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I really enjoyed the conversation with Karen. On break, I shared with her the journey of my cousin and how he acquired his brain injury by a motor vehicle accident involving a train and thankfully he can live his life again after all his rehab and recovery.
I have just started working with individuals with acquired brain injuries, but I found it even more fascinating to learn more and things like traits that are lost. A few things I am resonating with from that presentation are the steps when it comes to memory, learning about TBI (traumatic brain injury) and what causes are traumatic versus non-traumatic, and learning more about the frontal cortex and behaviour.

I think learning the steps of memory is important because it breaks down and helps what people may or may not have when it comes to their memory.

Step 1: Attention; Step 2: Encoding (like filing); Step 3: Storage; Step 4: Retrieval (this is something I personally struggle with at times, and I’ll randomly remember what it was hours later). I like examples because it helps me remember!

Learning about TBI, or Traumatic Brain Injury, was interesting as well as I have only known it to be acquired brain injury. The non-traumatic causes were what were most interesting to me because of learning that causes like anoxia with incidents like strangulation didn’t make sense to me until Karen explained it further; all events are traumatic but non-traumatic causes don’t occur on impact.

I’m not the strongest in the subject of science and I bet you I have had previous studies with the brain however I could not tell you what every section does right now. Karen provided great examples of how the frontal cortex can be impacted by impacting someone’s judgement and missed social cues. Also learning the term “hemi” meaning half and how people who have ABI or TBI may have something like their sight affected that if they’re eating their meal and they may only finish half of their plate because that’s all they may see!

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I enjoyed listening to Karen Thomas's presentation on Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Rehabilitation. Before starting her presentation, Karen mentioned memory is a fickle thing. I certainly agree with her. I have experienced found myself forgetting things that I should have remembered and remembering things that I should have forgotten. In my experience, I haven't worked with/ known anyone who has ABI. Karen's presentation expanded my knowledge.

I learned how memory works and brain injury through Karen's presentation. The hallmark of brain injury is memory loss. I understand how I remember things. Paying attention, encoding the messages, storing them in my brain, and retrieving them from my brain. I think these steps are important. Filing them thoroughly one by one can help me to remember things and put them into my memory. I believe there is short term memory and long term memory. The more we use, the higher chance they are long term memory.

Listening to Karen's presentation, I understand the definition of ABI. It is damage to the brain, which occurs after birth and is not related to congenital or degenerative disease. Through the exercise, I understand that ABI may be caused by anything, such as a car accident, stroke, high fever, etc. As a DSP, I wouldn't judge how it happened. However, it may be good to understand what happened and how may I best assist them.

From the lecture, I learned about TBI and MTBI and that they are different. Before listening to them, I thought there is only TBI could cause brain injury. The power from outside smashing the head would cause brain injury, such as a car accident. However, NTBI, such as infections could cause brain injury as well.

Working as a DSP, it is essential to know how to assist people with ABI. Karen shared about rehabilitation. I like this part the most because I understand what can I do to help people. Cognitive re-training, environment management, social skills training, etc. The main point is to rehearse, keep doing, and practice again and again can help people to remember things to a certain degree. I am not an expert on the brain. However, Karen presented them vibrantly, and I did learn lots of things from her.

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Acquired Brain Injuries by Sheelah Mason

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Acquired Brain Injuries by Sheelah Mason

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I found that Karen was a positive and joyful person, who enjoyed presenting. I enjoyed hearing what she had to teach, and she also kept the presentation interesting and exciting.

The presentation on acquired brain injuries was packed with lot of information that will be helpful for my employment opportunities and I know that in my role, there is a possibility that I will meet an individual with a brain injury. With, this presentation and some research I will do on acquired brain injuries it will be helpful for me to communicate with certain individuals and create connections. It is important to know the type of disability a person might have. For this presentation my three takeaways are:

1. During the presentation I learned the difference between brain injuries (TBI and NTBI) and the different kind of affects it has on the brain (physical, cognitive, and psychosocial). The presentation also explained the causes for brain injuries and how we can prevent them from happening. But sometimes we cannot stop things from happening. The best I think we can do is learn from it and see what we can do to improve the outcome and be patient with working with a person who has/had a brain injury.

2. When Karen asked if I knew anybody with a brain injury, which I did. I thought about his accident and how this affected certain functions like speech, ability to walk, or certain tasks for self-care. There are things that Karen talked during her presentation which made me think of this person I know from my hometown. However, he has a big support group and friends. It took him awhile to be able to go out and to things again after the accident, but with time he was able to again. From this, I learned that you have something to learn/gain from every individual you meet. You just must be willing to learn.

