Traumatic+Brain+Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury Tyler Lueckenhoff Characteristics of Individuals with Exceptionalities Ed 226 Mr. Ramsey September 30, 2009 Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI is a unique disability that affects around 1.4 million people every year (Center for Disease Control). TBI is grouped into two categories, mild and severe. Each of which have their own effects that will be discussed in this paper. This paper will also explore the causes of TBI and also the outcomes of those with TBI. Traumatic Brain Injury is a very serious condition that can occur very quickly and will affect a person’s life forever. What is TBI? Our nation's special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines traumatic brain injury as "an a acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psycho-social behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma. (Watson)” [34 Code of Federal Regulations §300.7(c)(12)] (Watson)

“A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain.” (CDC) The thing to remember with a brain injury of any kind is that the brain is an organ that cannot be fixed. TBI does not heal like other injuries. It is important to remember that not all blows or jolts to the head result in TBI. An example to show this would be when two football players collide head to head and neither of these people loses consciousness or has a change in mental status. TBI is a very unique disability. This means that since we are dealing with the brain it has the ability to affect the use of our limbs or even affect our personality. There are no two brain injuries that are alike and the consequence of two similar injuries may be very different. This makes the recovery for each person with a TBI very different as well. The symptoms for a TBI may appear right away or may not be present for days or weeks after the injury. How many people have TBI? It is sad to say that Traumatic Brain Injuries lead to a large number of deaths and many cases of permanent disability every year. It is estimated that around 1.4 million people sustain a TBI every year in the United States (CDC). Out of that 1.4 million 50,000 of those people die, 235,000 are hospitalized, and around 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department (CDC). When it says that those people are hospitalized, what condition are they in? Are they back to doing what they normally do as soon as possible? It is sad to say but they are not. This affects these people for the rest of their lives. There are actually groups that are more a risk for sustaining a TBI. Some of these groups include adult age 75 and older and African Americans. Men are twice as likely as females are to sustain a TBI (CDC). Some of the leading causes of TBI are falls, motor vehicle crashes, and assaults. There are two different classifications of TBI. One of which is “mild”. As was stated earlier that to be classified as a mild TBI it must be a brief mental status or consciousness. An example of a mild TBI would be a concussion. Around 75% of all TBI’s are concussions and other mild forms of TBI (CDC). The second classification is “severe”. To be classified in this category you must have an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. “The Center for Disease Control estimates that at least 5.3 million Americans currently have long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.” (CDC) Traumatic Brain Injury is a very serious condition and it will affect a person for the rest of his or her life. But just what do these students struggle with on a daily basis? For starters they might have difficulty with logic, thinking, and reasoning. They may be slower to respond, react and complete activities and tasks that are asked for by the teacher. With an injury to the brain it is very possible that they may have difficulty remembering or learning new material. These students may find themselves constantly puzzled or challenged but work that is their grade level (Watson). Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI is a unique disability that affects around 1.4 million people every year (Center for Disease Control). Traumatic Brain Injury is a very serious condition that can occur very quickly and will affect a person’s life forever. There are many causes of TBI such as car crashes, fall, and assaults. A very important point to understand is that a TBI is forever. Once you hurt the brain it is hurt for life. It affects victims in everything they do, from tying their shoes to studying for a test. Victims of TBI will struggle everyday of their life.

__ Works Cited __

Langlois JA, Rutland-Brown W, Thomas KE. Traumatic brain injury in the United States: emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2004. Lenrow, Dr. David. “What Is Traumatic Brain Injury”. 2004. 

Watson, Sue. “Traumatic Brain Injury-TBI” May 2009. 

Disability Interviews Introduction

Brain injury is a very invisible to people who don’t know the person who has it (2a). A woman who works with individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) said, “…The brain is the most important part of your body” (1d). She also said, “when you hurt your brain, it is hurt for life. There is no going back to the way it was.” (1e) One respondent said, “TBI will affect you for the rest of your life in everything you do.” (1f)

