Brain Injury Lawyer - New York

New Brain Injury Support Group forming in North Fork-Suffolk County, New York

A recent article in The Suffolk Times reports that a new brain injury support group is forming on the North Fork of Suffolk County, New York.

The group they will start up in the fall is aimed at patients and also their families and friends. The purpose is to provide a refuge for area people who have suffered brain injuries from accidents, illnesses or even drug use.

No decisions have been made as to where or when the group will meet, but the founders are putting together a list of interested people. If you would like to participate, contact Ms. Slade  or Ms. Myers .

Brain Injury Resource Lecture at The George Washington University

I am thrilled to be in Washington DC today to again lecture at the Master's Degree Program in the Center for Education and Human Services Acquired Brain Injury Masters program at The George Washington University.

This semester’s lecture is focused on examining the various sources of information that is available on the internet in the area of traumatic brain injury. We will be exploring government web sites such as the Center For Disease Control and the National Institute of Health, great brain injury resource sites such as BrainLine, web sites that emphasize management of sports concussions, web sites that provide useful information on special education, various neuropsychological accrediting groups, brain injury association pages, brain injury professional societies and of course the brain injury news and information blog and brain law and the brain injury legal guide web site.

The Master's Degree Program in Special Education: Emphasis in Acquired Brain Injury is focused in addressing the national shortage of special education and related service personnel qualified to meet the needs of students with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and their families. Graduates are uniquely prepared to be educators and systemic improvement specialists in schools, hospitals, rehabilitation programs, advocacy programs, and related organizations. Scholarship support for qualified students is available. You can obtain more information on the GW Acquired Brain Injury Program by clicking here.

More State Brain Injury Association Annual Conferences Scheduled

The Brain Injury Association of Michigan has announced that their 29th annual conference will be held on Sep 24-25 in Lansing, Michigan.  More information is available at the Michigan Brain Injury Association web site.

The Brain Injury Association of Ohio is hold their 28th annual conference on Oct 1-2 in Columbus, Ohio.  More information is available at the Ohio Brain Injury Association web site.

Pennsylvania Brain Injury Association Annual Conference

The Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania is holding their annual conference on Jun 22-23 in Lancaster, PA.  For more information go the the Brain Injury Of Pennsylvania web site.

A message of support for our care givers

The following message was prepared by Lee Woodruff. She has shared some very poingnant thoughts that need repeating. Please share this message with your friends.

Memorial Day is on the horizon and for most of us, it¹s a blessed three-day weekend where we can sleep in, char something on the BBQ and relax with our friends.

But for the one in four people in this country who are caregivers, people parenting their parents or dealing with a sick, injured or disabled loved one, Memorial Day may not be any break at all. For the wounded Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have returned home,more than 320,000 of them with some form of a brain injury, one day is mostly like the next, which bleeds into the next. There are very few
opportunities for a break.

Memorial Day is supposed to be a day to pay tribute to the troops, to step back and honor those who have served their country. But for most of us, it¹s a three-day weekend. Somehow in America, we have moved from the Greatest Generation in WWII to the dishonored generation in Vietnam --- ask a Vietnam vet sometime how he was welcomed home from the war. "They threw rocks at me in the parade," I
vividly recall one vet telling me. And now in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, we don¹t quite know what to do with this generation of veterans.

In the present wars, we seem to be there on the surface as a country, but not for the long haul. We shake their hands or smile when we spot a solider in uniform at an airport. And then we go back to our lives, to our schedules, to our jobs and to our homes. And all the while, as we move ever forward, enjoy a moment of repose for ourselves, scattered throughout the country is the caregiver. She is changing the adult diapers on her bedridden marine son, bucking up her amputee husband. He is welcoming home a
daughter who may scream out from nightmares in her sleep. This Memorial Day weekend those caregivers won¹t get a break.

I will always remember the look of the marine¹s wife in Texas who had to be put into a safe house after her childhood sweetheart had tried to strangle her for the third time in her sleep. I¹ve thought many times since then about the courage it must have taken for her to leave with the kids, the energy she had spent caring for his emotional wounds and then trying to make it "all right" for her children. Who is caring for her?

Most of the attention is focused on the patient in any given medical crisis or difficult situation. We often forget to think about the families and the people caring for them. The caregiver is often referred to as the unsung hero. But they are also the hidden clients in any medical situation. They are the incidental
victims, slowly ground down by the fatigue of caring for a loved one, often at the expense of his or her own health. And if you think that caregiving doesn¹t apply to you, chances are it does. It was Roselyn Carter who said that there are four kinds of people in the world, those who are caregivers, those who have been caregivers, those who will be and those who will need one.

I¹d like to propose that we all pause and honor those who have so bravely served their country this Memorial Day, both in the present wars and in those that have come before. Maybe you¹re not a military person or you don¹t agree with the war. I certainly understand that.

But let¹s take the politics out of it for a second. Supporting our veterans is simply not a political issue. It doesn¹t matter whether you are for or against this war. What we all have to do is separate the war from the warrior. Our veterans and service members are the only ones who have been asked to sacrifice after Sept 11th. We need to support those who have raised their hands to go overseas and have come home different, injured, wounded. And we need to support those who are caring for them.

So how do you help? Well‹you can sign up to twitter this Memorial Day. And while you are grilling or at a sports event or sitting at a beach this coming holiday weekend, twittering to your friends, you can help a veteran and their family. Think of it like a nationwide car wash for a good cause.

