What is Kevin’s Current Cognitive Functioning After Coma? Kevin Part Eight By Attorney Gordon Johnson Kevin’s memory for things as important to him as sporting events is good. However, Kevin’s world is not just spectating. He still has many areas where his cognitive functioning after coma is limited and causes him difficulty. He still has problems(…)
Focus on Frontal Lobe Functioning after Severe TBI Kevin Part Nine Mood After Severe TBI It was hard to assess Kevin’s mood and emotions. We see later that frontal lobe functioning after severe TBI was diminished too. This is particularly difficult because of his problems with insight. He said he has problems with people who(…)
Optimism After TBI Kevin Part Ten Despite challenges, Kevin tries staying positive. Kevin was told to write things down to help his memory in treatment. He didn’t really think he needed to until he forgot that he was coming to do the interview. “See if I wrote it down on a pad of paper, then(…)
Lethan Candlish Part One Recently we began to revisit the TBI Voices project that we started many years ago. Our first story related to Kevin, who was injured with a crowbar at a festival and experienced trouble with his marriage. This next story is about Lethan Candlish. His story starts with his performance of “Who(…)
Lethan Candlish Part Two It was November 4, 1999 in the evening when Lethan was driving his sister to school. He remembered reminiscing with the French teacher before he got in the car and tried to drive home. That was the last part of the day of the accident that he remembered. Lethan told this(…)
By Jennifer Ball Mitchell Reno, a soldier with TBI, found comfort in recreational therapy, specifically working with horses, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday. We see time and time again that recreational therapy can help people through the tough times. In our story of Kevin from our TBI Voices project, watching sports helped him through his(…)
Lethan Candlish Part Three Lethan waves goodbye to his French teacher in the rear-view mirror. This distraction could have caused his accident. But he doesn’t have memories of the accident, like everyone with a severe brain injury. As mentioned in prior parts, he was driving his sister to school where he saw his French teacher. He(…)
Lethan Candlish Part Four Lethan was just a normal teenager before his severe brain injury. He was a senior in high school who wanted to study acting in college. He had the normal teenage desire to move away from small town Pennsylvania where he grew up. He wanted to have more independence from his parents.(…)
Lethan Candlish Part Five Lethan, like many teenagers, was trying to develop into a cool person. This is normal adolescent behavior and part of our development as humans. The frontal lobes develop with our experiences, creating lifelong patterns of motivation and personality. Trying the gain the esteem of our peers is so much a part(…)
Lethan Candlish Part Six When Lethan came home from the hospital, he was experiencing mood swings and outbursts that were scary to his family. These neurobehavioral extremes are not fully understood unless you live with them. In his play, Lethan talks about this topic from the perspective of his sister. He has dramatized what he(…)