Understanding the impact of Acquired Brain Injury
On Individuals.
1.1 An Acquired brain injury is a brain injury caused by events after birth rather than as part of a genetic or congenital disorder, such as perinatal illness.
1.2&1.3 Possible causes of acquired brain injury include – traumatic brain injury (e.g. physical trauma due to accidents, assaults, neurosurgery, head injury etc.) or non-traumatic brain injury such as stroke, infection, poisoning & brain tumours etc.
1.4 Mild Brain Injury = either doesn’t knock you out or knocks you out for 30 mins or less. Symptoms often appear at the time or soon after, mild brain injury symptoms are usually temporary.
Moderate Injury = causes unconsciousness lasting more than 30 mins. Symptoms of moderate brain injury are similar to those of mild injury but more serious and longer lasting.
Severe brain injury = knocks you out for 24+ hours, symptoms of severe traumatic brain injury are also similar to those of mild injury but more serious and longer lasting.
2.1 Speak with tutor.
2.2 The long term effects of an acquired brain injury include:
Physical effects - Most people make an excellent physical recovery after a brain injury, which can mean there are few, or no, outwards signs that an injury has occurred. There are often physical problems present that are not always so apparent, but can have a real impact on daily life.
Functional effects - relates to an individual’s ability to carry out day to day tasks, i.e. dressing, Washing and cooking. It does not just mean the physical ability but also can mean concentration, motivation for doing the tasks.
Cognitive effects - The cognitive effects of a brain injury affect the way a person thinks, learns and remembers. Different mental abilities are located in different parts of the brain, so a head injury can damage some, but not necessarily all, skills such as speed of thought, memory, understanding, concentration, solving problems and using language.
Behavioural effects - Everyone who has had a head injury can be left with some changes in emotional reaction and behaviour. These are more difficult to see than the more obvious problems such as those which affect movement and speech, for example, but can be the most difficult for the individual concerned and their family to deal with.
2.3 The concepts of loss in relation to acquired brain Injury. Families can go through a vast range of emotions – high levels of anxiety, hope, despair, anger, frustration, negative feelings and guilt that they may somehow be responsible for what has happened. These close family members have to take on the role of therapist, at times unaided, trying to redevelop their loved one’s lost skills. This can be a source of friction for all concerned. The individual’s emotional and behavioral problems are particularly difficult to cope with, though they will often decrease over time.
3.1&3.2
Dysarthria is a disorder of language caused by upper motor neuron lesions of the cerebral hemispheres or lower motor neuron lesions of the brain stem. It also results from disruption to the integrated action of upper motor neurons, basal ganglia and cerebellum. There are several different types of Dysphasia some of which include, Sensory Dysphasia, Production Dysphasia, Conduction Dysphasia, each different type depends on which part of the brain is effected by the Acquired brain injury for example Deep Dysphasia the lesions caused by the Acquired brain injury would be located in the temporal lobe effecting the speech process. Dysarthria is a disorder of speech caused by disturbance of muscular control, In reality there is usually considerable overlap of these conditions but a person who has pure dysarthria without dysphasia would be able to read and write as normal and to make meaningful gestures, provided that the necessary motor pathways are intact. Dysphasia is impaired ability to understand or use the spoken word. It is due to a lesion of the dominant
