What We Can Learn From The Brain Injured

Bob Carroll

Contributor

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For approximately 10 years I attended the meetings and events of a Tampa Bay Head Injury Support Group. My contacts and friendships within the group were very enlightening to me. I learned some surprising things about the capabilities, problems and attitudes of those who are traumatically brain injured.

There are far too many matters to cover in a single article so today I will mention just one insight I gained.

Almost all of the members of the group had a very open and accepting attitude towards their impairment. That is not to say that they were uninterested in treatment or counseling. But, it was surprising at first to see and hear such calm "life goes on" expressions. There was even a fairly high level of humor among the members, some of it self-directed. After a few meetings and events I came to appreciate that this was a group of people who had decided to move on with their lives, to be as happy and fulfilled as possible and to interact with the rest of the world in a positive way.

I wish all of my injured clients could attend these meetings and recognize that no injury should deprive any of us of a meaningful life, even though it may be quite different from what we had planned.