Years ago I suffered a traumatic brain injury which caused me to be in a coma for 8 months. When awoken I wasn’t able to speak but my mental capabilities were unaffected. As a part of my rehabilitation I underwent cognitive therapy where I was tested on basic math and English skills along with skills that the average person acquires during the course of their life.
I scored well on all the examinations, in fact some of the skills that I had the therapist didn’t know, yet people still try to treat you like there is something “wrong ” with you, because you are considered TBI, which is used in a derogatory way by those in the health profession who are not that professional in their training.
In fact, today again a nurse visited me to interview me about health periodic health updates. When asking the questions though she was directing at my aide who has absolutely no incline of my medical needs nor do I think she really cares. Also I don’t trust her to handle decisions making because I don’t believe that she capable of making good decisions after having around for some time. That when I raised my voice and asserted myself by saying that she not aware of my health situation which is completely true. The nurse though banded together and closed ranks by using that term TBI, in other words something is “wrong “with his brain. So I made a decision to educate people when they are going to use that term around that it doesn’t affect me because I know that I am smarter than they are, and can prove it if need be.
I am writing this for people mainly in the health care profession. Be aware of how you treat people , because you never know when you will want that same measure of empathy should your circumstances not be so outwardly “normal” in appearance.
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