N.D. parents seek state aid for people with brain injuries
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/228657/
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=102951§ion=News
Janell Cole, State Capitol Bureau
Published Wednesday, January 21, 2009
BISMARCK — For North Dakotans with traumatic brain injuries, it's frustrating enough that their lingering disabilities are misunderstood by many, but their difficulties are compounded by the state's lack of services and information to residents who need them, several told legislators Wednesday.
They testified about the exasperating search for assistance and the difficulty of trying to live a normal life going to school or having a job.
"A traumatic brain injury will affect a person for the rest of their life. It's not like a broken leg that will heal," said Lisa Anderson, Leeds, N.D., whose daughter, Hannah, sustained a traumatic brain injury in a car accident in November 2007, after which she was in a coma for weeks, followed by intense rehabilitation.
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| Hannah Anderson of Leeds, N.D., chats with members of the Senate Human Services Committee after her mother, Lisa Anderson, finished testifying about a bill that would improve state services to North Dakotans with brain injury after-effects. Hannah was injured in a car accident in November 2007. (Janell Cole, Forum Communications) |
Lisa Anderson was among those testifying on Senate Bill 2198, which proposes new specialized state services, including expanded vocational rehabilitation. It also proposes a traumatic brain injury registry, just as the state has a cancer registry, and programs to prevent brain injuries.
Hannah is now a high school junior in Leeds. With the help of classmates and teachers, she "has flourished," Lisa Anderson said, testifying with Hannah by her side in the Senate Human Services Committee. Even so, Lisa Anderson has "all but quit" her job in a dental office so she can help with Hannah's ongoing health and disability issues.
Though the Leeds school "was phenomenal," finding other services was not, Anderson said, adding that she wonders what others do if they have no family to take care of their needs.
The nearest brain injury assistance program is in Minnesota, but the Andersons aren't eligible because they don't live there.
'Social deficits'
Lisa Anderson said people with traumatic brain injuries easily become exhausted, have short-term memory loss, exorbitant medical bills and need help living independently. They're hampered by "social deficits," she said, are "confused, and agitated, have personality changes, have trouble with impulsivity, their reasoning and judgment is impaired." Someone with those disabilities may not even be able to follow up on offered services that can help, if they can't remember their appointments.
Elaine Grasl, Bismarck said her son was injured when he fell off bleachers at a church community room as a toddler. Her son, now grown, struggled with behavior problems in school and was diagnosed with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder because of the head injury.
She said the family was refused a school evaluation for years, and "I was told that doctors were just covering for him."
The Department of Human Services said the state got a planning grant for traumatic brain injury services in April 2003 and an implementation grant in April 2007 but no services are being offered yet.
No one testified against the bill. The committee took no immediate action.
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Wendy Opsahl
Communications Coordinator
Center for Rural Health
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences
501 N. Columbia Rd Stop 9037
Grand Forks, ND 58202-9037
(office) 701-777-0871, (cell) 701-610-8632 wopsahl@medicine.nodak.edu www.ruralhealth.und.edu
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