Speech Therapy to Regain Job After Severe TBI

Speech Therapy to Regain Job: Lori Part Thirteen

We were talking about the successes, so to speak.  The first walk from the van back into your parents’ house and what unfortunately was a bit of a traumatic event in that you fell.  But the joy that you had in letting everyone know you didn’t get hurt.   The speech pathology you were getting during that period what was that like? The speech therapy to regain job?

Speech Therapy to Regain Job Was a Big Part of Lori Returning to Work

You know, it’s been so long ago.  Speech pathology.  That’s probably, well, I have to kind of go off path.  My parents worked with my former place of employment as soon as I was in the hospital.  And as soon as I started getting better, my supervisor worked directly with my parents to try to get me back in.

So I know that once I was able to walk – maybe not even walk real well – someone, and it wasn’t my parents, someone drove me to my prior place of employment.  And I went for like ten minutes, an hour, you know, just built up until I could put in a full day, and then they hired me back and had me work for a full day.

And, and so in the question that you asked me about speech pathology and what was it like, at the time when I started walking more freely and things were going proper, it just seems when I think about the timeline and where things were, that that’s where my desire to go back to the Board of Realtors was, and speech pathology, that’s probably about the time that they had me more working with the computer.

Where when I was in the hospital, or early on in outpatient therapy, it was being able to turn the computer on and to touch the keys.  But I’m sure that speech, speech pathology at that time was more being able to function with computer programs.

Would that have been partially occupational therapy along with speech therapy to regain job also?  Or did they not separate that out? 

I am a certified occupational therapy assistant, so I know that that could be part of occupational therapy, but my memory of my personal occupational therapy, I don’t think we did anything that had to do with computers.

How would you distinguish between the work you were getting from speech therapy to regain job and what the neuropsychologist was doing for you? 

Those seemed really close.  The speech pathologist worked with me more directly on like the English language and the use of English language and the use of talking; conversation, understanding people.  Where neuropsychology, I developed and I shared more private things; more social things.

So it would’ve been more of a, of a counseling-type session than a specific in addition to speech therapy to regain job?

Yes, yes, yes, than a specific therapy.

Can you explain that the help you got from the neuropsychologist in addition to the speech therapy to regain job? 

Well I can as far as neuropsychology goes.  There was a time and I want to try to give you a timeline.  So if this isn’t good you tell me. I went from my parents’  home back to my apartment with a roommate, and then that was about a year.  And then I moved into an apartment with my boyfriend, who became, who became my fiancé, and then we got married.

And when I moved into that apartment with my fiancé, that was in 1988, so that was two years post.  I remember having a counseling kind of session with my neuropsychologist at the time, and I distinctly remember talking to Dr. Yanni about my fiancé.

I remember saying that I was uncomfortable with my fiancé talking to any other women, that it bothered me.  And I remember Dr. Yanni saying that, I remember that I kept saying that I was always asking my fiancé, are you cheating on me; are, are you seeing other women; are you cheating on me, are you; blah, blah, blah.  And I remember my neuropsychologist tell me, “if you keep asking him that, he’s going to.”  That’s a specific counseling kind of time with neuropsychology.

Lori not only benefited from speech therapy to regain job but her neuropsychology and the therapy she got  in that department was extremely helpful to her in mainstreaming in to real life.

Next in Part Fourteen – Changes in Appearance After Severe Brain Injury