{"id":28714,"date":"2025-03-06T14:30:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T19:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/?post_type=advanced-library&p=28714"},"modified":"2025-03-06T14:30:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T19:30:12","slug":"self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others","status":"publish","type":"advanced-library","link":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others"},"content":{"rendered":"This resource provides many examples of how to communicate a brain injury to others.
\n<\/strong>This resource was adapted by the Brain Injury Association of Virginia. All rights belong to “Lost and Found” Barbara J. Webster, Lash and Associates.\n

Being a self-advocate means you identify barriers to having a better life. Armed with basic information and helpful resources, anyone can effectively advocate for themselves. One way to practice self-advocacy is by educating those around you about your brain injury and the challenges you may experience.<\/p>\nHere are some ways you can communicate with others about your injury:
\n<\/strong>
\nI need a lot more rest than I did before my injury.<\/strong> I need a lot more rest than I did before my injury. This is not because I am lazy. I get physically fatigued along with “brain fatigue,” making it harder to think. It is very difficult and tiring for my brain to think, process, and organize.\nEven though I look good or “all better” on the outside, my stamina varies.<\/strong> My thinking skills are better on some days than others. Pushing too hard may lead to setbacks. Cognition is a fragile function for an individual who has experienced a brain
\ninjury.\n

Brain injury rehabilitation can take a very long time.<\/strong> Brain injury rehabilitation can take a very long time. It continues long after formal rehabilitation has ended. I may not be the same person that I was before my injury. I am not trying to be difficult if I resist social situations. Crowds, confusion, and loud sounds can quickly overload my brain. Limiting my exposure is a coping strategy.<\/p>\n

I may seem uniterested in the conversation if more than one person is talking.<\/strong> I have trouble following multiple lines of conversation. It is exhausting to try and piece the conversation together. My brain can easily get overloaded.<\/p>\n

If I tell you that I need to stop when we talk, I must stop NOW!<\/strong> I am not trying to avoid the subject; I need time to process the discussion and take a break. I will be able to rejoin the conversation later.<\/p>\n

If I am having difficulty in managing how I’m behaving, try to notice the <\/strong>circumstances.<\/strong> “Behavior problems” indicate that I struggle to cope with a specific situation. I may be frustrated, in pain, overtired, or overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

Patience is the best gift you can give me.<\/strong> It allows me to work at my own pace and work on rebuilding pathways in my brain. Rushing or trying to do too many things at once hinders my cognition\/memory.<\/p>\n

If I struggle to find my words, try not to interrupt and allow me the time to find my words and follow my thoughts.<\/strong> This will help me with my language skills.<\/p>\n

Know that not remembering does not mean I do not care.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please do not talk to me like I am a child.<\/strong> I am not ignorant; my brain is injured, and I am working on getting better. Try to think of me as if my brain were in a cast.<\/p>\n

If I seem rigid or inflexible, I am working on retraining my brain.<\/strong> It’s like learning main roads before you can learn shortcuts. Repeating tasks in the same order is helpful.<\/p>\n

If I seem stuck, coach me, ask leading questions, suggest other options, or ask <\/strong>what you can do to help me figure things out.<\/strong> Talking over me or doing things for me makes me feel incapable.<\/p>\n

I may repeat actions, such as checking if the door is locked multiple times or checking to make sure the stove is off.<\/strong> I may be having trouble registering what I am doing in my brain. Repetition helps memory.<\/p>\n

If I seem sensitive, it could be emotional fluctuation due to the tremendous effort required to do things.<\/strong> Tasks that use to feel automatic now take much longer and require using many strategies. Some tasks have been huge accomplishments for me since my injury.<\/p>\nDon’t confuse hope for denial. Every day, we learn more and more about the brain and ways it can heal.<\/strong> No one can know for sure what my potential is. I hope to be able to use coping mechanisms, accommodations, and strategies to navigate my
\nnew life.\n

 <\/p>\nThis article is provided for informational and educational purposes only. The information is not
\nintended as a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis or treatment, and you should not use the
\ninformation in place of the advice of your medical, psychological, or legal providers.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This resource provides many examples of how to communicate a brain injury to others. This resource was adapted by the Brain Injury Association of Virginia. All rights belong to “Lost and Found” Barbara J. Webster, Lash and Associates. Being a self-advocate means you identify barriers to having a better life. Armed with basic information and…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"advanced-library-category":[3037],"class_list":["post-28714","advanced-library","type-advanced-library","status-publish","hentry","advanced-library-category-advocacy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSelf-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others - Brain Injury Association of Virginia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others - Brain Injury Association of Virginia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This resource provides many examples of how to communicate a brain injury to others. This resource was adapted by the Brain Injury Association of Virginia. All rights belong to “Lost and Found” Barbara J. Webster, Lash and Associates. Being a self-advocate means you identify barriers to having a better life. Armed with basic information and…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brain Injury Association of Virginia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrainInjuryAssociationofVirginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2018.1212-Heads-blue-RGB.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"792\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"612\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@biavirginia\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/advanced-library\\\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/advanced-library\\\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\\\/\",\"name\":\"Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others - Brain Injury Association of Virginia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-06T19:30:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/advanced-library\\\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es-PE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/advanced-library\\\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/advanced-library\\\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"Brain Injury Association of Virginia\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es-PE\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brain Injury Association of Virginia\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-PE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/2018.1212-Heads-blue-RGB.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/2018.1212-Heads-blue-RGB.png\",\"width\":792,\"height\":612,\"caption\":\"Brain Injury Association of Virginia\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.biav.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/BrainInjuryAssociationofVirginia\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/biavirginia\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/braininjuryassociationva\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others - Brain Injury Association of Virginia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/","og_locale":"es_ES","og_type":"article","og_title":"Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others - Brain Injury Association of Virginia","og_description":"This resource provides many examples of how to communicate a brain injury to others. This resource was adapted by the Brain Injury Association of Virginia. All rights belong to “Lost and Found” Barbara J. Webster, Lash and Associates. Being a self-advocate means you identify barriers to having a better life. Armed with basic information and…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/","og_site_name":"Brain Injury Association of Virginia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrainInjuryAssociationofVirginia\/","og_image":[{"width":792,"height":612,"url":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2018.1212-Heads-blue-RGB.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@biavirginia","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/","url":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/","name":"Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others - Brain Injury Association of Virginia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-03-06T19:30:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es-PE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.biav.net\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/advanced-library\/self-advocacy-explaining-brain-injury-to-others\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Self-Advocacy; Explaining Brain Injury to Others"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/","name":"Brain Injury Association of Virginia","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es-PE"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/#organization","name":"Brain Injury Association of Virginia","url":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-PE","@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/2018.1212-Heads-blue-RGB.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/2018.1212-Heads-blue-RGB.png","width":792,"height":612,"caption":"Brain Injury Association of Virginia"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrainInjuryAssociationofVirginia\/","https:\/\/x.com\/biavirginia","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/braininjuryassociationva\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/advanced-library\/28714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/advanced-library"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/advanced-library"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/444"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/advanced-library\/28714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28717,"href":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/advanced-library\/28714\/revisions\/28717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"advanced-library-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biav.net\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/advanced-library-category?post=28714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}