Help with longterm effect of Traumatic Head Injury?!
Question:
Help with longterm effect of Traumatic Head Injury?
A loved one suffered 3 significant brain injuries as a child including one that sent him into a coma for 5 days and took about a year to recover from (relearn to walk, talk, recognize his surroundings). He is a very "smart" adult acheiving his Ph.D. and performing on all accounts like a normal person.
However, he has never been able to keep a job. This has been so frustrating to him and this is the outcome which first alerted us to the idea that it might be from long term affects of his childhood head injuries.
Where can we get more information on this: Long term affects of brain injuries and how to cope with them? What legal and career help can my loved one get for this? Where can he be diagnosed and supported? We are in the Chicago area and so any help or resources in our area would be GREATLY appreciated.
Answers:
First you need to see a neurological doctor who can rule out other causes and diagnose him with long term damage from the injury.
After that's done, you can look up disability agencies in the phone book. You live in a big city, so there's likely to be many places that can help. He can contact one and try to get support based upon the doctor's diagnosis. It would be something he could bring up with future employers and get them to assist him with the areas he has trouble with.
Another thing that you can do on your own before getting in to see the doctor is some online research about different brain structures. If you know which areas of his brain were injured, you can look those up and see what functions they perform and what injuries might do to them. It could help, and at the very least, it would be interesting to read about.
Try this: http://www.headinjury.com/brainmap.htm...