Effects of Having TBI and How It Affects Personality

One woman said, “There is a possibility of a TBI bringing out another side of a person that a family has never seen before. It could be a more positive…they may be a better person for it.” (1m). However she says, “they become someone one very different after sustaining a TBI.” (1j) “A person who sustains a TBI might be more aggressive, have a temper, or have some sort of memory loss.” (1l). One respondent said, “He is not the same person he was before the accident.” (2c) One mother expressed how her son has changed by saying, “his personality has completely changed.”(4l). “He used to be introverted and now he is a social as they come.” (4m) “He doesn’t have the friends he used to. His old friends don’t like who he is now.” (4o). She also said, “his social skills are lacking” (4j). She said, “he has a temper now. He manages it well with others but not so much with his family.” (4s). Another mother said her son “will act out and flare his temper and wont even realize what he has done” (2j). “He has formed a self centeredness feeling from his accident. He wants all the attention on him and none on his sister.” (4v). One father said, “ Jack did not react well with his sister (after the accident). Their relationship was forever changed because of his TBI” (3f). One respondent said, “he didn’t even remember our house when we brought him home for the first time” (2l)

School Life The parents I interviewed were mostly in agreement on their son’s capability in school. One respondent said, “The feeling I see most is frustration…” (1g). This same woman I met with expressed a valid point when saying, “what would take an hour, now takes four hours” (1i). This respondent also said, “I am familiar with plenty of people who have suffered a TBI and have gone on to finish school and even graduate from college” (1h). However the case was different with the parents I talked to. One expressed, “he didn’t like school because it took to long to do his schoolwork” (4g). She also said, “he went back to college, taking one class at a time” (4f). She explained her son by saying, “he used to love school, and was a very bright young man”(4h). Although this young man’s accident affected him she says, “he is still a very intelligent. He didn’t lose much there” (4r). One mother said, “Our son struggled in school after the accident but with the plan we had with his school, he was able to graduate with his class” (5c).Another mother I spoke with said her son, “does understand how smart he used to be. That is frustrating for him. He struggled in school a lot. And homework took him a lot longer to do” (2e,m)

Effect on Family and Daily Life

One woman said, “It puts a lot of stress on the parents because sometimes you have a child that basically becomes a baby again” (1c). To back up that quote a mother stated, “He needed around the clock care. It’s almost like having a younger child again. Everything has to be set up for them” (2b,g). “We were always at the hospital for therapy, doctor’s appointments, or surgeries.” (2o). One mother stated, “we are afraid to leave him alone” (2f). They are just scared of when his anger comes out and no one is their to calm him down. Although she does say, “he is not totally dependent on us (Parents). He could live on his own but chooses not to” (2d). One mother had two quotes that really exemplified what this paper is all about. She said, “It was easily the most stressful time of my life. It really tested the strength of our family” (2p,q). This proves that having a disability in the family is very taxing on the individuals around them. One respondent said “After the accident, we had to treat him like a new born child for a few months because that is what he was like for a while” (5i). One mother shared the experience they have had with their son by saying, “We spent four months going back and forth to the hospital. My son spent two months in the Intensive Care Unit” (4a) “Our son is very high functioning so when he acts out, people find his behavior to be offensive” (4ac) “People are very surprised to find out that our some has a TBI” (2k). This quote confirms the introduction in saying that this disability is one that is pretty invisible to those who don’t know a person has it. It can be very surprising to people when they find this out because a person with TBI who is high functioning will be able to interact with them pretty well. One mother described a certain instance in which the family was not able to do something together. She said, “We missed our only daughter’s wedding” (4aa). She also stated a daily activity that either her or her husband has to do. “We drive him to work everyday and pick him up from work everyday. He doesn’t like to drive anymore. He is afraid he will hurt someone” (4k,j) Financial Impacts There are many financial impacts that come with having a child with a TBI. Some of the parents I interviewed expressed some of those situations with me. “I (mom) stopped working for 4 months and my husband is retired. We had an income-producing problem. To cut down on the driving back and forth (to the rehab center), we rented a 4 bedroom house on the campus of the rehab center for two months” (4w,b). She commented that “everyone wanted to help at first and then it thinned out to just our true friends and mostly family” (4z). One respondent said, “ we really had to move some money around to get the financial aspect taken care of” (5e). One mother noted “all the surgeries were covered through the insurance company” (2h). That mother also added that “between driving back and forth to rehab, staying at rehab, renting a house, and not working for 4 months, we lost to the tune of a couple hundred thousand dollars” (4x). That absolutely blew my mind. To think that one person with a TBI cost that much money is amazing to me. She admitted, “We received additional help and money from private organizations” I gathered that these parents that I spoke to have spent an enormous amount of money on this disability. Most of which is concentrated on the medical side of TBI (ex. Doctor bills, medications, therapy, etc.) These family have been hit hard by this and some have had to tap into their savings to recover from the hit they took.

In conclusion, I would leave you with a quote from a father I spoke to said, “This time was very hard on our family. Physically, financially, and emotionally draining. But we made it through and we will be alright” (3a)