Belonging After Brain Injury: Relocating Dan explores the life of the author’s brother who has dealt with the effects of a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) for over four decades. It recounts the institutional, psychological, and social labyrinths he and his family have navigated following the TBI he sustained at the age of eighteen. This insightful volume offers a holistic account of the impact of TBI on the survivor and his family. It reveals the difficulties a TBI survivor has had to endure and provides practical information about physical, psychological, and psychosocial symptoms and their consequences. Dan’s story offers new perspectives and strategies that will help alleviate seemingly intractable problems and highlights the central importance of forming connections with others in order to lead a fuller life. The author’s account of her own journey, learning to help care for and advocate for Dan, offers an invaluable guide for TBI survivors and those who care for and support them. Belonging After Brain Injury: Relocating Dan will be of interest to TBI survivors and their families. Its rich insights will be essential reading for medical and mental health professionals, as well those involved in the care and rehabilitation of TBI survivors and families.

An injury to the brain can affect virtually any aspect of functioning and, at the deepest level, can alter sense of self or the essential qualities that define who we are. In recent years, there has been a growing body of research investigating changes to self in the context of brain injury. Developments in the cognitive and social neurosciences, psychotherapy and neurorehabilitation have together provided a rich perspective on self and identity reformation after brain injury. This book draws upon these theoretical perspectives and research findings to provide a comprehensive account of the impact of brain injury on self-identity. The second half of this book provides an in-depth review of clinical strategies for assessing changes in self-identity after brain injury, and of rehabilitation approaches for supporting individuals to maintain or re-establish a positive post-injury identity. The book emphasizes a shift in clinical orientation, from a traditional focus on alleviating impairments, to a focus on working collaboratively with people to support them to re-engage in valued activities and find meaning in their lives after brain injury. Self-Identity after Brain Injury is the first book dedicated to self-identity issues after brain injury which integrates theory and research, and also assessment and intervention strategies. It will be a key resource to support clinicians and researchers working in brain injury rehabilitation, and will be of great interest to researchers and students in clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and allied health disciplines.

In 2011, Doing Autoethnography—the first conference to focus solely on autoethnographic principles and practices—was held in chilly Detroit, Michigan on the campus of Wayne State University. The conference has since occurred four additional times (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016). Across the five conferences, thousands of attendees from more than ten countries have participated in hundreds of presentations, more than a dozen workshops, and multiple keynote addresses. The chapters in this collection represent outstanding work from the five conferences. Together, authors interrogate autoethnography ethically, theoretically, relationally, and methodologically. Readers will encounter many overlapping themes: identity norms and negotiations; experiences tied to race, gender, sexuality, size, citizenship, and dis/ability; exclusion and belonging; oppression, injustice, and assault; barriers to learning/education; and living with/in complicated relationships. Some chapters provide clear resolutions; others seemingly provide none. Some authors highlight conventionally positive aspects of experience; others dwell in what might be understood as relational darkness. Some experiences will likely resonate with many readers; others will feel unique, unusual, exceptional. In its entirety, the collection will take readers on an evocative, reflexive, and insightful journey.

An injury to the brain can affect virtually any aspect of functioning and, at the deepest level, can alter sense of self or the essential qualities that define who we are. In recent years, there has been a growing body of research investigating changes to self in the context of brain injury. Developments in the cognitive and social neurosciences, psychotherapy and neurorehabilitation have together provided a rich perspective on self and identity reformation after brain injury. This book draws upon these theoretical perspectives and research findings to provide a comprehensive account of the impact of brain injury on self-identity. The second half of this book provides an in-depth review of clinical strategies for assessing changes in self-identity after brain injury, and of rehabilitation approaches for supporting individuals to maintain or re-establish a positive post-injury identity. The book emphasizes a shift in clinical orientation, from a traditional focus on alleviating impairments, to a focus on working collaboratively with people to support them to re-engage in valued activities and find meaning in their lives after brain injury. Self-Identity after Brain Injury is the first book dedicated to self-identity issues after brain injury which integrates theory and research, and also assessment and intervention strategies. It will be a key resource to support clinicians and researchers working in brain injury rehabilitation, and will be of great interest to researchers and students in clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and allied health disciplines.

This important book provides a firsthand account of a university professor who experienced traumatic brain injury. It tells the story of Michael Arthur, who had recently accepted a position as vice principal of a new high school. After only two weeks on the job, he was involved in a car accident while driving through an intersection in northern Utah. Through his personal account, he takes the reader into the dark interworkings of his mind as he tries to cope with his new reality. He provides insight into how he learned how to process information and even speak without stumbling on his words while also sharing how his significant relationships suffered as he tried to navigate the restless seas of doubt while trying to circumvent his unyielding symptoms. The book is about finding optimism and gaining insight into the struggles of the brain-injured patient and about trying to understand the perspectives of loved ones who can’t quite grasp the idea of an invisible injury. From the sudden onset of garbled speech to the challenges of processing information, the changing dynamic of the author’s life is highlighted to help family members and healthcare workers better understand.

