My Story of Living With a Brain Injury

I am young adult living with the trials and triumphs as a result of a brain injury. This is my story.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Accepting Feedback

I had an interesting experience at work the other day-I teach school. This year I am at a new school. Last Friday, while conversing with my co-teacher, it came up that I had sustained a brain injury. Her response: "You should have told me- you make SO much more sense now!" While I would recommend a more tactful response than "You make SO much more sense now"
her point was valid. There had been behaviors she had noticed but because she did not know about the brain injury, she assumed that something was wrong, that I "couldn't handle the job." Noticed behaviors included: looking down while I was talking to someone, giving blank looks, getting lost in the school, worrying about things that didn't need consideration. Behaviors that make much more sense when a brain injury is factored in.

My initial response: I felt offended and somewhat exposed that something was wrong. I assumed that if someone had noticed these things about me I must not be functioning as well as I thought. I felt like my faults were being pointed out. I tried to find resolution but I spent much of the weekend stewing over it. In conversation with some close friends, they mentioned that the intent of the conversation was most likely not critical, but I didn't believe them.

I was somewhat apprehensive to going back to work on Monday, afraid that people would be "watching" me, that I would have to work extra hard to prove that I could do the job. As it turns out, it was one of my best work days! I came to be grateful for that feedback, believing that it wasn't intended as critical, and realize that it was actually good and accurate feedback. For example, I felt I could converse better when I remembered not to look down and the day was more enjoyable when I would ask myself, "Do I really need to be concerned with this?" and then acting appropriately.

Feedback can be unexpected, painful, truthful, etc. However, if we move past the offense towards the possibilities, it can be very beneficial! Now it's your turn to respond: How would you feel if you were in my shoes? How would you have responded?

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Learning Experiences

It's been said to me before that "mistakes are not mistakes. They are learning experiences. The only mistake is if you don't learn from it." I believed in that but couldn't quite put it into practice. I would think "Well, now I know for next time," but it was more of a passing thought.

Also, along with a brain injury comes higher levels of anxiety, perfectionism, guilt, etc. So when there were learning experiences, it was/is harder to separate from all the emotions and just learn and move ahead.

But yesterday, something clicked for me. I recently had a rather..... large..... learning experience, one of those that I was responsible for, consequence of my choices, etc. I had been having a really hard time moving past it, I could have avoided it-why didn't I, etc. Then I realized- without learning experiences, where would be the motivation to change? To ultimately become better and happier? So now because I do know, I can change. And more than just a passing thought.

Here's to learning experiences!!!!!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Conversation Continued....

I had a few additional thoughts about the way I communicate, or how many/most individuals with a brain injury communicate.

-A need to say what is on your mind, even if it may not relate to the current conversation topic. When I have a spontaneous conversation topic, I try to remind myself to inform my conversation partner where that train of thought came from.

-A habit of saying what is on your mind at the first opportunity. This typically occurs when beginning a phone call. It can be tempting to skip the "how are you" part and just launch into the message, the purpose of why you called. I suppose that's why I'm a fan of texting-I can just give the message. The motivation for such communication is not trying to be rude or impatient, but someone with a brain injury has a very difficult time "putting thoughts aside." Rather, conversing or delivering a message can be like a goal to be accomplished.

-Sometimes endng a conversation can also be difficult because the ending is not always the same. Is it a long or a short phone call? Should you be the first one to hang up or not? How do you negotiate the social situation?
Thankfully conversation skills can be improved! Through trial and error, seeking feedback, etc.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Like Talking to a Roller Coaster

I am not the world's most gifted conversationalist. I have lots of valuable things to say (or at least I believe so), it's the give-and-take, attention, parts of the conversation that are a problem for me. The best analogy I can come up with is that talking to me can be like talking to a roller coaster!

For example, I tend to change topics at random, like how a car can jump from one roller coaster track to the other. Sometimes I forget that my friends can't read my mind and know what I'm thinking about when I suddenly bring up a new topic or return to the old one. Or when a friend/family member makes a comment, I hear them, but instead of responding, I give a comment that's related to what's on my mind at the time. Making eye contact is also very challenging for anyone with a brain injury- eye contact can be intimidating and/or just plain hard to stay that focused for an amount of time.

Having a conversation is especially challenging over the telephone because I can't see the other person's facial/body cues to know when they are done speaking. I tend to interrupt, not because I don't care or I'm trying to be rude but because there's less guide to know when it's OK for me to take a turn to talk. As a final example, I tend to forget that it's hard for people to follow me when I'm not paying attention. As a result, I tend to talk to my feet while I'm tying my shoes or inside my purse while I'm looking for something. Kind of like going through a dark tunnel on a rollercoaster.

Thankfully my conversation skills have improved over time. I have self-trained myself to be more aware of my conversation skills. For example, whenever someone tells me something, I count (to myself) to wait for a time to speak and make a comment to acknowledge that I am listening to what they are saying, that it is important to me. Waiting before my roller coaster car jumps tracks.

While I am by no means trying to condone poor conversation skills, keep in mind that they are very hard for hard for someone with a brain injury! Reading non-verbal cues, staying focused, keeping eye contact are not easy. So,when you are in the position of having a conversation with such a person- be kind, be patient. Rather than criticizing help them, guide them in improving their skills.