Paying For Treatment

Engaging in rehabilitation can be a costly enterprise.  Often, insurance will not pay for rehabilitation or will provide only limited funding for such treatment.  This puts significant pressure on a brain injury survivor’s family to try to find a way to arrange necessary treatment for their loved one.   In addition, this is a situation that occurs while that family is almost always already experiencing a financial squeeze due to factors such as loss of income and costs of hospitalizations.

In some cases, a state government will provide funding for rehabilitation following a brain injury.  In Texas, the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) pays for the treatment of many survivors of brain and spinal injuries.  DARS has two programs to fund rehabilitation: the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services(CRS) and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs.  They may also help survivors acquire necessary equipment and receive needed support when returning to work or school.  Below is a link to the DARS website for more information:

http://www.dars.state.tx.us/drs/index.shtml

If you do not live in Texas, check with your state’s health department to see if there is a comparable agency in your state willing to fund rehabilitation, as many states offer programs similar to DARS.

Learn about brain injury treatment services at the Transitional Learning Center: tlcrehab.org

Making Windows Easier

There are a few tricks to making life on a computer easier after a brain injury.  One trick will work on most Windows based computers/programs and helps to remedy problems caused by vision deficits.  To increase the size of items on your computer’s display, simply click the mouse so the cursor is somewhere on the screen and then hold down the Control key while rolling forward the scroll wheel on top of the mouse.  This will allow you to greatly increase the size of items shown on your computer’s monitor.  For instance, I can increase the size of icons on my computer’s desktop from roughly 1 square inch to 4 square inches with this simple method.  To shrink enlarged items, simply follow the above instructions but roll the wheel backwards.  This method works on diverse programs such as Internet Explorer and all Microsoft Office applications but does not cause any kind of damage or permanent changes to work being done in those programs.  I hope this little trick can help you or a loved one make computer use more pleasant if this is a problem that’s been encountered.

Learn about brain injury treatment services at the Transitional Learning Center: tlcrehab.org 

Larry Miller is a Survivor

Actor Larry Miller has had a long and successful career in showbiz, appearing in notable television series and movies such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Princess Dairies and The Nutty Professor.  In April of 2012 he slipped and hit his head on the sidewalk.  This fall caused Miller to suffer a serious traumatic brain injury.  After months of recovery, he is now resuming his podcast series.  Read the article below for more details on Miller’s injury and recovery:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20635743,00.html

Learn about brain injury treatment services at the Transitional Learning Center: tlcrehab.org