ABSTRACT
On a patient recovery scale, the author’s level is framed by: the patient can perform all self-care activities and is usually coherent. They have difficulty remembering recent events and discussions. Rational judgments, calculations and solving multi-step problems present difficulties, yet patients may not seem to realize this. They need supervision for safety. The author has more difficulty with reading, writing and spelling. To use these previously second-nature communication skills is comparable to learning a new language. Moreover, the embarrassment of feeling like a different person and the stigma associated with both TBI and PTSD adds to the accounts for her silence. Her isolation expands. In this time span, she does things over and over and over, but each time is new to her. She learns and then forgets strategies to help her remember. She is going down pathways but finding no throughways. She learns there are three functional systems that characterize neurological impairments of brain injury. They are: (1) intellect, the information-handling facet of behavior; (2) emotionality, pertaining to feelings and motivations; and (3) control, how behavior is expressed.
