Inspiration from the BBC

Another day. I was on Twitter, browsing through the posts, when a post from HeadWay caught my attention. It was about a programme that was to be shown on BBC3, entitled "Me and My New Brain" detailing the lives of young people, who have sustained TBIs, (traumatic Brain Injuries) It showed the rehabilitation they went through, speaking, walking, learning to put their head up, to keep it there, standing, sitting, eating, feeding yourself, washing, brushing teeth, making decisions, coming to terms with your brain injuries, the after affects, consequences, what life will hold now, and most of all, getting rid of the barriers. I suddenly decided, "Wow! I'd love to show people how to use things again, to speak, to walk unaided, to stand properly, to be able to think of the right words to form phrases properly, to sing, to appreciate things, to pick things up, hold them, would love to share their joy at their achievements, be there for them, when they take a few steps back, feel their frustration with them. Help them come to terms with their conditions, even helping them with emotion etc." I immediately emailed someone I know very well, and asked them, would that be a good path to go down? seen as Neuropsychology seemed visual, and slightly harder for me to get into? The answers, were: something along the lines of, that it would be a good option yes. I could still do my BSC(Hons) that I'm doing right now, then do a masters in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, as well as a PHD, in something to do with Epilepsy, PNES, etc. I would also love to study, along the side, a bit to do with speech, so that I know, if I was to teach people how to speak, how to do it correctly. Surely you don't need a whole degree for that? I'd rather not.. :) I'm at an advantage anyway, as I have my acute sense of hearing, as I do not have vision, so I'm able to hear if they are not forming the vowels correctly. I can pick up accents extremely well, mimic them very well too, and can also sing. Perhaps even, my musical ability will come in useful with them too. Singing, would help them to build up on tone of voice, instead of the monotonous tone, that in my opinion, can be fixed, or at least, worked around. I know though, there is a condition called Aphasia, where people can't speak properly, get stuck on certain phrases, will say certain phrases over and over, in a monotonous tone. They know that it's happening, they can hear it, but find it difficult to control. It must be hard for them. I wonder what life is like, for someone with a brain injury? We see it on the television, but we don't walk with them, follow them everywhere, go where they go, watch or in my case listen, to how they do things, how people react towards them. We should. Actually make the effort to go with someone one day, where ever they are going. Follow them, listen, observe. Ask them questions, if they want too, they'll answer. Help them when they request, or seem like, they need it. Observe how members of the public are towards them. People should not be excluded and should be tolerated. Yes, they may have suffered a TBI, but does that matter? They are the same as we are. Exactly. Their brain, is just, well, different. Different, but cool, and interesting. Let's go on the exciting adventure, that is, interacting with them. I don't see it as a challenge, I would see it as, something interesting, and exciting. Perhaps, it would lead to new friendships if we let it.