Next meeting: October 8, 2007

Lifelines: The Brain Injury Support Group
meeting at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas


The October meeting is scheduled for Monday, the 8th, from 6:30 – 8:00 PM (directions below).

Cindy Herzog, with Easter Seals North Texas, will present information on Work Incentives and Assistance (WIPA). Cindy has been working with the WIPA program for five years, has a degree in rehabilitation studies from the University of North Texas and has previously worked at the Department of Rehabilitative Services for the State of Texas.

The WIPA Program

In October 2006, the Social Security Administration (SSA) replaced the Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach Program with the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program. The Program was renamed because of an increased emphasis on work incentives, return to work supports and jobs for beneficiaries. SSA, as authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, awarded 99 cooperative agreements to a variety of community organizations to serve as WIPA projects. These WIPA projects provide all SSA beneficiaries with disabilities (including transition-to-work aged youth) access to benefits planning and assistance services.

The Goal of the WIPA Program

The goal of the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Program is to better enable SSA`s beneficiaries with disabilities to make informed choices about work. Each WIPA Project has Community Work Incentive coordinators (CWICs) who will:

• Provide work incentives planning and assistance directly to SSA`s beneficiaries with disabilities to assist them in their employment efforts;
• Conduct outreach efforts in collaboration with SSA’s Program Manager for Recruitment and Outreach contractor to beneficiaries with disabilities (and their families), who are potentially eligible to participate in Federal or State work incentives programs;
• Work in cooperation with Federal, State, and private agencies and nonprofit organizations that serve beneficiaries with disabilities;
• Refer beneficiaries with disabilities to appropriate Employment Networks based on the beneficiary's expressed needs and types of impairments;
• Provide general information on the adequacy of health benefits coverage that may be offered by an employer of a beneficiary with a disability and the extent to which other health benefits coverage may be available to that beneficiary in coordination with Medicare and/or Medicaid;
• Provide information on the availability of protection and advocacy services for beneficiaries with disabilities and how to access such services.

In summary, the goal of WIPA is to provide individuals receiving social security benefits (either SSI or SSDI, in some cases both benefits) with information regarding how work impacts not only their cash benefits but their health insurance benefits as well. WIPA's intent with providing this information to beneficiaries and recipients of Social Security benefits is to help people make an informed choice for their personal situation regarding employment. All clients receive a personal evaluation and written benefits report that documents any action needed to be taken by the client. All services are free of charge and confidential.

Please send a reply email to Kimberly Aikman (kaikman1@sbcglobal.net) or call 214 289 0286 so we know to expect you.

Directions to Presbyterian Hospital:
Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas is located on Walnut Hill Lane, just east of U.S. 75 (Central Expressway). The meetings are in the

Fogelson Building, Ground Floor, Classroom A

Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas

8200 Walnut Hill Lane

Dallas, TX 75231

***The main entrance to the hospital was under construction at the time of September's meeting, so be advised that entry is a bit complicated. Visit http://www.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=&daddr=8200+Walnut+Hill+LN+Dallas,+TX+75231&iwstate1=dir:to&oi=manybox&ct=16&cd=1&resnum=1

for a map.

When turning into the campus from eastbound Walnut Hill, the best route to take may be the driveway prior to the light for the main entrance. The driveway curves away from the main entrance (direction towards North Central Expressway) and the entry to the parking lot is on the left (gated entry). The Fogelson Building has a small dome on top and is next to the Margot Perot Center.

Using the underground parking is the easiest way to reach the meeting location; if entering from the main floor, cross the foyer (past the stairs) and take the elevators to the ground floor. Classroom A is to the left off the elevators.

Remember that parking is now free! Be sure to get your validation sticker at the start of the meeting.

Neither Lifelines nor Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas endorse or recommend any method, treatment, or a program for persons with a brain injury. The intent of the group is to provide support and make information available. Attendance in the group is not a substitute for an informed discussion between a patient and his/her health care provider. No endorsement is intended nor implied.

How I improved my quality of life

Who I am: I am a brain injury survivor. At age 38, I am seven years post brain aneurysm rupture and brain surgery. I had a motor vehicle accident (MVA) 10 years prior to my rupture and sustained a mild traumatic brain injury. In September 2007, I had another MVA that resulted in concussion. In my effort to restore my quality of life, I have spent the past 7 years researching the brain, brain function and better brain health. As a result of my efforts, I have successfully remediated my brain injury. I advocate for the brain injury community and facilitate a brain injury support group. All this to say that I’ve walk in the same brain injured shoes. I have struggled for the last 7 years to restore my quality of life and it my hope that by sharing what I have learned, your recovery time will be considerably shorter.

Things I had difficulty with that led me to understand I had brain functioning problems:

1. I looked through old picture albums. I could remember the events but could not remember what I learned from them. I discovered later that I had severe long term memory loss in addition to short term memory loss. This meant that I couldn't learn anything new, because the human brain relies on the experience of the past and then applies the memory to the present in order to plan for the future.

2. I looked at the clouds, but couldn't turn the clouds into shapes, things, animals, etc. I had lost the ability to imagine.

3. People commented that I had a "flat effect” e.g. inability to express emotions.

4. When I tried to perform a task I could easily do before the brain injury, I felt as though I ran into a mental brick wall. I was asking my brain to do something it couldn't do.

5. I tried counting backwards from 100 in series of 7’s out loud with someone checking my answers. I had trouble with this, and was later told my executive function had been affected.

How I remediated my brain injury and restored my quality of life:

1. Evaluation by a neuropsychologist. This involved a battery of tests that pinpointed a majority of my cognitive deficits. I also had neurocognitive rehabilitation, but in hindsight, it would have been better to wait before beginning this therapy until I had completed the other therapies that restored my brain function. Neurocognitive rehabilitation restores some brain function, but it largely teaches compensatory strategies.

2. Evaluation by a Tomatis (listening therapy) specialist. http://www.tomatis.com/English/index.htm

3. Evaluation by an occupational therapist specializing in sensory integration issues.

4. Evaluation by a neuro optometrist or another vestibular specialist who ran the following tests: Visual Evoked Potential, Otoacoustic emissions, platform posturography, vestibular-ocular reflex function test (VAT), electronystagmography (ENG).

5. Evaluation by a qualified neurofeedback specialist. Neurofeedback helped restore my higher level functioning.

6. Acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture helped restore the subconscious processes to my brain.

7. Periodic sessions with a psychotherapist/neuropsychologist who has experience with brain injury.

8. Evaluation by a neuro endocrinologist for possible hormonal dysfunction. More information about these issues can be found at http://pituitary.mgh.harvard.edu/NCBV11I2.htm

I also had my Vitamin D levels checked – 25 OH and 1,25. My deficiency resulted in mineral metabolism issues.

9. I came to realize that medication was negatively affecting my cognition/brain function and blocking the natural healing processes of my brain/body with added toxicity. I concentrated on better nutrition and constructed a diet that aided in my healing process.

10. Participate in a brain injury support group.

I hope the information in this post is of use to you. The therapies mentioned helped me remediate my brain injury; however, it is important to note that every person and therefore every brain is different. What worked for me might not work for you. As brain injured individuals, what we can do is believe that brain injury can be remediated and find the therapies that work for us, believe in ourselves, learn to listen to our bodies and see the miracles in everyday life. Always hope, keep the faith and know that a better life is possible.

God bless,
Kimberly