TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AND SPEECH RECOVERY
Sunday, January 8, 2012, marked the one-year anniversary of the tragic shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at an Arizona supermarket. The gunman killed six and injured many others in the terrifying incident. Rep. Giffords was shot in the head, and her recovery has become a matter of national interest and attention, especially in the area of traumatic brain injuries and recovery. Rep. Giffords and her doctors have revealed that she has been diagnosed with a condition called aphasia, or an inability to talk or write in well-formulated sentences. Many individuals who suffer from traumatic brain injury also suffer from aphasia.
The Chicago brain injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll read an interesting interview that Cynthia Thompson of Northwestern University gave to the Chicago Tribune last week, entitled "After injury, brain can keep on healing." Thompson is one of the leading experts in aphasia, which the Tribune reported affects "1 million Americans and by 2020, the numbers are expected to double." Despite this prediction, the Thompson interview revealed some encouraging news. Particularly, her following statement:
"We used to think that patients with a brain injury like Gabby Giffords' did not get better after a certain length of time — that there was a window of time to improve, called spontaneous recovery. But we now know that the brain is an organ of plasticity and it continues to change and improve throughout life."
Thompson works with a team of researchers who study individuals suffering from aphasia at many different levels. She has learned that "the brain can recover and respond even 10 years after the original injury. But too often, medical insurance will pay only for a few weeks or months of speech-language therapy. Once a patient stabilizes, they are likely to be discharged before reaching maximum gains. The insurance hasn't really caught up with the research."
Individuals suffering from traumatic brain injuries, and particularly aphasia, must obtain the appropriate medical care if they are going to recover brain function, speech and language abilities, and improve their overall quality of life. Often, a team of neurologists, neuropsychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists and as well as other cognitive rehabilitation specialists must be involved in the individual's care.
As Chicago brain injury attorneys, it is our role to understand the sequelae of traumatic brain injuries and assist clients in their recovery. Our brain injury attorneys also seek to maximize monetary recovery to provide long-term care for the brain-injured individual. Since, the short- and long-term disabilities resulting from a traumatic brain injury depend upon the severity of the injury, many factors will influence the outcome of a lawsuit, including the location of the injury on the brain, the age of the person and the general health of the individual.
Having represented several individuals that have suffered traumatic brain injuries, the traumatic brain injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll understand the damages that result from traumatic brain injuries, including the wide range of functional short- and long-term changes causing paralysis and affecting thinking, sensation, language, or emotions. Many of the causes of traumatic brain injuries stem from the negligent conduct of others. We have secured million-dollar verdicts and settlements for our injured clients that have suffered brain injuries. The brain injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll draw from experience to obtain justice for all of our clients. Contact us via our website by filling out our consultation form or at (312) 676-7222.