3. When Karen talked about the brain and which injuries can affect with parts of the brain. For example, the frontal lobe is responsible for memory. A person with a brain injury can lose their memories because of damage to the brain. I found it is important to know which part of the brain effects what, so you know when somebody talks about brain injuries about a certain individual, you will know or get an idea of what is being said or what you can do next.

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Reflection on Acquired Brain Injury Presentation- Gurcharnjeet kaur 

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Reflection on Acquired Brain Injury Presentation- Gurcharnjeet kaur 

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To be honest, before attending this presentation with Karen, I found brain study very difficult. It was very challenging for me to remember all the brain parts, functions and effects of these. However, I enjoyed Karen's presentation alot because she described and clear everything very easily and differently. Below are the things that I have learned from this presentation and I would focus on as a direct support professional-

1. Before, I just knew that there is any brain injury, i didn't know its types. I have come to know that brain injuries are of two types- Traumatic Brain Injury and Non-Traumatic Brain Injury. Both of these happen after the birth due to any damage, and these can be temporary or permanent which can be result of partial ir functional disability.

2. Second things that I had learnt is causes of brain injuries. I am really surprised that both types of brain injuries, TBI and NTBI have different cause. I just knew about the accidents, sports injuries and falls that caused brain injury. Causes of NTBI are new for me to know.

3. Lastly, I want to share about medical care and recovery. Till now, I have listened that there are no cures for brain injuries and it get worse with time. However, it was wrong. It can be overcome by medical care, with proper rest, rehabiliation, avoiding use of alcohol and toxins and protecting from more injuries. I would be more aware to protect the person from any fall or any other injury that would be result a worst condition for the person.

Person with brain injury needs family support and caregivers to recover fast and as a direct support professional, I will give my best to support the person and be aware of the person's involvement in activities.

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I have seen and listened to the presentation of Karen Thomas, and she has really captivated me with her energy and intelligence, she has impressively developed the Brain Injured.

I liked the way she interacted with the students, and made them participate, which is an excellent teaching strategy and where students learn more by participating.

The first thing that seemed very important to me, and that I did not know at all is the difference between TBI and NTBI. I was able to learn that traumatic brain injury is when it occurs due to external causes and the most common are car accidents, falls, assaults, sports injury, missile (bullet), shrapnel, or blast. Non-traumatic brain injury is when it happens from inside our body, such as stroke, aneurysm, tumors (often this is removed), infections, or anoxia. In addition, this is also related to salt in the diet, smoking, and chiropractic the neck manipulations.

The second thing I learned about Anoxia, and it can be also a lowered hypoxia, lowered oxygen to the brain. I found this interesting because unfortunately people who attempt suicide by hanging can cause significant brain injury.

The third interesting thing I learned was about the brain. I had an idea that it was the most complex organ and that it manages our entire body, but the way that Karen explained it, showing each part of it and it function in our body, was very instructive. Learning each part of our brain and what would happen if one of these parts is damaged helps us understand the most common physical, cognitive and psychosocial effects, and be able to help either in treatment, rehabilitation or in seeking well-being for anyone with brain damage from basic to severe.

I will apply what I learned from Karen's presentation in my work as direct support, informing me if the person I support with brain injury, what part of his brain was affected, the causes and what were his capacities involved to be able to help him in therapies, treatments, or simply accompany you in the recovery process of various skills in post-traumatic events. Finally, I will be able to use more professional terms when referring to any brain injury, degenerative disease, cerebral cortex, causes and effects, types of disabilities, to do it in a respectful, kind and inclusive way.

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I really enjoyed listening to Karen sharing and thoughts about brain injury. She is an expert and professional in the brain injury field. She told me many valuable messages about some of the factors that can damage our brain. So that I know how to prevent brain injury.

Here are some of the things that I would like to share in Padlet.

1: When Karen talked about the causes of Traumatic Brain Injury, that reminds me how important to protect our brain. As a Direct Support Worker, the people that I support, some of them are having difficulty walking and tend to be easy to fall. It is important not hitting their brain. It reminds me that I have to be cautious not to let the people that I support fall and hit their heads. Also, when he shared about sports injury, that also remind me that I like playing soccer and I have to be aware of any intensive sport would result in the possibility of brain injury. I should avoid playing too hard and too aggressive in any intensive sports to prevent any brain injury.

