An introduction to the stories about an individual with brain
injury
There are eight stories here in all. The background story covers
the period from the time of the severe brain injury accident,
up to the time when I started to work with him. The next introductory
story tells of the lead up to the time when I took the position
as coordinator with Barry. The main stories however are the four
which deal with the first couple of months of my work with Barry,
when I was beginning to ‘get the hang of’ what needed
to be done. These are essentially about just Barry and I, how
we responded to each other and how we managed to find a way forward.
It was of time a intense contact and there were moments which
were painful for both of us. However, without this coming alongside
I could never have been in a position to know what needed to be
done for and with Barry subsequently. The final couple of stories
deal with work which he started to do without me, while I was
coordinating what was being done.
Parts of the stories are in italics: I wrote them towards the
end of 1998, at the end of my first year of working with him.
I always kept journals, daybooks, photographs and I used these
to refresh my memory, particularly about details such as how long
particular jobs took him. In the ‘background’ story,
the word in italics are directly transcribed from a video which
I made of a presentation by Barry and his mother. The non italicised
comments are the result of thoughts that I had over the next year
as I tried to make sense of the experience. I include them because
I believe that they add depth to the stories and they trace the
reasons I had for doing what I did at the time.
The cast
The protagonist: Barry
The protagonist’s mother: Margaret
The protagonist’s sister: Brenda
The protagonist’s family name: Williams
The protagonist’s advocate: Carla Simmons
The protagonist’s flatmate: Freddy
The protagonist’s girlfriend: Theresa
The protagonist’s first workmate: Patrick
The protagonist’s facilitator: Magda
The old lady the protagonist does the job for: Rose.
All the names used are fictitious
Next page - Story 1 - The accident
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Abstract
Introduction
Methods and Ethics
Guestbook (to be enabled soon)
Brain damage stories-
Stories intro
Story 1 - The accident
Story 2 - The OT arrives
Story 3 - The CD rack
Story 4 - The troll
Story 5 - The door
Story 6 - At work
Story 7 - The letterbox
Story 8 - Employment
Occupation in Literature -
Literature intro
Occupation
Alienation
Being "well occupied"
The practitioner / OT
The person with brain injury
Discussion -
The need for occupation
Becoming well occupied
Facilitation
Ethical concerns
Occupation and neurology
Future research
Conclusion
Works cited
Bibliography
Brain
injury and head injury resources
Occupational
Therapy and carer resources
OT
jobs
Rehab equipment
Physical rehab
Brain
injury web sites
General
brain injury resources
Organizations and programs
USA Brain injury association chapters
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Brain injury Research
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Personal stories
Residential programs and similar
services
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