Leslie and I met at the first brain injury support group I ever tried. Listening to her stories, challenges, and brain injury problems, especially the "misunderstanding" that she faced over decades, helped me realize how people can be so different but still face similar invisible hurdles because of the nature of brain injury.
That was one year before Covid isolation shut down all the groups that met in person.
Leslie and I were also part of an online support group called Synapse, at the University of Oregon. That group was great because the undergraduates who ran it were very careful to listen to the needs of the brain injured members and they helped Leslie write "the blurb" to help doctor's gain a better sense of her needs, strengths, and limitations.
When Leslie and I recorded this discussion it was months after the blurb was written. I was eager to "capture" all the things we haddiscussed over the years. Of course, that was not really possible.
I appreciate what she shares, she explains the ways that anxiety is a part of her brain injury, but the brain injury problems (which are the source of the anxiety) are rarely discussed or noticed. She is very clear about how brain injured people can assume that other brain injured people are dealing with problems "like their own," when in fact there are drastic differences. Leslie is indeed an "old-timer" with brain injury as she puts it, she has learned a lot, and people can learn a lot from her about this type of problem.
Judgement, assumptions, and misunderstanding surround brain injury, but if people listen and keep an open mind about the nature of these types of problem, a lot can be done to improve each individual's situation.
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Experiencing My Brain is a podcast devoted to detailed discussion with brain injury survivors about their experiences, problems, and ways that they have found to navigate their lives. These stories are important to help the non brain injured world make sense of the problems that come with brain injury.
The views and opinions shared in this podcast should be looked at as the views of brain injury survivors and not as medical or clinical advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified health care professional with any brain injury problem.
