Advocacy by and for People with ABI (Acquired Brain Injury)
A Stroke is Not a TBI
A stroke is not a form of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
The word "traumatic" in the definition of TBI relates to the cause of the brain injury, not the fact that people feel traumatized from their brain injury. And, of course, people with strokes or brain illnesses feel just as traumatized as people with TBI. But, TBI's result from external forces, such as being hit by a car or bullet or falling off of a ladder or roof top.
Strokes, tumors, brain illnesses, etc. are not TBI's. The term "tbi survivor" has become so generalized, so popularized by the tbi community, that people with a stroke or tumor, etc. think they are also tbi survivors. Not so. You are a stroke survivor or a tumor survivor, or an anoxic brain injury survivor or a meningitis survivor. You folks are not tbi survivors. However, you can lay claim to being an abi survivor. Everyone with an acquired brain injury, and that would include from tbi, stroke, brain illness, brain tumor, etc. etc., can lay claim to being an ABI survivor.
I am talking about this distinction in terminology because so many brain injury survivors are confused about it. So are some actual authorities in governments and schools, etc. The medical community could do a way better job of educating the public about these distinctions in terminology. Why they don't do that sufficiently I have no idea. We would like that.
