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| BOOKS
[ back to Resources
]
Listed below are recommended books for persons with a traumatic
brain injury or their family caregivers. Some are inspirational
biographies or autobiographies. Others are resource books
to help understand the impacts and consequences of TBI or
to help you access services, benefits or jobs. |
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THE NEUROEDUCATION
OF NICO by Antonio Battro. 2001. Cambridge University Press.
The remarkable story of a boy who had his entire right cerebral hemisphere
removed to stop severe epileptic seizures that threatened to kill
him. Dr. Battro, an Argentine physician who studied the process of
cognitive development in children under Jean Piaget, used the computer
to help Nico overcome the lack of half his brain. With the computer
Nico could overcome deficiencies in left eye visual processing, left
handed writing and drawing and spatial organization. He gradually
became as competent in language, math, art and other basic subjects
as his peers in school, as a result of activation and re-wiring of
latent neural circuits in his preserved left hemisphere.
A FAMILY TRAGEDY by Pat Abrahamson.
1997. HDI Publishers, Inc. Houston, Texas. A true story told with
insight, sorrow, humor and grace by the mother of an adult son who
suffered a severe anoxic brain injury from a cardiac arrest. Ms. Abrahamson
moved her son back into her house after his divorce, and she gradually
took over the complete management of his lifelong care, as she realized
no one was going to take of him in a way she could live with. She
personally involves the reader in the trials, tribulations and rewards
of someone looking forward to retirement who is forced to become the
life support system for an adult child with severe neuro-behavioral
problems from a TBI, including obsessive repetition of certain phrases
and compulsive physical touching and poking of other people.
B.I.A. NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF BRAIN REHABILITATION
SERVICES published annually by the Brain Injury Association,
Inc. 105 North Alfred Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. May be ordered
by calling 703-236-6000 or on the web by clicking on bia.usa. This
helpful directory has state by state listings of every imaginable
kind of service provider to persons with a TBI. Examples include case
management, neurologists, neuropsychologists, day treatment, community
re-integration, behavioral intervention, in-home respiratory
therapy, cognitive and speech therapy, recreation programs and yes,
even attorneys. Also includes a glossary of brain injury terms and
a list of publications about living with a TBI. http://www.biausa.org
BLACKWELL DICTIONARY OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
edited by J. Graham Beaumont et al. 1996. Blackwell Publishers. Cambridge,
Mass. A 788 page hardbound book containing the definitions of 8000
key terms used in clinical neuropsychology supplemented by drawings,
photos and graphs. A very useful book.
CATASTROPHE OF COMA by E.A. Freeman.
1989. Sheridan Medical Books. Dobbs Ferry, New York. A clear, detailed
and comprehensive work for families of persons in coma, which is designed
to demystify coma and assist family members to take an active part
in supporting, monitoring and stimulating their comatose loved one
as he gradually recovers consciousness and function. Helps families
to understand and interpret the behavior of their loved one. Equips
them to speak intelligently with the treating physicians, to evaluate
their care program, to suggest improvements and make informed decisions.
CONFRONTING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY by William Winslade. 1998.
Yale University Press. New Have, Conn. A well researched, wide
ranging look, from the public health policy perspective, of how society's
failure to prevent traumatic brain injury and adequately fund rehabilitation
of persons with a TBI, brings hardship and suffering to individuals,
families and communities. Filled with facts and statistics for TBI
advocates to use, as well as good suggestions for new laws and policies.
COPING WITH MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
by Diane Roberts Stoler, EdD. 1998. Avery Publishing Group. Garden
City Park , New York. A good introduction to the physical, cognitive,
psychological and behavioral problems that make up what is variously
called Post-Concussive Syndrome, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Minor
Closed Head Injury. It contains practical suggestions for dealing
with each of the problems, and for some, has become a kind of survival
guide during recovery from "mild" TBI.
HEAD INJURY AND THE FAMILY by
Arthur Dell Orto. 1994. PMD Publishers Group, Inc. Winter Park, Florida.
