Joe

I have those disabilitys: thinking, seizure disorder, short term memory lost, right eye loss of peripheal vision, and nerve damage, also due being assaulted with a baseball bat to my head. Unfortunally the public and some of the agencies do NOT understand our dificulties and refuse to learn/understand what we are going through. We look okay from the outside but interenally we have our injuries/disabilities that will be there forever.

I belive that the goverments are now understanding what we are going through, thanks to the war in Iraq, and how the soldiers are now having TBI's. The U.S. never knew what TBI's were, until thier soldiers were having a lot of head injuries and the medical team did not know what to do then. They had to take a CRASH course for TBI's. The veteran hospitals were not trained for it also.  Hopefully, and unfortunately, they will learn and understand what WE have gone through. Hopefully they will get the proper care. Also the ADA and others will finally learn what we have gone through.

31 months ago

Larry

Leslie, I think the major problem defining brain injury as a disability is that there are so many different deficits that accompany it and not all people have the same loss of skills.

Since cognitive functioning depends on memory and people have different levels of memory loss, the "thinking" deficit varies from person to person.

A traumatic brain injury may be limited in the part of the brain affected while an anoxic or hypoxic brain injury usually affects the whole brain. And, then, the degree to which the various parts of the brain are affected differs.

It is probable that the ADA looks for more physical signs of disability such as loss of sight, hearing, etc. That's the problem for people with an invisible disability.

My site: Brain Injury Guide

31 months ago

Joe

IMPORTANT READING MATERIAL

http://www.bianys.org/veterans/beyondtheinvisible2.html

31 months ago

lauren

oh my goodness yes, being that I can't walk because of it and slur so bad when I talk, and the medications I am on so I don't get ou of control with my laughing hysterically or crying.

31 months ago

Lynnette

I think (as a supporter, not a survivor) that TBIs, as well as chronic disabling illnesses and injuries, need to be considered disability for the purpose of caring for the ill/injured person. It's quite obvious you can't provide care and support of yourself while in a coma, or recovering basic functions. You need time to recover and if enough recovery is made, you will likely have to retrain for the ability to do any type job. Many TBI survivors will never be able to program computers, stand on their feet for 12 hrs, or calculate. (And doesn't it always seem like the area of the brain you used the most is the most effected by the injury?) My problem with the word and status of disabled is that it means forever to many people, and I just don't agree with that as a blanket statement. Maybe you will never recover your ability as you knew it, but I believe we become Differently able, no unable to have a meaningful job, or career. I think the term permanently disabled is false in most cases, and people should be able to have hope that they will be able to have what they need and are willing to work for in life., even if it takes 10, or even 20 yrs. I just want people, no matter how badly injured, to feel they can accomplish goals still. Differently able is such a more hopeful term, and allows each individual to see the potential for progress, if that is what they want or need. Still, for the purpose of government help, and financial assistance-it saddens me that an alcoholic or anxiety ridden person can be termed disabled, and our veterans have to fight to get what they earned.And a person that has a life totaled by TBI should not even have to fight. Disability should be automatic upon an injury that puts you in ICU, until such time as you are ready and able to provide for yourself. Hope this makes sense, been up all night with insomnia. :) 

31 months ago

Leslie

Great posts guys!  It really does hurt me when people tell me that brain injury is not a disability, so I'm glad to hear others feel the same way.  Keep 'em coming!

31 months ago

BARB

Yes.  But I am also a firm believer in being 'differently abled'.  

30 months ago

Joe

that is what is called as POSITIVE THINKING and we all need it every day.

30 months ago

Kami

As a supporter, I very much believe that a person with a TBI has a disability.  A TBI can affect many areas of a person's life.  I've seen how much it has affected my brother's life and limited him.  One thing that I find so sad about TBI's is how in many cases it's a disability which can't be seen by the outside world and even when one tries to explain it to someone; it's difficult for them to understand unless they've experienced it themselves or through someone close to them.  If a person sees someone without any arms; it's easy for them to realize that he can't tie his shoe or open the door, but if a person sees someone with a TBI they can't see that person's brain, they can't understand that they forget to clock into work, that they may get angry easier, or that they have no filter on things appropriate and not appropriate to say.  So many of those disabilities caused by TBI's are interpreted as disorganized, rude, obnoxious, etc.  In reality, there's a very real injury to the brain.  The brain controls everything about us even our personalities; it's difficult for people to understand how one part or several parts of it being destroyed could affect such an array of functions.  That's one thing that I hope this site achieves, is making TBI's more well known.

30 months ago

Donna

The US Department of Education accepts brain injury impairments as a disability.  Traumatic Brain Injury  (and acquired brain injuries-"insult to the brain) have been a separate classification category of its own in Special Education since 1992.  Our state on NJ included TBI as a classification category for special ed. since 1998.

The ADA covers issues other than physical disabilites. Reasonable accommodations are required for diabetes under the ADA (ie:  breaks for meals, snacks, blood sugar checks)

29 months ago