2. In fact, I have limited knowledge about ABI, but after Karen shared two different brain injuries: Traumatic Brain Injury TBI, and Non-Traumatic Brain Injury NTBI. I was glad to get to know this knowledge from her. In general speaking, we think that brain injury only happened physically, but when she told us about NTBI, I realize that Brain injury can be affected by infections, just like my friend who had a critical fever. I believe he did not only have a critical fever when he was a child but also, he might get some unknown infections that could possibly damage his brain. Also, I have another friend who was involved in a car accident and his brain was hit. Both of my friends experienced brain injuries, but they resulted in different symptoms and behaviors. The one with ABI partially lost his memory, and another with TBI, has a mental disorder. Thus, Karen allowed me to distinguish clearly between two traumatic and it will be very helpful and useful knowledge for my future career as a DSP.

3. The third thing that I would like to share is medical care and recovery. This is an interesting and important part that I should be aware of my health and brain. One thing that she mentioned in this section is we should get sufficient sleep and nutrition. I think I should get sufficient rest because I do not have enough sleep and like to stay late at night. She reminds me in order to protect our brain, not only prevent any physical injury, but in mental, I should get more sleep to keep my brain functioning well and healthy

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I enjoyed Karen Thomas's presentation because it shares essential insights about Acquired Brain Injury (ABI).

The first thing I identified with the presentation is how Karen articulates what ABI is, the causes, and the impacts. She also talks about rehabilitation, which is vital in helping individuals with ABI. The organization of concepts in the presentation is top-notch and touches on every aspect of ABI. The presentation raises awareness of ABI- it touches on the possible causes and their impact on an individual. Understanding the concepts in the presentation makes it easier to provide effective support to individuals in my care. I come from a community where ABI is standard, but people often know about it too late. This is an indication that there are no mechanisms that have been put in place to create awareness of the condition.

The second lesson I learned from the presentation is that we need to be aware of our health and to protect our brain not just physically but mentally as well. We need to take enough rest for the brain to function properly. I will make sure I get enough sleep because I find it hard to sleep most times.

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The third lesson learned is that taking advantage of rehabilitation for people living with ABI is integral.  I believe the information shared will help reveal some vital information about the need to find suitable support and rehabilitation for people who have ABI. Meeting the specific needs will require an individual to integrate the techniques discussed by Karen; the techniques  will help them deal with behavior and accomplish their daily activities. Rehabilitation taps into various aspects of an individual, such as cognitive re-training, communication, and speech. An individual with ABI needs to understand the limits of the condition and at the same time set goals.

I will use the information learned to create awareness about ABI and encourage individuals to enroll in available rehabilitation to overcome some of the challenges they face in accomplishing daily tasks.

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ABI presentation by Karen Thomas- Komalpreet Kaur Brar

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ABI presentation by Karen Thomas- Komalpreet Kaur Brar

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Karen Thomas’s presentation gave us deep insights about Acquired Brain Injury(ABI). I love her way of presentation, throughout the presentation she was engaging us, with questions and was always welcoming the students to ask questions. She doesn’t become bored and was having a smile in whole presentation that kept me focused and attentive because easily get distracted and inattentive whenever I don’t find something engaging.

The first thing I learned that memory works. Paying attention, encoding something that we consider important for our future survival, storing a memory and retrieving it. I came to know that people with a brain injury can only store information for 30 seconds which may be rare. This could be well understood and stored in one’s memory through example Karen provided of the man whom he went as he forgets her name and that they even met.

The second thing I learned was that Acquired Bran Injuries are divided into two categories: Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) and Non-Traumatic brain Injury (NTBI). I came to know that TBI is caused by external factors such as car accidents, sport injury, etc. whereas NTBI is caused by Vascular, toxic exposure, etc. Before this I only knew that Traumatic Injuries cause brain damage. The non-traumatic effects were all new to me.

The third thing about difference between PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and Brain Injuries. In PTSD, hyper the memory while in mild and moderate injuries the memory is impaired not heightened. In PTSD, people remember every single detail whereas someone with a brain injury cannot remember the things happened to them. I think knowing this difference is important because many a times people misunderstood PTSD as brain injury.

Also, her sharing about rehabilitation was the thing that fascinates me. The medical care, along with sufficient nutrition and starting rehab as soon as possible can help us maximize natural healing from brain injuries.

