Brain Injury

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) or acquired brain injury (ABI) is an injury to the brain caused by trauma to the head or body. Some common causes of brain injury include car accidents, falls, assaults, and sports. 

The severity and effect of a brain injury can vary from person to person, but even a mild brain injury can have a serious impact on your life. Difficulties you may experience after a brain injury could  include:

• Fatigue 
• Difficulty with attention (e.g. can’t focus, easily distracted, can’t do two things at once)
• Memory impairment (e.g. forgetting conversations, losing things, forgetting people’s names)
• Trouble with reading or writing (e.g. needing to re-read things, not understanding what you read, not being able to organize your thoughts)
• Problems with speaking or understanding (e.g. trouble finding your words, speech isn’t clear, difficulty understanding other people)
• Difficulty swallowing (e.g. coughing or choking on food, food spilling out of your mouth)
• Trouble with problem solving or planning (e.g. getting overwhelmed easily with large tasks, being unable to figure out solutions to everyday problems)
• Problems with social skills (e.g. interrupting more, saying rude things, not understanding jokes or sarcasm)

A Speech-Language Pathologist can work with you to improve these skills as well as to come up with strategies to work around the difficulties you’re having so that you can get back to doing the things that are important to you!