"People often treat (brain injured individuals) with respect because they don't know we're handicapped," said Barb Carlisle, President of the Capitol Area Chapter of the Brain Injury Association of Michigan (CAC of the BIA of MI). "But we also are treated with disrespect because people expect us to do more than we can do, faster than we can do it."
According to statistics from the BIA of Michigan, half of all brain injuries occur through motor vehicle accidents; falls account for 21 percent; assaults and violence for 12 percent, and sports and recreation (including cycling, horseback riding and skating) for 10 percent.
Students with brain injuries may work up to ten times harder than the average student, simply because of the difficulties created by the trauma to the brain. Thinking processes may be slowed; reasoning abilities may be lost or practically lost; and areas of the brain which monitor recall, retention and abstract thinking may be damaged.
"Unless a student gets proper cognition therapy, the frustration and irritation experienced by the student can be unbearable," said Carlisle.
Accommodations for brain injured students are necessarily tailor-made for each student. No single accommodation works for everyone, as is the case with many other handicaps.
Madhav Kulkarni, PhD, Coordinator of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program at the Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic at MSU, emphasized that students need to start arranging accommodations with instructors before classes start.
"Some students will start, go halfway through the class, then realize it's too much," said Kulkarni.
Finding out what a particular course experience might include in terms of workload is also important, or else students "may take on more than they can handle," said Kulkarni.
Brain injured individuals may have any combination of physical, cognitive and behavioral/emotional characteristics. Some of the possible physical, cognitive and emotional difficulties that brain-injured students may experience are highlighted in the accompanying table.
Many brain injured individuals have to relearn many personal, social and job skills. The goal, said Carlisle, is to keep growing toward independence.
Part of that growth may include joining a survivors' group and discussing not only the successes one is experiencing, but also the fears and frustrations one is having.
Brain-injured students also need to realize that time management is vital to their success. "Time management is a problem for many people, but is a major problem for persons with brain injury," said Kulkarni.
Strategies might include estimating how much time it would take the average student to prepare for an exam, then doubling it. "It takes brain injured persons more time to study and gather information," said Kulkarni.
Carlisle emphasized the need to decrease stress and maintain a manageable balance of relaxation and accomplishment.
"Students especially need to find a constructive way to relax because stress can wreck your health," said Carlisle, who listens to relaxation tapes while organizing paperwork or falling asleep. Music therapy and recreation therapy were also strategies mentioned by Carlisle.
Other resources available on or near campus include the Counseling Center (207 Student Services) for emotional problems, the Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic at the Clinical Center for other brain-injury related concerns, Michigan Rehabilitation Services for job-related issues and funding, and the Capitol Area Chapter of the Brain Injury Association of Michigan for those interested in joining a group of brain-injured people for social and other activities.
In terms of social activities, including "partying," Kulkarni stressed that brain-injured students should not indulge too much around exam times.
"You may have to forgo some (partying), but don't let yourself become lonely," said Kulkarni. Keeping a supportive network of friends and associates is as vital as good time management to a brain-injured student's success.