As a DSP I will try to apply all the strategies mentioned by Karen. I would take care of the people I am supporting with patience. I think when supporting a person, it is very important to know about what they have encountered and how to manage that. So, through this presentation I now know how to help the people with ABI I will now first  understand which part of brain is injured, is rehab, sleeping, nutrition is all the person need or he needs medical care, or neuroplasticity. Making them practice certain thing can help them store that thing in their memory.

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Reflection on ABI presentation with Karen Thomas - Randi McGowan

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Reflection on ABI presentation with Karen Thomas - Randi McGowan

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Some new learning was that brain injury tends not to get worse over time. I did not realize it was not something like a neurologically deteriorative disease such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, MS or ALS. Karen mentioned routine is important and similar daily habits help with consistent care for the person. With practice and determination, there are multiple therapies available to reverse some effects of the injury as well, such as speech therapy, occupational or physical therapy, and help with coordination for writing and other tasks. This is something I can apply to my work as well. Karen also said that two very important pieces to someone’s recovery is family support, and how they feel about themselves and their recovery. This resonated with me because it reminds me of my mom and how determined she was to become herself again after he stroke. If I am working with someone who has an ABI I will be sure to seek out all other resources that could help in their recovery, promote routines, and make sure they have support systems in place.

Do not say “Hey, don’t you remember me?” if someone struggles to place you, or berate them for not understanding their current situation. Memory loss can be so severe it can reset after a minute or even less. Injured brains can have trouble encoding, therefore do not store the memory. Be patient, and gently explain who you are and what you are doing there and respond kindly. When my grandma was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, she had trouble with her memory and would seem to be living through past events, even hallucinating. We responded to and went along with the story to keep her calm and content. Some family would often tell her she’s wrong and correct her perception which would confuse and embarrass her. If someone I support has an acquired or traumatic brain injury and misremembers things or confuses their surroundings, I will be kind and respectful in my tone with them. I will gently remind them of what is going on and agree with them to lessen possible stress to retain everything. Increasing their sense of comfort and security can have positive emotional outcomes.

I had some understanding about traumatic brain injuries but had little knowledge of the intricacies of how rehabilitation is offered between a TBI and a NTBI. This would be a helpful piece of information if I am working with someone with a brain injury, to know what the cause of it was to shape what the recovery looks like. If they have had a motor vehicle accident/crash, a fall, taken a bullet or blast, they would have a TBI. Vascular issues, brain tumours, toxic exposure, and hypoxia/anoxia (lack of oxygen) would be an NTBI. Karen mentioned that systems used to treat brain injuries include building the capacity a person has and have different progressions. I can help develop specialized care plans for those I support by having this information.

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Reflection on ABI Presentation - Connie Wong

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Reflection on ABI Presentation - Connie Wong

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It’s an invaluable experience listening to Karen’s presentation.

The first thing that resonated me from the presentation is never ask a person with ABI the question of “Don’t you remember me?” You should never say to a person with a severe brain injury, “Don't you remember?” It could make the person feel very bad. So instead, what Karen would do is she'd say, “Nice to meet you. I'm Karen Thomas. We met a little while ago.” Don't be specific. Keep it open ended. I feel like this is respect. I also have a bad memory sometimes. I also don’t remember people’s names and how we met, so the question of “Don’t you remember?” makes me feel shameful as well. As DSPs, after listening to Karen’s presentation, I feel that we should be open-minded. We need to be patient and take time to get to know more about the individuals we support. Do not assume everyone is the same. Everyone is unique and special.

The second area that impacted me from the presentation is when Kim talked about rehabilitation. I think number one medical care is very important. If you have the brain injury, you have to listen to the medical teams. You should start from the basic. Sleeping and getting enough nutrition is the key. Avoid alcohol and toxins because that will do more harm to the person who has already got brain injury before. It was shocking to know that it could be 8 times worse. As DSPs, we should have a sense of safety and judgment for the individuals we support because there’s a higher chance that they will have a second brain injury. We do have to make certain that they really do manage their environments with the support of us and we make sure they get sleep and nutrition and give the brain a chance to heal.

The last thing I want to share is the effect of using explosive devices in World War One and recently in Ukraine. It is super tragic because in World War One, the soldiers came back were confused with what they were diagnosed. They could not have normal urine and bowel movements and they were having difficulties to talk and walk. They were diagnosed as having shell shock / PTSD but in fact, some of them were not PTSD, they were having brain injury and made them cannot remember the facts. As DSPs, we need to try our best to help individuals with brain injury to identify what their needs are, because a person with severe memory loss is not going to do well with cognitive behavioral therapy because they won't remember things in detail. But they may do well with structured behavioral programming so that they know what to expect every day. Therefore, I think we need to equip ourselves well to best support the individuals with brain injury.

