Listed below are recommended books for persons with a traumatic brain injury or their family caregivers. Some are inspirational biographies or autobiographies. Others are resource books to help understand the impacts and consequences of TBI or to help you access services, benefits or jobs.
  

THE NEUROEDUCATION OF NICO by Antonio Battro. 2001. Cambridge University Press. The remarkable story of a boy who had his entire right cerebral hemisphere removed to stop severe epileptic seizures that threatened to kill him. Dr. Battro, an Argentine physician who studied the process of cognitive development in children under Jean Piaget, used the computer to help Nico overcome the lack of half his brain. With the computer Nico could overcome deficiencies in left eye visual processing, left handed writing and drawing and spatial organization. He gradually became as competent in language, math, art and other basic subjects as his peers in school, as a result of activation and re-wiring of latent neural circuits in his preserved left hemisphere.

A FAMILY TRAGEDY by Pat Abrahamson.  1997. HDI Publishers, Inc.   Houston, Texas. A true story told with insight, sorrow, humor and grace by the mother of an adult son who suffered a severe anoxic brain injury from a cardiac arrest. Ms. Abrahamson moved her son back into her house after his divorce, and she gradually took over the complete management of his lifelong care, as she realized no one was going to take of him in a way she could live with. She personally involves the reader in the trials, tribulations and rewards of someone looking foward to retirement who is forced to become the life support system for an adult child with severe neuro-behavioral problems from a TBI, including obssessive repetition of certain phrases and compulsive physical touching and poking of other people.

B.I.A. NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF BRAIN REHABILITATION SERVICES published annually by the Brain Injury Association, Inc. 105 North Alfred Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. May be ordered by calling 703-236-6000 or on the web by clicking on bia.usa. This helpful directory has state by state listings of every imaginable kind of service provider to persons with a TBI. Examples include case management, neurologists, neuropsychologists, day treatment, community re-integration,  behavioral intervention, in-home respiratory therapy, cognitive and speech therapy, recreation programs and yes, even attorneys. Also includes a glossary of brain injury terms and a list of publications about living with a TBI.  http://www.biausa.org

BLACKWELL DICTIONARY OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGY  edited by J. Graham Beaumont et al. 1996. Blackwell Publishers. Cambridge, Mass. A 788 page hardbound book containing the definitions of 8000 key terms used in clinical neuropsychology supplemented by drawings, photos and graphs. A very useful book.

CATASTROPHE OF COMA by E.A. Freeman. 1989. Sheridan Medical Books. Dobbs Ferry, New York. A clear, detailed and comprehensive work for families of persons in coma, which is designed to demystify coma and assist family members to take an active part in supporting, monitoring and stimulating their comatose loved one as he gradually recovers consciousness and function. Helps families to understand and interpret the behavior of their loved one. Equips them to speak intelligently with the treating physicians, to evaluate their care program, to suggest improvements and make informed decisions.

CONFRONTING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY by William Winslade. 1998. Yale University Press. New Have, Conn.  A well researched, wide ranging look, from the public health policy perspective, of how society's failure to prevent traumatic brain injury and adequately fund rehabilitation of persons with a TBI, brings hardship and suffering to individuals, families and communities. Filled with facts and statistics for TBI advocates to use, as well as good suggestions for new laws and policies.  

COPING WITH MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY by Diane Roberts Stoler, EdD. 1998. Avery Publishing Group. Garden City Park , New York. A good introduction to the physical, cognitive, psychological and  behavioral problems that make up what is variously called Post-Concussive Syndrome, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Minor Closed Head Injury. It contains practical suggestions for dealing with each of the problems, and for some, has become a kind of survival guide during recovery from "mild" TBI.

HEAD INJURY AND THE FAMILY by Arthur Dell Orto. 1994. PMD Publishers Group, Inc. Winter Park, Florida. Through extensive use of personal statements by survivors of brain injury, and their family members, this book chronicles the destructive and devastating affects of TBI on the "family system." The author then traces the recovery process, again with the use of personal statement, and helps guide the reader to effective coping, support and rehabilitation strategies and techniques.

JOB SEARCH HANDBOOK FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES by Dr. Daniel J. Ryan 2000 JIST Works, Inc. Indianapolis, IN 1-800-648-5478. A good, inexpensive and highly practical, step by step guide to rejoining the world of work after sustaining a disability. Contains useful strategies for self-assessement, finding jobs, drafting a resume, applying, interviewing, etc., all from the perspective of a person with a disability.

KEEP YOUR BRAIN ALIVE by Lawrence Katz. 1999. Workman Publishing. Katz, a neurobiologist at Duke University with expertise on the development and decline of brain function, has written this guide to what he calls "Neurobics." These are sets of mental exercises to activate one's own brain to the fullest extent to stave off cognitive decline and keep the mind fresh, agile and vigorous. It includes many forms of sensory stimulation (taste, touch, smell, hearing and sight) as well as challenges to make routine activites more interesting. For example, one could try a totally new driving route to work, while playing opera on the care stereo and breating in a spritz of  rosemary oil. Katz believes that sensory activiation and cognitive challenges help old brain cells replace lost dendrites and dendritic spines with new ones. Why not take a chance? The book costs only $8.95. 

OVER MY HEAD by Claudia L. Osborn, M.D. 1998. The Peripatetic Publisher. Naples, Flordia. Became an instant classic upon its release. Dr. Osborn has become a star on the TBI lecture circuit, and deservedly so. Whether in person, or in her book, she tells her story with remarkable candor and courage as well as an ironic, self-deprecating wit that can make you burst out laughing in the face of what seemed overwhelming distress. Dr. Osborne, a doctor of internal medicine, suffered a severe TBI while bicycling near her home in Detroit, when a driver took a corner too fast and ended up in her lane. She starts the book waking up in a New York apartment where she is to attend rehab at the Rusk Institute of NYU. The rest is her unique journey in search of of recovery, as part of which we get to know her family, friends and fellow rehab patients, some of whom are very memorable characters. The book is life affirming and sprinkled with provocative quips that make us reflect more deeply.

PHYSICIAN ICD now in its 9th edition is put out by Medicode, Inc. of Salt Lake CIty, Utah, and supplies physicians around the world with an internationally recognized numerical code for diseases, printed in alphabetical order. Includes all major disorders of the central nervous system. Useful to understand all those annoying codes in your hospital and medical records.  A copy may be ordered from Medicode by faxing 801-536-1011 or by calling 800-999-4600

RESOURCES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES edited by Elizabeth Oakes and John Bradford. 1998. Ferguson Publishing Company. Chicago, Illinois. A hardbound, two volume, national directory of foundations, non-profit advocacy organizations, schools, colleges, product suppliers, publishers, therapists, clinics and others who serve the needs of people with disabilities of all kinds, including those of neurologic origin.  

YOUR MIRACLE BRAIN by Jean Carper. 2000. Harper Collins Publishers. New York. Hardbound 378 pages. An excellent overview of how good nutrition builds a healthy, well functioning brain, and how bad nutrition leads to short term problems with memory, new learning and cognitive processing speed and long term problems including stroke, diabetic neuropathies, Alzheimers and Parkinsons. Teaches you how foods with hydrogenated fats or high sugar content harm the brain, and how to incorporate new foods into your diet which increase your intake of Omega 3 fatty acids, balance intake of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids, increase fiber to clear low density cholesterol from your bloodstream, decrease the sugar content of your blood and slow the infusion of sugar into your blood. Contains many helpful references to other books and research journal articles.