Traumatic Brain Injury: From The Inside Looking Out
For anyone who’s never heard of Claudia Osborn, let me have the pleasure of introducing her. Prepare yourself, she’s quite impressive!
Claudia is an Osteopathic Physician from Detroit, an international lecturer, a special adviser to the Center for Disease Control the National Institute of Health and the Michigan Department of Health, and an Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Claudia’s full bio can be found here.
She’s also a Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor.
According to her website, her pre-injury life “…ended abruptly one summer evening when her bicycle was struck by an automobile and she sustained a traumatic brain injury. She underwent extensive rehabilitation in Manhattan at the Brain Injury Day Treatment Program of New York University Medical Center…”
In 1998, Claudia completed and published her book Over My Head, which Amazon describes as:
Locked inside a brain-injured head looking out at a challenging world is the premise of this extraordinary autobiography. Over My Head is an inspiring story of how one woman comes to terms with the loss of her identity and the courageous steps (and hilarious missteps) she takes while learning to rebuild her life. The author, a 45-year-old doctor and clinical professor of medicine, describes the aftermath of a brain injury eleven years ago which stripped her of her beloved profession. For years she was deprived of her intellectual companionship and the ability to handle the simplest undertakings like shopping for groceries or sorting the mail. Her progression from confusion, dysfunction, and alienation to a full, happy life is told with restraint, great style, and considerable humor.
I have read Claudia’s book a few times over the last decade and recommend it both to families of survivors as well as those of us working in rehabilitative care. Although she does not mention Vision Therapy directly, her story is a good reminder both of what patient’s feel when suffering a TBI, and how a little understanding on our part can go a very long way.
For more information on Claudia Osborn’s book, Over My Head, please click here.
#braininjury #concussion
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Hi Robert, I read Claudia’s book when it first came out, and have re-read it a few times since. I tried to establish communication with her, but she never responded. Her book helped me to understand on a very different level what the patient who has suffered a traumatic injury experiences, and I had to put the book down many times, as my eyes were too filled with tears to continue reading. Thank you for sharing this.
Thanks, Linda. It was you who turned me on to Claudia’s writing and you deserve much of the credit here. Her writing has had a profound impact on me as well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