There is an unfortunate misconception surrounding Brain Injury that unfortunately continues to be bantered around by society and that is brain injury equals "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" nuts!  It is believed that brain injury means one is psychotic and or dumb.  None could be further from the truth.  

Fact:  Brain injury is one of the most insidious disability one could ever have.

Fact:  Most disabilities, loss of limb, loss of mobility (spinal injuries) have a one treatment fits all.

Fact:  Brain injury affects the computer that renders the one fix, fits all, useless.

Fact:  If one loses an arm the treatment is similar to all those afflicted with that disability.  Brain injury             and memory loss often associated with brain injury  renders the treatment null and void.

Though all disabilities are challenging and no one disability should be singled out, the only comparison to brain injury and other physical disabilities is the grief process one faces while learning to accept the new imposed limitations.

Most physical disabilities will incorporate prostheses that work equally for all who suffer a similar disability.

In brain injury the physical impairment is to the brain which is responsible for carrying out the tasks of learning to use prostheses, to maintain balance, speech, memory and behavior.  When those tools are partially or completely severed the ability to apply the one fix solution evaporates.

Intelligence is rarely affected by brain injury.  The person is aware of his or her impairment and his/her long term memory is still in tact.  What may be lost is the ability to speak, perform daily tasks like shopping because the short term memory has been damaged.

Most brain injured show no outward physical signs of their injury and are expected to perform equal to a non brain injured person.  It is a hidden disability that even hospitals continue to misdiagnosis, are too apt to label a person as a malingerer and set unreasonable goals and timelines for recovery to occur.

Healing from a brain injury is a life long struggle where successes may be measured in millimeters and not in leaps and bounds.

Fact: the divorce rate among the brain injured is 90%.

Fact 90% of the males in B.C. are brain injured.

Fact: The only treatment for a concussion is to observe the patient at home and wake him/her up every 2 hrs. 

Myth: If he/she is easily aroused after a concussion, brain injury has not occurred.

Fact: Brain injury may not show up on conventional scans (MRI, CT) and may occur at a molecular or microscopic level.