Recently a group of local TBI survivors were asked what they would like others to know about them and their experiences.  Here are their top five answers.

1. More awareness is key

The most common answer amongst the young adults interviewed related to awareness.  What a brain injury is and isn’t.  How it changes a person’s life and what stays the same.  Causes and effects, and so on.  Brain injuries are often hidden disabilities, and what is hidden is frequently ignored.

2. A brain injury doesn’t change everything

Closely tied with awareness of brain injuries overall is wanting people to understand that a brain injury does not equal complete loss of cognitive abilities.  While there are changes to cognitive functions because of the injury, TBI survivors would like others to know that not all is lost.

3. The need to be accepted and understood

The third level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs encompasses love and belonging.  All people share these needs and those with TBIs are no different. Not only do they seek acceptance, but also understanding. This comes from the awareness other people have of the nature of TBIs as well as the understanding that a brain injury doesn’t change everything.  Each survivor is unique and wants to be understood and accepted as such.

4. We want to contribute to society

Also like everyone else, TBI survivors have a strong desire to contribute to society.  They want to find meaningful work and feel as if they are needed.  This is no different than anyone else looking to find their place in the world.  The only difference is that people with brain injuries once thought their life was going in one direction. Whereas now they have to re-figure out how they will be useful and needed again post-injury.

5. We are the same as anyone else

The one overarching theme that ties everything together is the assertion that people living with a TBI are just like everyone else. And jumping off of that, they want to be treated like everyone else.  Every human being has physical, emotional, social, and other needs.  Everyone wants to be loved and everyone wants to love.  Everyone has goals they are seeking to achieve and desires they want to fulfill in their lifetime.  A TBI survivor is no different.  Just like everyone else, they are deserving of respect and being treated with the dignity of any other person.

While TBI survivors are all unique individuals, they do share commonalities, both within the circle of other survivors and with people who have not had a brain injury.  These are just the top five things a group of local survivors would like you to know about their lives and experiences.

Dear friends,

Hello and welcome to this month’s issue of The Survivor, the official e-newsletter of Villa Licci. We thank you for supporting our unique mission and for joining us in creating and cultivating a residential community for adult survivors of traumatic brain injury. Below you will find a roundup of recent blog posts, upcoming events, notable happenings, and more.As we transition into fall, we are looking forward to community events spreading awareness about the needs of TBI survivors and what those in the community can do to help support Villa Licci. Please share this newsletter with your family and friends and help to spread the mission of Villa Licci!

If you have any questions or would like to share your ideas, please feel free to reach out to me.

Richard Sontag

Executive Director
Villa Licci

My accident occurred in the fall of 2000.  I was an apprentice for a brick laying company and fell from scaffolding 10 ft. onto a concrete pad.  I acquired a traumatic brain injury along with other minor injuries.  It has been a long, difficult recovery to my new normal.  I was engaged and working toward a job that I really enjoyed.  Now I must face my new life and struggles.  Here are some of the things I struggle with.

The greatest difficulties that arise to me are time management, staying on track and keeping focused. I’m sure there are literally dozens if not hundreds of flaws that could be pointed out in me, but I was writing about the flaws that other survivors might have experienced, and I can just about guarantee every TBI survivor has experienced at least two of the three of these.

Time management is not a tough one to fix.  It is a pain, but it isn’t impossible.  All you need is an annoying alarm or a nagging loved one (alarm preferred) and you’re ready to go.  Set it to go off early to give yourself extra time, if you’re slow.  Always mind it and try to be Johnny or Jenny-on-the-spot.

Next, staying on track.  Some non-brain injured people have problems with this one.  Take for example The National Monument of Scotland. It was meant for those who died in the war against Napoleon in the century of 1900. Ground broke in 1826 to commemorate the brave Scotsmen who bled and died fighting Napoleon.  As funds started to trickle out so did the pride and patriotism of the countrymen.  They didn’t have the money at the time to finish it.  Instead of finishing it later, they just left it.  It sits unfinished to this day.  Had they stayed on track, instead of a monument known as an epic failure it would have been a monument of pride for the Scotsmen from the beginning.

Keeping your focus can be difficult when you have a TBI. Sometimes my TBI makes it seem like I have a hundred different things running through my brain.  I’m using all my might just to hold onto that singular thought.  As a cruel joke, someone has switched that thought and put a stupid water balloon in its place and now I’m left with a confused look on my face, a wet shirt, and not even the remnants of a water balloon because it was just a metaphor.

We’d like to thank Robb for taking the time to write out in his own words what it is like to be a TBI survivor and some of the long-term effects he deals with every day.