The Role of Grief After Traumatic Brain Injury

Grief is most often associated with death, but there are other losses in life that we also need to grieve — such as a loved one who is irrevocably changed because of a traumatic brain injury. "The Role of Grief After Traumatic Brain Injury" is an article featured in the first edition of Lash & Associates new magazine, Brain Injury Journey – Help, Hope, Healing. Janelle Breese Biagioni, RPC, talks about the complexities of "extraordinary grief" in which people grieve who they were, and the family also grieves the person who is no longer there, albeit physically present. Click to read more...

The Bobblehead Effect of Repetitive Brain Trauma

How The Brain Recovers from Greg Meyer

NeuroConnect - Excellent Site

NeuroConnect provides information, resources, and support to people living with acquired brain injury and their families as well as brings awareness of brain injury to the public.

Visit NeuroConnect

Be sure to check out their workbooks and E-Magazine.

* ABI Mental Health WorkBook (depression, anxiety, anger management)
* ABI NeuroCognitive Workbook (memory, perception, attention, problem solving...) 

Click here for latest E-Magazine

Brain Games - Great Site!

Brain games are cognitive calisthenics, brain body-building, genius gymnastics…essentially fun workouts for your brain. The brain might not be a muscle but it does need mental fitness, in order to strengthen neurons and their neural connections. The brain-challenging exercises that ‘challenge’ the mind are those that cause it to step out of autopilot and begin to think originally again. These ‘challenges’ can be out-of-the-box-thinking games, brain teasers, non-traditional math, logic problems, and the like.

Click HERE to start playing.

Positive Ways to Reinvent Oneself After a TBI

Cognitive Rehab Workbook

NeuroConnect’s Acquired Brain Injury Neuro Cognitive Rehab Workbook is to be used as a
general therapeutic tool to challenge common cognitive issues such as memory, perception,
attention, reading comprehension, problem solving, opinion forming and other life skills.

Click here for workbook

NBIF Holiday Party 2012

Click here to see all photos from the party

Dance

Rhythms of Hope is led by Dr. Marianne Talbot and is based in the Washington DC area. Through the use of dance, Dr. Talbot works with survivors of traumatic brain injuries to make new connections in their brain and aid in the road to recovery.

Traumatic Brain Injury Drug Exceeds Expectations In Phase IIa Exploratory Clinical Trial

Vasopharm GmbH, a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cerebro- and cardiovascular diseases, today announces that the explorative phase IIa NOSTRA trial in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients met all clinical endpoints for safety and in addition demonstrated strong evidence of clinical benefit in patients. 
Read more...

Figuring Out Social Security Benefits After a TBI

Filing for Social Security disability benefits is a long and tedious process. It is important to gather all your records and set aside sufficient time to complete the application. Never submit a partially completed application and always seek assistance if you are having difficulty collecting the required paper work or filling out the application.

This article is very helpful - CLICK HERE

Thank You Jonathan

Thank you so much from the NBIFoundation. You were awesome! It was absolutely wonderful to see the NBIF members singing along and dancing. We would love for you to come back soon.

Flu medicine may help traumatic brain injury patients

An old medicine approved for a different ailment is bringing new hope to traumatic brain injury patients.

Caused by car crashes, falls, or assaults, every year 1.7 million Americans suffer a traumatic brain injury. Now, something approved decades ago for a much different ailment is helping speed recovery for some. 

Click here to read more ---> Flu medicine may help traumatic brain injury patients

Helping Children Cope with Head Injury in the Family

Key points

• Children, like adults, are affected emotionally when a close relative, especially a parent, is head injured.
• They need honest age-appropriate information to help them understand head injury, and an opportunity to express feelings and concerns. Sometimes counselling may be necessary.
• Children (of all ages) can feel that they are to blame for the injury and need to be reassured about this.
• There is a link between the ways that children and adults cope with stressful events. It helps if adults can model positive coping strategies for the younger members of the family.
• Head injury services do not routinely offer support to children, so adults need to be proactive about asking for help.

Click Here to read entire chapter. Very good information.