I'll be tweeting my little head off about my chicken apple sausage or the kids fighting over the remote control or the fact that no one is helping me walk the dog. I can¹t imagine anyone cares a clipped hangnail about my new underwear purchase at Target - but if it goes to a good cause, hey, just
watch me tweet my stuff.

Would you give a dollar to someone who risked their life for you? Now you can. The Bob Woodruff Foundation, is harnessing the power of Twitter over Memorial Day so that every time you tweet about the ballgame or your plans for the BBQ, a dollar goes to a wounded veteran who has served their country. The goal is to raise a dollar for each of the 1.65 million service members who have cycled through Iraq and Afghanistan. The money goes to local support services and resources to assist their recovery from
the physical and psychological wounds of war.

Thanks to my new friends at twitter, it couldn¹t be easier this coming Memorial Day. All you have to do is log on click here. tweettoremind.org/

Brain Injury Association of New York State Fundraising Event

Join me on Saturday, May 30, 2009, to walk and roll with other supporters of the Brain Injury Association of New York State in the 21st Annual Freihofer’s Community Walk in Albany, NY. This fun event gives us all the opportunity to raise funds for the Association.

Participating in the Community Walk is easy!  Just print and complete the registration form attached, or register online  Be sure to designate BIANYS as the non-profit you want to support. Once you have registered, simply ask friends, family, and co-workers to support you by contributing donations. 

Why walk for the Brain Injury Association of New York State? Because:

 Someone in this country sustains a brain injury every 21 seconds

 Brain injury is the leading killer and disabler of our young adults

 More than 5.3 million Americans, approximately two percent of the population, currently live with disabilities caused by a brain injury

 Whether a car crash, bike or scooter mishap, gun-shot, stroke, tumor, aneurism, fall, hit on the head, or IED (improvised explosive device), the impact of a brain injury lasts forever.

 Brain injury affects more than 20% of returning veterans from Iraq
and Afghanistan, making it these wars’ the “signature wound”

 The Brain Injury Association of New York State provides advocacy, information, support groups, family support services, a toll-free help line, services for veterans, education programs, and training conferences.

Please help the Association to continue to provide all these services, and more

Can’t participate? Please send a donation to support the Brain Injury Association of New York State

Checks may be made payable to BIANYS, and mailed to 10 Colvin Avenue, Albany, NY 12206. Just write “Freihofer’s” in the memo line. 

Congratulations to Dr. Wayne Gordon

Congratulations to Dr. Wayne A. Gordon, Professor of Neuropsychology at New York City's Mt. Sinai Hospital School of Medicine, this year's recipient of the Robert L. Moody Prize for Distinguished Initiatives in Brain Injury Research and Rehabilitation.  

I have had the privlege of knowing and working with Dr. Gordon for many years and can think of no better recipient for this award. The award recognizes Dr. Gordon's brain injury research, clinical care and his advocacy for people who are severely injured.  Dr. Gordon has demonstrated unflagging commitment to improving the lives of individuals with brain injury and supporting their family members in the process.
 
Dr. Gordon is the Jack Nash Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.  Since 1991 he has been Associate Director, Chief Psychologist and Co-Director of Research in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center.  He is principal investigator of three federally funded grants, including the Mount Sinai Injury Control Research Center supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Dr. Gordon is also PI for the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Traumatic Brain Injury Interventions funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) . 

He is a tireless advocate for the field of TBI rehabilitation and for individuals with disabilities and their families.  Through research, development of innovative treatments, and advocacy, Dr. Gordon has advanced the scientific understanding and care of persons with TBI.
 

Brain Injury Program To Be Held at Mt Sinai Medical Center, New York

The death of Natasha Richardson has generated many inquiries at Mt. Sinai Hospital for a program addressing brain injury prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

A program entitled:  Brain Injury: Perspectives on Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment has been announced with providing members of the community information on:

  Brain injury and sports
  Brain injury prevention strategies
  How to recognize a head or brain injury
  What do to if you suspect a brain injury and where to go

When: May 11, 2009 at 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Where: Seminar Room, 1st floor, 1425 Madison

The program is open to the general public.

The Panel is to consist of :

  Andy Jagoda, MD: Emergency Medicine
  Wayne Gordan, PhD: Rehabilitation Med
  Silvana Riggio, MD: Psychiatry / Neurology
  Jam Ghajar, MD: Neurosurgery

Tinnitus Association Annual Walk For A Cure

Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is a frequent occurrence following a traumatic brain injury.  The condition can be quite disabling with disruptions to every aspect of an individual's life.

The American Tinnitus Association(ATA) is raising funds for their critical mission of assisting victims of tinnitus, research efforts and advocacy programs.

On May 16, 2009, the American Tinnitus Association will conduct the first annual American Tinnitus Association Walk For A Cure.  The actual walk will take place in Orange, California. Participants from across the country can take part in the work by registering on line at the Tinnitus Association and clicking on the Walk icon. 

Help raise needed funds for the ATA while bringing nationwide attention to the seriousness of tinnitus.

North American Brain Injury Association: Call For Abstracts

The North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS) is now accepting abstracts for the Seventh Annual Conference on Brain Injury which will be held at the Austin Downtown Hilton Hotel on October 14-17, 2009.

All accepted abstracts will be published in the "Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation".
 
Abstract submissions are divided into poster presentations and oral presentations. There will be two $250.00 cash awards for the top scoring poster presentations and for the top scoring oral presentations. Abstracts will be reviewed and scored by a panel of three internal reviewers and three external reviewers.
 
Abstract submission deadline: June 2, 2009

For more information on the Conference or to submit an abstract, visit NABIS web site.