Originally published by Viking Penguin, 2014.

This book tells the author’s story of her ten-year journey of recovery and identity transformation from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Dr. Dee is a survivor who regained the ability to articulate what many TBI survivors cannot, and this powerful account, provided in real-time, portrays the many seemingly unrelatable symptoms of brain injury and subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Dee portrays how events pushed her beyond her limits and resulted in life-altering learning experiences, revealing a process of first figuring out how to live, then making meaning of her struggle. When half-way through her PhD program, Dr. Dee was crashed into by a car travelling at 65 miles per hour. She suffered a TBI. She lost her ability to read and write. She had a severe speech impediment and significantly impaired memory. Her journey of recovery, described in the book as her trek, spans four significant periods. The road begins with the loss of most of herself. Diagnosis and evolving symptoms show her broken pathway. The author goes through a rocky road of changes in her relationships and reidentification of herself as she finds her life coach, re-learns to read and write, and deals with mental health issues that felt like the end of her recovery. The final trek reveals hope and posttraumatic growth (PTG) and showcases the value of Disability Culture as a source of pride. This story is for fellow TBI survivors, their caretakers, families and friends, and professionals in the neurorehabilitation field. It brings light to the daunting changes after TBI and give hope for all who tread on this challenging path.

The Invisible Brain Injury recounts, in her own words, the experience of Aurora Lassaletta, a clinical psychologist who suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) after a traffic accident. Presenting her unique dual perspective as both a patient and a clinician, Aurora highlights the less visible cognitive, emotional and behavioural symptoms common to acquired brain injury (ABI). This moving account showcases Aurora’s growing awareness of her impairments, their manifestation in daily life, how they are perceived, or not, by others and the tools that helped her survive. Each chapter combines Aurora’s perspective with the scientific view of a professional neuropsychologist or physiatrist who provide commentaries on her various symptoms. This book is valuable reading for professionals involved in neurorehabilitation and clinical neuropsychology and for clinical psychology students. It is a must read for ABI survivors, those around them and clinicians, who are all an essential part of the rehabilitation, adjustment and acceptance process involved with ABI.

Due to injuries sustained in sports and in combat, interest in TBI has never been greater. Biomarkers for Traumatic Brain Injury will fulfil a gap in our understanding of what is occurring in the brain following injury that can subsequently be detected in biological fluids and imaging. This knowledge will be useful for all researchers and clinicians interested in the biochemical and structural sequelae underpinning clinical manifestations of TBI and help guide appropriate patient management. Current and prospective biomarkers for the assessment of traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly mild TBI, are examined using a multidisciplinary approach involving biochemistry, molecular biology, and clinical chemistry. The book incorporates presentations from outstanding researchers and clinicians in the area and describes advanced proteomic and degradomic technologies in the development of novel biomarker assays. For practical purposes, the focus of this volume is on detection of blood-based biomarkers to improve diagnostic certainty of mild TBI in conjunction with radiological and clinical findings. It represents contributions from internationally-recognized researchers at the forefront of traumatic brain injury many of whom are recipients of grants and contracts from the United States Department of Defense for research specifically on developing diagnostic tests for TBI. The book will be essential reading for scientists, pharmacologists, chemists, medical and graduate students.

Disability, Intersectionality, and Belonging in Special Education focuses on preparing educators who use socioculturally sustaining practices, curricula, and instruction through an intersectional lens. This book empowers preservice students and special education practitioners and administrators to meet the needs of disabled individuals. Understanding the full range of requirements relating to socioculturally sustaining practices is imperative to working with individuals with disabilities as well as with their families and caregivers. Being able to understand and explain this complex issue to others is important and often necessary. Social injustices in special education are historical and systemic. Special education practitioners are typically unaware of the importance of intersectional differences because they have been prepared to address cultural perspectives only during awareness days or through specific units in curricula. At other times they discuss the topic diagnostically—for example, as part of an educational plan or when teaching English as a second language. Other issues stem from the value system of the special education practitioners themselves; some are not willing to engage in these concepts, while others prioritize treating all students the same by using the terms “fairness,” “equity,” and “colorblindness” to justify this treatment. Even when special educator practitioners attempt to address injustices on behalf of their students, they tend to center on only the student’s disability, which means they are ignoring or erasing other aspects of their students’ identities. These concerns highlight the importance of building the sociocultural competence of our teaching force. This book will help practitioners build this competence in their own spheres of influence.