Joel Goldstein, author of "No Stone Unturned", a book describing the long treatment cycle of his son, Bart Goldstein, after a serious car accident caused traumatic brain injury. Anyone who has had a loved one suffer a TBI, (over 6 million people in the US have had TBIs including over 320,000 veterans of Iraq and Afganistan) will find Joel's discussion both educational and inspiring.

Functions of the Brain

Parietal Lobe Functions Sense of touch Spatial perception Differentiation (identification) of size, shapes, and colors Visual perception  Occipital Lobe Functions Vision Cerebellum Lobe Functions Balance Skilled motor activity  Coordination Visual perception  Brain Stem Functions Breathing Arousal and consciousness Attention and concentration  Heart rate Sleep and wake cycles

Frontal Lobe Functions Attention and concentration Self-monitoring Organization Speaking (expressive language) Motor planning and initiation Awareness of abilities and limitations Personality Mental flexibility Inhibition of behavior Emotions Problem solving  Planning and anticipation Judgment   Temporal Lobe Functions Memory Understanding language (receptive language) Sequencing  Hearing Organization

 Click to enlarge or visit http://www.facebook.com/BrainInjuryFoundation

             
               

2012 NBIF Golf Tourney

2nd Annual Golf Outing
To benefit the individuals of the NBIF social group
Wednesday July 18th, 2012
Click Here for details 
Join Us ~ Let's Have a Ball!

Documentary film 'Head Games' focuses on brain trauma

Head Games is a revealing documentary about the concussion crisis in sports. Athletes and parents share their personal struggles in dealing with concussions from the professional to youth levels. From acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters) and award-winning producer Bruce Sheridan, Head Games takes a deeper look at the devastating and long-term effects of concussions in all sports. http://headgamesthefilm.com/

Watch the trailer...

Brain Injury Association of America Upcoming Webinars

Upcoming Strauss Memorial Lecture

Monday, June 11, 2012, at 3 p.m. ET:

Use of Amantadine in Severe TBI

Joseph Giacino, PhD, John Whyte, MD, PhD, and Emilia Bagiella, PhD

Strauss Memorial Lecture 

ACBIS Certificant Registration Price: $50

Non-Certificant Registration Price: $55

Continuing Education awarded: 1 hour

Registration closes at 5 p.m. ET on June 7. 

Click here to register. Information on how to join the webinar will be sent to registrants on June 8.  

Upcoming Caregiver Webinars:

Wednesday June 20, 2012 at 3 p.m. ET

Rehabilitation of Communication Skills after Brain Injury 

Constance Dean Qualls, PhD

Caregiver Education Series 

Dr. Qualls will discuss effective strategies and tips to help improve communication skills after a brain injury.

Registration Price:  $30

Continuing Education awarded: 1 hour

Registration closes at 5 p.m. ET on June 18.  Click here to register for the webinar.  Information on how to join the webinar will be sent to registrants on June 19.

Thursday, July 19, 2012, at 3 p.m. ET:

Get Things Done & Have Some Fun with Smart Devices

Michelle Ranae Wild, MA

Caregiver's Education Series

Ms. Wild will discuss apps available on smart devices to assist with organization and memory, as well as other games available to help with cognitive skills.

Registration Price: $30

Continuing Education awarded: 1 hour

Registration closes at 5 p.m. ET on July 17.

Click here to register. Information on how to join the webinar will be sent to registrants on July 18.

Wednesday November 14, 2012

Using Computers to Assist with Cognitive Rehabilitation  Dr. Gerald Voelbel will discuss Cognitive Rehabilitation, which is a continuing area of interest and research in brain injury rehabilitation.  This webinar will offer an overview of the best practices in cognitive rehabilitation, and how computer based training programs can help cognitive recovery after brain injury. Participants of this webinar will learn:

1. Principles of Cognitive Rehabilitation
2. Overview of the current best practices of cognitive rehabilitation

3. Evidence of computerized training programs for cognitive rehabilitation 

Registration Price: $30

Continuing Education awarded: 1 hour

Registration closes at 5 p.m. ET on November 12.

Click here to register.  Information on how to join the webinar will be sent to registrants on November 13, 2012.