March is Brain Injury Awareness Month!

Posted March 1, 2019 by Premier Disability Services, LLC®

For more than three decades, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has led the nation in observing Brain Injury Awareness Month by conducting an engaging public awareness campaign in March of each year. The theme for the 2018 to 2020 campaign is Change Your Mind.

The #ChangeYourMind public awareness campaign provides a platform for educating the general public about the incidence of brain injury and the needs of people with brain injuries and their families. Individuals who join us to help raise awareness with the #ChangeYourMind campaign are essential to:

  • De-stigmatizing brain injury through outreach within the brain injury community
  • Empowering those who have survived brain injury and their caregivers
  • Promoting the many types of support that are available to people living with brain injury

Brain injuries are unpredictable in their consequences. Brain injuries affect who we are and the way we think, act, and feel. They can change everything about us in a matter of seconds. It is not uncommon for those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to experience physical difficulties as well as a change in cognitive abilities, the ability to concentrate, personality, mood changes, or social functioning. Others also have trouble with language, which can result in ineffective speech or communication. Some impairments may heal over time, and some functions may be regained some through therapy, while other impairments will not improve—or they may actually get worse over time.

If you have suffered a TBI, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits. In its Adult Listings (11.18), Social Security considers TBI to be brain damage caused by skull fracture, a closed head injury, or penetration by an object into the brain tissue. To qualify for benefits under the listing for TBI, your medical records must document one of the following:

  • Disorganization of motor function in two extremities, resulting in an extreme limitation in the ability to stand up from a seated position, balance while standing or walking, or use the upper extremities, persisting for at least 3 consecutive months after the injury; OR
  • Marked limitation in physical functioning, and in one of the following areas of mental functioning, persisting for at least 3 consecutive months after the injury:
    • understanding, remembering, or applying information,
    • interacting with others,
    • concentrating, persisting, or maintaining pace, or
    • adapting or managing oneself.

If you do not meet the requirements of Listing 11.18, you may still qualify for benefits if your impairments prevent you form performing your past relevant work, or any other work available in the national or regional economy, considering your age, education, and work history.

If you or someone you know is unable to work due to a medical condition, please contact us for a free evaluation of your claim!

Adult Listings (“bluebook”): https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/AdultListings.htm

By: Joyce Trudeau of Premier Disability Services, LLC®