Brain Injury

Overview

Brain Injury is defined as a loss of brain function caused by:

Accidents - road accident, sport and/or work related assaults;
Poisoning - alcohol poisoning, overuse of prescribed or illegal drugs, petrol and chemical sniffing, consumption of other forms of poison i.e. insect poisons;
Stroke - rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, blockage of blood supply to the brain;
Brain tumors - cancerous or non-cancerous;
Infections and illnesses - meningitis, encephalitis;
Interruption to oxygen supply - near drowning, severe asthma attack, lack of blood flow to the brain.

'Acquired Brain Injury' can result in difficulties including:

Slurred speech;
Short-term memory loss;
Difficulty organising thoughts;
Difficulties in problem solving or decision making and short-term attention span.

It can also cause frustration and a general inability to control emotions, which in turn can cause inappropriate social or impulsive behaviour, anxiety and aggression. In some cases, 'Acquired Brain Injury' may result in partial or complete loss of vision, or hearing, mobility impairments and intellectual impairments.

Effects of the condition

It is extremely difficult to generalise about the effects of an acquired brain injury, however, the following is a list of possibilities:

Short term memory difficulties may make learning new material difficult;
Headaches, limited energy and fatigue;
Light and sound sensitivity;
Difficulty making new friends and interacting socially;
Difficulty perceiving and discriminating patterns and arrangements;
Possibility to go off tangent in conversations and may seem disorganised;
May appear to have poor study habits - Many students may spend a great deal of time 'studying' with little result;
May have low self esteem and confidence in abilities and intelligence;
Trouble integrating information presented;
Trouble taking notes in lectures;
Difficulty in copying information from overheads or from the board;
Slow in reading material and sometimes will either verbalise while reading or will follow words with finger or pen;
Difficulty retaining information after reading - particularly with large volume material;
Illegible and/ or slow writing;
Poor, inconsistent, and / or unusual spelling;
Mispronunciation or misreading of words;
Difficulty in acquiring new vocabulary or new language;
Difficulty completing tasks in usual timeframes.

Useful Websites and Resources

Opening All Options - A resource to assist students with a Learning Disability in Tertiary Education
Traumatic Brain Injury - Survival Guide
Brain Injury Centre