Behavior and Brain Injury, (it's not always about the brain injury)

As a kid, we often don't want to go to school, but we have to. As an adult, we often want to attend classes and seminars, but we don't have the funds or the time.

As a participant on a panel at the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services, where we discussed "How we Coped" with other caregivers, I was invited to stay at this full day conference bursting with information and speaking talent.

I was lucky enough to hear a talk by the inspiring Dr. Harvey E. Jacobs. The title of his talk was: "Brain Injury and Challenging Behaviors," but the content extended out to the family, community, world, ecosystem, and galaxy! His use of an animal slideshow at the end with a series of poignant questions places every human on earth flatly on a level playing field as he peels away the layers of what makes us all essentially human.
"Where do you live?" he asks. "Who are your people?"
"Do you live alone?"
"What do you eat?"

By the end of this slideshow, everyone in the room is moved to tears because he's demonstrated, through a simple series of questions and pictures, that no matter what behaviors anyone exhibits, no matter how different or dysfunctional someone may seem, we are all far more alike than different. We all require the same needs: a home, someone to love and love in return, and something to do. And when we act out, we are often reacting to our environment, our insecurity, or the fact that others have decided to take control of us "for our own good."

Thank you Dr. Jacobs for a lesson I hope to remember always.