged when the head suddenly accelerates or decelerates, or rotates or twists.
Motor vehicle crashes account for about half of all brain injuries, whether fatal or non-fatal. Gunshot wounds are the second leading cause of deaths from brain injuries. Falls are the second leading causes of non-fatal brain injuries. Please see the Virginia Commonwealth University
Each year some 1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury, as seen in the CDC’s Fact Book. 5.3 million Americans (2% of the population) live with disabilities resulting from a traumatic brain injury. Hospitalizations for traumatic brain injury cost our nation $ 56.3 billion a year.
 
Brain Injury Links
Use these links to learn more about head injuries:
The Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems website
The 16 Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems
Alabama – University of Alabama at Birmingham, UAB TBI Model System
California - Northern California Traumatic Brain Injury Model System of Care, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
Colorado – Craig Hospital, The Rocky Mountain Regional Brain Injury System
Massachusetts - The Spaulding/Partners TBI Model System at Harvard Medical
Michigan - Southeastern Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury System, Wayne State University and Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan
Minnesota - Mayo Clinic Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, Mayo Medical
Mississippi - Traumatic Brain Injury Model System of Mississippi, Methodist Rehabilitation Center
New Jersey – JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
New York - New York Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
North Carolina - Carolinas Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Research System, Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital Authority
Ohio - Ohio Regional TBI Model System, Ohio Valley Center for Brain Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) - The Moss Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute
Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) - University of Pittsburgh Brain Injury Model System
Texas - North Texas Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Virginia - Virginia Commonwealth University
Washington - University of Washington Traumatic Brain Injury Model System
Center for Disease Control (search for “head injury” or “traumatic brain injury”)
Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States, Assessing Outcomes in Children
(article from CDC)
National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders
Article: Traumatic Brain Injury: Cognitive and Communication Disorders
Optometrists Network (vision problems associated with brain injuries)
Headway, British brain injury association
Centre for Neuro Skills (rehabilitation facilities in Texas and California)
© 2007, Lee Tarte Wallace
The contents of this article: (a) should not be considered or relied upon as legal, financial or other professional advice in any manner whatsoever, and (b) may be considered advertising under some state’s Bar Rules. Unless otherwise stated, no article or text at this Internet site is, has been, or will be updated or revised for accuracy as statutory or case law changes following the date of first publication. Always consult with your lawyer and/or your other professional advisors before acting.
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