Introduction
by Mikela Aussem, Owner of Phoenix Rising
With a brain injury you have to learn that life is not over. It is not the same. You live it but you live it differently, and that takes time and help. If you are doing what you love, it is easy to stick with it; but it is hard to focus on something you hate. Work needs to be something in tune with you. If you have a passion for it, you can find a way to make it work.
Success is defined by actually accomplishing something and following through, which is really difficult for people with TBI. It gives you a sense of self back. People are identified by what you are and what you accomplish with a brain injury, if you have trouble with the follow-through, you won’t finish, get nothing accomplished, and that is how people will define you.
People with TBI have lots of hopes and dreams but people say they will never get them done. With the right help they can get it done. “Getting it done” may just be taking a shower and remembering to wash the soap out of your hair. We know where we need to be, but we need a person to show us the steps, sometimes more than once.
Supports start in your home. It’s not just your business life, its your entire life that is flipped upside down. Memory and organization are missing. You have to have life skills in order to achieve everyday life. This works into business life. If you can accomplish it in everyday life, you can accomplish it business life. Here’s a list of supports that people with TBI often need:
- scheduling appointments
- tasks broken down into steps
- check lists to remind you if you have completed a task
- detailed lists
- reminders
- transportation
- neurological therapies and cognitive behavioral therapies
- learning how to deal with emotions and how to deal with stimulation triggers.
Self-employment can work for people with Traumatic Brain Injury because it is “having it your own way” and “doing it your own way.” You need to learn to think outside of the box when your brain doesn’t work. Find something that fits you. Often a brain injury forces you to develop talents you have never used. Because it takes away parts of you, and the only way to put a positive spin on that is to develop talents you already have or unearth new ones.