Through extensive use of personal statements by survivors of brain
injury, and their family members, this book chronicles the destructive
and devastating affects of TBI on the "family system." The
author then traces the recovery process, again with the use of personal
statement, and helps guide the reader to effective coping, support
and rehabilitation strategies and techniques.
JOB SEARCH HANDBOOK FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES by Dr. Daniel
J. Ryan 2000 JIST Works, Inc. Indianapolis, IN 1-800-648-5478. A good,
inexpensive and highly practical, step by step guide to rejoining
the world of work after sustaining a disability. Contains useful strategies
for self-assessment, finding jobs, drafting a resume, applying, interviewing,
etc., all from the perspective of a person with a disability.
KEEP YOUR BRAIN ALIVE by Lawrence
Katz. 1999. Workman Publishing. Katz, a neurobiologist at Duke University
with expertise on the development and decline of brain function, has
written this guide to what he calls "Neurobics." These are
sets of mental exercises to activate one's own brain to the fullest
extent to stave off cognitive decline and keep the mind fresh, agile
and vigorous. It includes many forms of sensory stimulation (taste,
touch, smell, hearing and sight) as well as challenges to make routine
activities more interesting. For example, one could try a totally
new driving route to work, while playing opera on the car stereo and
breathing in a spritz of rosemary oil. Katz believes that sensory
activation and cognitive challenges help old brain cells replace lost
dendrites and dendritic spines with new ones. Why not take a chance?
The book costs only $8.95.
OVER MY HEAD by Claudia L. Osborn,
M.D. 1998. The Peripatetic Publisher. Naples, Flordia. Became an instant
classic upon its release. Dr. Osborn has become a star on the TBI
lecture circuit, and deservedly so. Whether in person, or in her book,
she tells her story with remarkable candor and courage as well as
an ironic, self-deprecating wit that can make you burst out laughing
in the face of what seemed overwhelming distress. Dr. Osborn, a doctor
of internal medicine, suffered a severe TBI while bicycling near her
home in Detroit, when a driver took a corner too fast and ended up
in her lane. She starts the book waking up in a New York apartment
where she is to attend rehab at the Rusk Institute of NYU. The rest
is her unique journey in search of of recovery, as part of which we
get to know her family, friends and fellow rehab patients, some of
whom are very memorable characters. The book is life affirming and
sprinkled with provocative quips that make us reflect more deeply.
PHYSICIAN ICD now in its 9th edition
is put out by Medicode, Inc. of Salt Lake CIty, Utah, and supplies
physicians around the world with an internationally recognized numerical
code for diseases, printed in alphabetical order. Includes all major
disorders of the central nervous system. Useful to understand all
those annoying codes in your hospital and medical records. A
copy may be ordered from Medicode by faxing 801-536-1011 or by calling
800-999-4600
RESOURCES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES edited by Elizabeth Oakes and
John Bradford. 1998. Ferguson Publishing Company. Chicago, Illinois.
A hardbound, two volume, national directory of foundations, non-profit
advocacy organizations, schools, colleges, product suppliers, publishers,
therapists, clinics and others who serve the needs of people with
disabilities of all kinds, including those of neurologic origin.
YOUR MIRACLE BRAIN by Jean Carper. 2000. Harper Collins Publishers.
New York. Hardbound 378 pages. An excellent overview of how good nutrition
builds a healthy, well functioning brain, and how bad nutrition leads
to short term problems with memory, new learning and cognitive processing
speed and long term problems including stroke, diabetic neuropathies,
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Teaches you how foods with hydrogenated
fats or high sugar content harm the brain, and how to incorporate
new foods into your diet which increase your intake of Omega 3 fatty
acids, balance intake of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids, increase
fiber to clear low density cholesterol from your bloodstream, decrease
the sugar content of your blood and slow the infusion of sugar into
your blood. Contains many helpful references to other books and research
journal articles. |
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