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A Little About Me

© William Robb

For the past few months I have talked about such things as the Americans With Disabilities ACT and Human Rights denials as they relate to the disabled. I was doing this to set the stage for my philosophy which is the disabled must become their own advocates if things are to change.

This month I would like to talk about my disability so that readers will know that I am speaking from experience not from a book. If they know that I am speaking from experience then they may realize why I feel that the Worlds disabled must become their own advocates if they want things to change.

Now for a little about me. I am 51 years old and for the past 43 years have been fighting to show that I still had grey matter left. My fight appears to have been useless.I now find that I may have been made disabled, not because of lack of initiative, but because I received no professional help or support. Also it appears that I may have been made disabled by laws,of my country,which may have placed undue encumbrances on my desire to become gainfully employed. I wonder how many disabled people of other countries have experienced the same frustration as I?

My disability is Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI. It was acquired in 1955 when I was struck by an 18-wheel truck.

For those not acquainted with this disability, you can liken it to smashing your computer to the floor, picking it up and then expecting it to work properly without being reprogramed.

When I receiced my injury it was not a disability. You had a severe concussion. If you lived it was assumed that nothing was wrong. This belief caused survivors to receive no professional help in overcoming their disability and any accomaning residuals. Real help was not available until the eighties. Even today it appears that survivors do not receive proper help or support. They are the Worlds walking wounded who are disabled but don't appear to be.

Traumatic Brain Injury can leave one with multiple limitations which may cause social and employment problems. As an example, I would like to offer myself.

37 years after my injury it was discovered that I had 5 visible limitations and 12 undiagnosed ones. I overcame these with no professional help.

Next month I will describe these 17 limitations and how I overcame them only to discover that I was still considered disabled.

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