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It was an informative experience with Karen, I do not know much ABI since I do not have experience supporting people with ABI but I know someone who has brain injury due to car accident. She was an expert in presenting her topic and was able to engage us as students to make it more interactive and exciting.

Karen was so knowledgeable about the topic presented, I learned the causes of ABI and I feared how vulnerable I am due to my sports and my lifestyle. I was scared that just a simple accident and mistake I could super brain injury, because TBI or Traumatic Brain Injury can be a cause of motor vehicle, falls, assault, sports injury, and missile blast. I also learned about the Non-Traumatic Brain Injury can be cause of stroke, tumors, toxic exposure, anoxia and even infections. She discussed the importance of setting goals, the different intervention needed, the importance of family and other natural support throughout the process of rehabilitation.

I like her style of letting the student participate in a more engaging experience of interaction about the topic. It was effective to retain the information being taught by her. It was important for us to know the Physical   effects of brain injury such as fatigue, seizure, dysphagia, or difficulty of swallowing, vision hearing loss and dysarthria which is manifested by slow speech or slurred. We need to know about these because we might support a person with brain injury in the future.

As a direct support professional knowing all about Karen presentation and using it as a tool in the performance of our duties and responsibilities. It will boost our confidence and improve the standard and level of care in this profession. A person with ABI needs the help of the family, caregivers, and the community to have them reintegrated into our society.

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Acquired Brain Injuries by Pinky Arora

Karen’s talk was fascinating to hear. I liked how she did it with such a pleasant smile on her face. I enjoyed how she communicated with the children and encouraged them to join, which is a great teaching method because students learn more when they participate. I have never worked with or known anyone with ABI in my life. Karen's talk broadened my understanding about ABI. The following are some of the takeaways from the presentation that I would emphasize as a direct support professional:

First, During the lecture, I studied the differences between brain injuries (TBI and NTBI) and how they affect the brain in diverse ways (physical, cognitive, and psychosocial). The talk also covered the causes of brain injuries and how to avoid them. However, there are instances when we are powerless to prevent events from occurring. Non-traumatic brain injury affects brain cells in a direct way. A non-traumatic brain injury can spread to all sections of the brain because it damages the cellular structure, whereas a traumatic brain injury affects only a few locations. As far as I can see, we can learn from it that we can do to enhance the result while also remaining patient when working with someone who has or has had brain damage.

The second item I took away from Keren's talk was about anoxia, which I had never heard of before. It seemed intriguing to me. I got to know that anoxic brain injuries are caused by a total absence of oxygen to the brain, which causes brain cells to die after around four minutes of oxygen deprivation. I enjoyed how she got us engaged by asking how long you think it will take. I learned that this sort of injury is frequently linked to strokes, however strokes are not the sole cause of brain damage.

The third lesson I have picked up is about Medical Care and Recovery. She shared some excellent healing methods with us. I learned that sound sleep plays a critical role in healing traumatic brain injury. This is a fascinating and crucial aspect of which I think I should be aware.  She told us that sleep functions as a housekeeper, removing poisons from your brain that accumulate while you are awake. Along with this, I learned that drinking alcohol raises the risk of post-traumatic epilepsy. Moreover, alcohol's toxic impact on neural tissue impairs the brain's ability to heal from harm. So, it is beneficial to avoid alcohol and Toxins.

As a DSP, I will do my best to implement all of Karen's suggestions. With patience, I would look after the folks I am helping. It is critical to understand what a person has gone through and how to deal with it while providing help. As a result of this lecture, I now have a better understanding of how to assist people who have ABI.

Thank you for providing such an informative lecture!

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Reflection on Acquired Brain Injury with Karen Thomas - Annalisa O'Neill 

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Reflection on Acquired Brain Injury with Karen Thomas - Annalisa O'Neill 

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Karen Thomas was so engaging right from the start of her presentation. I know the enthusiasm was strategic to impact us as students, and it worked! One of my core takeaways from the afternoon was how memory functions. Karen started us off by having us contemplate how our minds work. Breaking memory down to the four core steps (attention, encode, storage, retrieval) helped me begin the task of considering how my own mind works and thinking more critically about processes that are, for me, unconscious. Introducing the mind this way showed me how people's brains function differently and that just because someone's brain is no longer programmed to complete one of those four tasks, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's lost all of its ability, nor does it necessarily impact an individual's "intelligence." I think this perspective will be crucial as a DSP because it will impact how I communicate with and advocate for a person with an ABI.

