My visit with Ben in Colorado last weekend was bittersweet. He has made progress in some areas but discouragingly slow progress in many areas of struggle.  I was reading this morning about the common problems for patients recovering from severe traumatic brain injury. Ben has everything on the list. Troubles with problem solving, impulse control, and self monitoring, short term memory, learning, and language retrieval are all there. Ben doesn't grasp the implication of a given action and his impulsivity may show up as verbal utterances, snap decisions and poor judgement. His irritability and emotional instability is much better on medication which is a blessing. The article on TBI sequelae perfectly states these changes by stating "an individual with TBI may have a vague sense that he is 'not who I used to be' and yet struggle to define the specific ways in which his personality differs from prior to the injury."
The article goes on to mention that for many TBI survivors, the ongoing needs for support are not being met. Through the grace of God that is not true for my son. He is in a marvelous place.