Brain Injury Resources
Organizations
Hope after Brain Injury is a non-profit organization devoted to sharing hope with those affected by brain injury by offering counseling, education, and connection to community resources. We are involved with brain injury survivors and their caregivers, along with healthcare professionals, committed to the advancement of brain injury recovery. Visit hopeafterbraininjury.org
Birth Injury Guide
Birth Injury Guide is a comprehensive resource for families coping with a birth trauma. We strive to educate families on many different types of birth injuries, what the symptoms are, how birth injuries are caused, how they can be diagnosed, what the available treatment is, what the prognosis is, and what assistance programs are available to them. BrainInjuryGuide.org
BrainLine
A national multimedia project offering information and resources about preventing, treating, and living with TBI. BrainLine includes a series of webcasts, an electronic newsletter, and an extensive outreach campaign in partnership with national organizations concerned about traumatic brain injury. http://www.Brainline.org & http://www.Brainlinemilitary.org
Texas Brain Injury Alliance
Texas Brain Injury Alliance (TexasBIA), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is a Texas-wide community of people with brain injuries, their families, friends and dedicated professionals. TexasBIA is part of a network of state Brain Injury Alliances across the United States and is an affiliate of the national U.S. Brain Injury Alliance (USBIA). http://www.texasbia.org
Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA)
The mission of the Brain Injury Association of America is to advance brain injury prevention, research, treatment and education and to improve the quality of life for all people affected by brain injury. The BIAA offers a multitude of educational and informational support. 800-444-6443; biausa.org
Texas Able | A Savings Program for Texans with Disabilities
The Texas Achieving a Better Life Experience (“Texas ABLE®”) Program was established to encourage and assist individuals with disabilities and their families in saving funds to pay for many disability-related expenses critical to maintaining the individuals’ health, independence, and quality of life. The Texas ABLE Program is established and maintained by the Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board with assistance from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. https://www.texasable.org/
Your Texas Benefits
Need help paying rent or utilities? Want to find a food pantry? Visit 211texas.org to find services near you. Learn how Your Texas Benefits can help you. State benefit programs help people with little or no money who are in need. https://yourtexasbenefits.com
Team Luke Hope for Minds
Co-Executive Directors Tim Siegel and Ronda Johnson, based in Austin, Texas, focus on helping pediatric patients of traumatic brain injury and their families. https://www.facebook.com/Team-Luke-Hope-For-Minds-185336835392726/
Cerebral Palsy Group
The organization of the Cerebral Palsy Group is dedicated to improving the overall quality of life for individuals with cerebral palsy. The foundation provides free educational information and support to those who have been affected by cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities. Cerebral Palsy Brain Group: Brain Injury
Cerebral Palsy Guidance
Cerebral Palsy is a neurological affecting muscle coordination. In most cases, cerebral palsy is caused by brain damage that develops while the baby is still in utero or during or shortly after birth. Information about CP and types can be found at: https://www.cerebralpalsyguidance.com/cerebral-palsy/
Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC)
The DVBIC provides medical care, an education center, and clinical research to support and strengthen military personnel who have suffered brain injury. dvbic.org
TBI Today
The quarterly published newsletter made available by the Virginia Commonwealth University TBI Model System. Its features include: Model System project updates, profiles of provider agencies and faculty, along with survivor “tips,” FAQs, advice column, events calendar, and a fun activity. model.tbinrc.com/newsletters
Books About TBI
Coping with Traumatic Brain Injury: One Woman’s Journey from Death to Life by Patti Foster; BookJolt, 2013.
In the split second it took for a semi to slam into the back of the SUV Patti Foster was riding in, her world changed. Her life, in fact, almost ended that night. Miraculously, she survived, but her ordeal had just begun. After weeks in a coma, she woke up to an existence she couldn’t comprehend or even begin to understand. As a traumatic brain injury survivor, today she shares her story in the hope it will inspire and help other brain-injury victims, their friends and families. Also available as audiobook.
Where Is the Mango Princess? A Journey Back from Brain Injury by C.E. Crimmins, by Vintage Books, 2001
When her husband Alan is injured in a speedboat accident, Cathy Crimmins reluctantly assumes the role of caregiver and learns to cope with the person he has become. No longer the man who loved obscure Japanese cinema and wry humor, Crimmins’ husband has emerged from the accident a childlike and unpredictable replica of his former self with a short attention span and a penchant for inane cartoons. Where Is the Mango Princess? is a breathtaking account that explores the very nature of personality-and the complexities of the heart.
The Caregiver’s Tale: The True Story Of A Woman, Her Husband Who Fell Off The Roof, And Traumatic Brain Injury by Marie Therese Gass
From the Spousal Caregiver’s point of view, this is the story of the first seven years after severe Traumatic Brain Injury, as well as essays concerning the problems of fixing things or at least letting life operate more smoothly. Humor and pathos, love and frustration, rages and not knowing what to do–all these make up a complete story of Traumatic Brain Injury. Readers say they can’t put this book down.
Miracle for Jen by Linda Barrick; Tyndale House Publisher’s, Inc., 2012
Facing a devastating brain injury from a car crash, 15-year-old Jen was not expected to survive. Doctors warned her parents that if she regained consciousness, she’d be screaming in confusion. But instead—though she didn’t recognize her family—she did remember every Scripture and praise song she’d hidden in her heart. An awe-inspiring testimony!Also available as audiobook.
Confronting Traumatic Brain Injury: Devastation, Hope, and Healing by William Winslade; Yale University Press, 1998.
William Winslade presents facts about traumatic brain injury; information about its financial and emotional costs to individuals, families, and society; and key ethical and policy issues. This book explains what TBI is, how it is caused, and what can be done to treat, cope with, and prevent it.
Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath by Michael Paul Mason; published by Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux; 2009.
Mason takes you to the darker side of the brain using strange but true stories from those with brain damage. An exploration of the brain and its mysteries underlies each story. On the road with Mason, we encounter survivors of brain injuries as they struggle to map and make sense of the new worlds they inhabit.
Head Injury: The Facts (Second Edition) by Dorothy Gronwall, Philip Wrightson, and Peter Waddell; Oxford University Press, 1998.
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