I loved learning about the physiology of Acquired Brain Injury and the nuances between different ways that the brain could be affected. How a person could be affected by Acquired Brain Injury is complex and vast, depending on how the injury was sustained and what brain lobe was affected. Before Karen's presentation, I wasn't aware that Traumatic Brain Injury affected the outer portion of the brain and that Non-Traumatic Brain Injury took place inside the brain. This will be helpful knowledge in understanding the complexities of how a person experiences life when supporting someone with an ABI.

Karen had us consider the people in our lives that have been affected by ABI; I thought of my Grandad, who experienced many strokes in his later life. He had had multiple strokes before even seeking medical attention, not familiar with the lesser-known effects of a stroke. If I had known the signs of a Non-Traumatic Brain Injury at the time, I might have been able to identify what my Grandad was experiencing sooner, and he may have had better recovery. I will definitely carry this new awareness with me as a DSP, knowing that time is of the essence during these events.

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Reflection on ABI presentation - Serena Dueck

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Reflection on ABI presentation - Serena Dueck

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I really enjoyed Karen Thomas's presentation. She shared a lot of valuable information about acquired brain injuries.

Some things that stood out for me were learning about the causes of brain injuries and how they are categorized into two sets, traumatic and non-traumatic this information is valuable in our field because even if we are supporting someone who does not have a brain injury we know what to look out for to prevent them from acquiring one. Since some people we support self-harm it's important to know what to look out for when they hit their head and to think of ways to prevent that from happening as much as is possible.

Another thing that was interesting to learn about was the characteristics of ABIs and the background on why it happens. I thought it was a funny parallel Karen made between someone who might have an ABI and someone who may have had a few too many drinks at a social as the same parts of the brain are affected. It is good to know that things like social functioning and inhibition are affected by ABI's and someone who has a brain injury may not always say things that are socially appropriate. This is useful information for our work as if we are supporting someone who has an ABI its always good to know why people do what they do.

Thirdly I thought the information that was shared on how to support someone with an acquired brain injury after the injury happens was useful. It is good to know that family and friends are a huge part of the recovery and rehabilitation process and that this support can have lasting long-term positive effects. I was amazed to learn that an adult with an acquired brain injury does not qualify for funding. That seems like a huge gap in our system that needs to be addressed and as support workers, I think a big part of our job is often advocacy, so it is good to have this information. Hopefully, in time this will change.

I am very grateful to Karen for sharing her wisdom with us.

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Reflection on Acquired Brain Injury with Karen Thomas- Harsimrat Kaur

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Reflection on Acquired Brain Injury with Karen Thomas- Harsimrat Kaur

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I really enjoyed the presentation given by Karen Thomas on the Acquired Brain Injury topic. She taught us about the brain in a very engaging and interesting way with the help of some gaming discussion parts. Honestly, I was confused when someone teaches me about the parts of the Brain but due to her interesting way, I learned a lot about ABI easily. In my own experience, I had not supported someone who had acquired brain injury, but I learned a lot about it from the experience of Karen Thomas. The three that I learned from her presentation and that I think are necessary for me before supporting someone having a brain injury are mentioned below-

1.     Firstly, I learned the memory process of our brain. I think that it is very vital for us to know about it because we have to support the persons who may have memory problems. So, by following the memory exercise we can store important information in their Brains. I learned about four steps of memory exercise that are Attention, Encode, Storage, and Retrieval. I learned how our brain saves things as important data. I liked the examples given by Karen in the explanation of memory because it helps me to understand the process of memory storage in our brains.

2.     Secondly, I learned about the different types of brain injuries which are Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Non-Traumatic Brain Injury (NTBI).  In the explanation, Karen taught us about the cause and prevention of TBI which will be helpful for us in supporting the person who we can prevent TBI. I learned that NTBI direct affects the brain cells without an external physical force on the head.

3.     Thirdly, I would like to talk about the most important part of her presentation that we must follow while supporting someone having brain injuries. It is medical care and recovery. We can take advantage of medical care by giving sufficient sleep and nutrition to our supporters. We can prevent brain injury or recover it by avoiding alcohol and toxins.

