Do you know anyone with Traumatic Brain Injury?!


Question: Do you know anyone with Traumatic Brain Injury?
if so can you please tell me a little about them and some struggles they have.

Answers:

I have a friend who was in an accident at the age of 7 and suffered permanent brain damage. He's a lovely guy, very kind and caring and sweet. Unfortunately, not many people are willing to take the time to get to know him so he suffers a lot from loneliness.

His brain injury was quite severe and he now has multiple disabilities and difficulties. He has a pronounced stutter and often he can't form words at all. When you talk to him, he has long periods of silence or he says um over and over again. I think it's because he has trouble putting his thoughts into words and processing what's said to him. Even with his disability he is not a stupid person. He can still think well, and is often quite philosophical. However, because of his speech problems people assume he is retarded, so they either don't speak to him at all or they treat him like child.

He does have trouble with motor co-ordination. Things like writing and drawing are difficult, though he loves to do both. He has trouble with abstract concepts, and can't read a page that has too much writing on it. I think this is because his brain mixes all the words up; and it gets harder the more words there are. That being said he is still literate and loves to read and learn.

He is quite shy around people he doesn't know, and doesn't often volunteer information on how he's feeling or what he needs. He either assumes people know or he doesn't think it's important enough to say. Because of this, he went a long time without any help. He has no family and no-one to act as an advocate. He didn't think it was important to tell people he was struggling physically and mentally, or that he didn't know how to navigate the banking system or other important organisations. He can't do anything with numbers and struggles with his finances and dealing with social security.

Physically, because his motor co-ordination is poor, he has trouble with fine motor tasks. He also has trouble walking and doing things around the house. He knows little about nutrition and has problems with personal care. He has fallen in the shower, and is now scared. He feels very alone, and even though he now has more support, he still feels overwhelmed by life. He had a lot more support when his parents were alive. They helped with daily tasks and finances and got him medical support like speech pathology and physical therapy. Unfortunately, they both died 20 years ago and he has been alone since then. He often feels like he is unworthy of peoples time and effort, though he is so grateful for the help he gets.

He is a complete sweet-heart, though he is always pre-judged by people. They think he is stupid and laughable and now he finds it hard to trust others. When he does trust you though, he's very open. I'm not sure why you asked this question, but I hope I've helped. Good luck!



A 12 yr old boy had a brain tumor removed, the surgery left him with TBI.
He had to learn to walk, talk, read, do math all over again.
When leaving one room and entering another, he would become startled and disoriented, every time, even in familiar places.




The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories