Yes Mark, this should be a specific thread.

As our injuries are largely invisible, people tend not to cut us any slack when we're struggling. They just look at us like we're jerks or adult "spoiled brats."

When I get frustrated, I can mutter at length over the object of my frustration. When this happens in public, I get dirty looks and helpful comments like "control yourself" and "grow up" - even after I say sorry and explain that I'm brain injured and I'm doing the best that I can. If I was in a wheelchair folks might help me with the problem (be it an item too far back on a shelf or a tricky turnstile) and say how it's too bad that the store or whatever isn't more aware of the needs of the disabled.

I've even been bumped with a cart for taking too long picking out a can of coffee. I don't know about the rest of you, but I can shop if I go to the store with a specific list. However, if they don't have the item I want, it takes me ages to decide on a substitute. Clearly, I must look confused because instead of just saying "excuse me," the occasional clod has to stare at me at length, hit my legs with his cart and call me a "freak" (sometimes in front of my young child).

I was never a person who wanted to draw attention to themselves in public. When these things happen, I get so depressed that I just want to curl up and die. It's not easy keeping any sense of self-worth when you're trying to navigate the world with the cognitive and speech deficits inflicted by a brain injury.

Telling people you're brain injured doesn't seem to help much. When they hear "brain" as opposed to "spine" or "leg," they assume our "choice" to act abnormally is a failure of will or character. I suppose it's the same sort of insensitivity faced by our friends dealing with "mental" health issues.

I like your idea of carrying a card explaining the brain injury. Maybe that way people wouldn’t think it was an “excuse” I’d just dreamed up to cover my aberrant behavior? I’d like to hear other’s coping strategies, too?

Cheers