At last, I would like to mention that I learned a lot from Karen Thomas’ presentation. It would be helpful for me while support someone having Brain injuries. I would like to Thank You Karen for teaching us in a very interesting way.

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Reflection on Karen Thomas presentation on ABI- Jaspreet Kaur 

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Reflection on Karen Thomas presentation on ABI- Jaspreet Kaur 

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I found this presentation not only informative but also interesting because I learned many medical terms which I was not aware before. I knew little about acquired brain injuries as I am supporting people with ABI, but now I learned about the types, characteristics, and support strategies for that too.

The first thing that I learned from this presentation was the causes of ABI and its types that includes Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Non-Traumatic Brain Injuries. Although I heard these terms for first time but still, I was known to some causes of ABI. As Karen explained that hemorrhage is the most sever brain injury especially when person is unaware of that, my friend had same case. She got injured in road accident and she was not diagnosed with her brain injury Immediately. But after few weeks when she started experiencing difficulties and came to know that due internal bleeding tumor formed in her brain. And After a few days of her tumor surgery, she passed away because it was too late. So, I learned from her presentation that we need to be careful, if someone get injured, we should not only look for visible injuries fully diagnosed is mandatory because later it could become serious issue.

The second thing I found really informative was knowing about Hemianopsia. I was totally unaware about this term before. I met so many people in life who have ABI, but I have not heard about these effects from anyone. As she explained in common effects that people with ABI who having Hemianopsia sometimes can only see and feel one side of their body, it was really shocking for me. But knowing this is really beneficial in my field of work in order to assist the person.

The last thing that I learned from this presentation was recovery process which I think is really important to know as she explained that how having sufficient sleep and nutrition can assist person for recovery. Most significant the support of family, and as DSP I think I can apply these learnings in my future to support people by understanding the limits of injury and put my efforts to assist the person in maintain his/her natural supports.

In last I would say this is a invaluable presentation and the way Karen explained everything was really understandable and amazing.

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In high school, I used to study brain parts like the cerebrum, cerebral cortex, etc and what kind of damage takes place in the brain and how can they affect the body’s mobility and actions. It didn’t seem much valuable because I was not able to relate those things with anything whereas, in this week’s class, Karen’s way of engaging everyone with questions and elucidating each part with deep evidence was practical and reasonable to learn. It gave a broader view of how these can be implemented in life and how, as a DSP, this knowledge would help one give a better treatment to the person with Brain Injury.

The first point I would like to start with is the difference between Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Non-Traumatic Brain Injury. It was extremely worthwhile to know that some sectors like Death and relationship crisis do not count in traumatic brain injury and are part of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It makes me believe that it is very important for a person to know the types of brain injuries and in what way these can affect human beings' functioning because of the physical damage caused to the brain. I also got to know that accidents and falls from height are the major reasons for brain injury which causes drastic and unexpectedly difficult changes in one’s life.

The second thing I learned is that I got to know that brain injury also causes memory loss and I was immediately able to relate myself to it. I, personally, have been through an accident where my head was hit twice with the roof of a car and my skull was completely visible and my forehead skin was dangling. I have been experiencing minor or severe headaches on a timely basis after that accident. Also, I am having difficulty writing the words and sentences properly because I deal with spelling mistakes.

Last but not least, I learned that there are some words that one should not use to deal with people. I remember one time, I met somebody and she said that I have forgotten her. I didn’t know what to say at that moment because I could not remember who she was. When I asked, she told me that I played hockey with her for like 2 years. That was too difficult for me to handle because all I could do at that time was to worry about my memory loss. Therefore, I agree with Karen that one should not say that “don’t u remember” instead one should always tell who they are and then carry on the conversation.

I have learned that I would encounter many people in my field who might have gone through brain injury and may be dealing with its consequences. Thereby, being a DSP, I would always keep in mind the effects that the brain  injury can cause and treat people according to that. Also, I would always pick appropriate words to address things and talk with people

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Karen's presentation - ABI Reflection by Kyla Read

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Karen's presentation - ABI Reflection by Kyla Read

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I would like to start this post by thanking Karen for joining our class to share her knowledge and experiences with Acquired Brain Injury. I found this presentation very interesting and important for our class.

The first thing that I was taught is the difference between Traumatic Brain Injury and Non Traumatic Brain Injury. Before this discussion, I never really understood or took notice of the differences between the two, one being something traumatic has happened to cause a brain injury while the other is more of a medical condition that occurred and as a result there is a brain malfunction. This wouldn’t necessarily be something that will apply to the application of how I handle the people I am supporting currently or in the future, but I think it is good to have the knowledge.

