Hi Lynn - I'm now +11 years post injury and I can say with confidence that your son will never be understood by others. In many ways its it simply too subtle, especially for intellectuals who were very high functioning pre-injury. Being high-functioning is good enough for others but not for you. You know you are not close to being your former self. Others do not and perhaps cannot appreciate the devastating impact of many small changes that add up to an existential crisis of self.

I am 51 with two adult children, ages 22 and 25. If either of them suffered a TBI now I would support them in doing the maximum in cognitive and neurobehaviour rehab but IT HAS TO BE TAILORED REHAB JUST FOR THEM. Then I would sign them up with a good psychiatrist who can help them accept the changes that remain after the rehab course is finished.

Hope this helps!

Ruth

your personality buQUOTE=lynnschreiber;466586]Does anyone with TBI or who has a relative with TBI have a difficult time getting other people to understand your situation? It is very hard to make people understand what we go through with our son since he "appears" to be perfectly normal, is high functioning and in college, has a job, etc. Very few of our relatives have seen him when he suddenly flies into a rage, or when he's hallucinating, etc. Nobody understands the toll it takes on us (parents) or his girlfriend who have to be prepared to drop everything and go when he's having some kind of an episode. Recently we all went to brunch and relatives commented that he seemed just fine. Because a brain injury isn't something you can "see" it is difficult to justify to others.[/QUOTE]