The next thing I appreciated Karen teaching us about was the symptoms of an ABI so that in the future I will be able to look out for those symptoms within my personal life as well as work life, especially when something happens that could be considered traumatic to the head area. I was unaware that there were so many signs physically, mentally, and psychologically, I always thought it was more brain related such as mood swings or being unable to speak properly or headaches, I didn’t realize there was such a variety of signs and symptoms. This will also help me in potentially understanding the behavior of someone who has experienced an ABI.

Lastly, I found two bits of information very interesting and relevant. I did not realize that an ABI can be temporary, I had always thought it was a permanent condition, while saying that I also did not know that Strokes are ABI’s but I knew that you can have heal or at least improve with time after having one. Another thing I found interesting is that people are significantly more likely to suffer an ABI after having previously experienced head trauma. Both these facts are going to impact my effectiveness and role as an DSP because I will be sure to find out whether it is permanent or if with time, patience, hard work and supports the brain can recover, if that is the case, I will learn the best ways to help with the process. I will also be extra careful with anyone who I have knowledge about having a previous head trauma to ensure their brain has time to recover before encouraging any risky behavior to be performed.

participating.

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I really enjoyed listening to Karen because of her way of presentation. She delivered presentation with lot of engaging method with students on her smiling face, that I really liked it. Throughout all her presentation, she made it interesting by involving students by asking questions and answers. I, personally don't have much experience to support an individual with ABI. But I learnt lot from her presentation that there is two categories of brain injuries- Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) and Non-Traumatic Brain Injury (NTBI).

She taught us causes, effects, neuroplasticity, rehabilitation, reintegration of TBI. She told us that traumatic brain injuries commonly due to the crash of motor vehicle, falls, assaults, sports injury etc. But NTBI causes due to some infections like meningitis, HIV, tumors, toxic exposure, vascular issues such as stroke, aneurysm etc. She mentioned that frontal lobe is the major one to role play in recovery and restore things too.

Karen talked about the memory exercise in four steps like how it works:
Step 1: Attention (focus on the content or thing to observe/listen it carefully)
Step 2: Encode (just like filing and decide whether information is important to note down or not?)
Step 3: Storage (Brain stored important important just like under the important documents filing cabinet)
Step 4: Retrieval (I personally, not very good in remembering specially persons and places name. This could be very helpful to me to remember with relatable examples).

Karen also mentioned about common physical effects of TBI and NTBI such as fatigue, pain, anosmia, sexual dysfunction, incontinence etc. But cognitive factors that effect are memory, attention, concentration, communication etc. She explained that rehabilitation of TBI and NTBI takes very long-term sometimes years too, just to do recovery from it. Rehabilitation consists of medical care, neuroplasticity, physical & exercise therapy, cognitive re-training , communication and speech therapy etc. As a DSP, I carried out that when supporting a person with ABI in future at my job then I have to be very much careful with the words and have extra patience with person because sometimes, person is having very much short term memory and I might need to be repeat things over and over again. Everyday, as a DSP, I have to assist the person with ABI in their rehabilitation program and help them to monitor their routine.

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I was able to listen to Karen Thomas's presentation and he explained the difference between traumatic brain injury and non traumatic brain injury  I never understood the difference between the two but now I can differentiate between major injury and other injuries like stroke, anoxia,infections and tumors. As DSP, I learned that setting goals, design and highlight interventions and reintegration will help in settling and process of recovery. Also,family involvement and engagement serves to promotes and support the emotional, physical, social, and occupational growth of the person involved in the injury. Family involvement relies on meaningful results among parents, guardians, caregivers, schools, employers and agencies according to Karen Thomas. Person who are connected feel safe,secure, supported and ready for reintegration. However, family engagement helps parents, guardians and caregivers feel connected and tuned into community for any natural support if needed. Reintegration is another thing I learned which is the process of transitioning from incarceration to the community and adapting &adjusting to normal life.As DSP , i will support the person to bridging the gap between initial rehabilitation and community re - entry.Now , I am aware of the rehabilitation process which comprises of medical care , recovery stages ,neuroplasticity, and rehabilitation, I will take the advantage of medical care,to seek for more professional and specialist advice depending on the degree of ABI,to start rehabilitation and protect the brain from further injury. I am informed and aware of the available resources, I can always put up suggestions, ideas and help in intervention process.