Introducing Brian Liebenstein - Our New Peer Suppport Meetings and Activities Coordinator

Brian shares, in his own words, his lifelong experience with brain injury, what he's learned, and what he plans to bring to the BIRRDsong community in 2012 and beyond  through his coordinator role.  Here's Brian:

I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1955, as the first of five siblings.  I was brain injured in May 1957. We did not realize how that might affect me and what it meant until some 52 years later. 

The main reason my parents remained unaware of my brain injury, which resulted from a fall into Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin, was that once I was resuscitated and my stomach was pumped at a hospital, they told us that I should recover and not need special attention. The field of neuro-science was not all that sophisticated in 1957.

Having my own parents plus dozens of other family and friends in Wisconsin as a support network made things comfortable for me during childhood.  One teacher wrote a note asking my parents to "Please have Brian learn to use a pencil instead of his crayons for class work".  Somehow no one suspected that my use of improper writing instruments was somehow resulting from the neurological misfirings within my brain.  

Just after my eighth birthday, I moved with my family from Wisconsin, then later to Kentucky, San Jose and Bakersfield ,California and finally Las Vegas, Nevada before relocating to Oregon.  Portland neuro-psychologist Larry Friedman, PhD and his office staff told my sister, Linda, that he seemed pretty sure I had sustained an  "Acquired Brain Injury" during my near drowning.  

It was the neuro-psychological testing and interviewing in 2009 that finally revealed to myself and my family that being without oxygen for even a few minutes can result in effects that create varied challenges in the future.  My abilities were masked by short circuits in my thought processes caused by brain injury.  In looking back, I can see how easy it was for others to confuse my trouble with thinking for simple stubbornness or other problems. 

My conncections for balance and coordination were compromised by my brain injury. Perhaps being aware of possible limitations that a brain injury might create could have reduced my history of accidents, which incude: breaking both bones in my left wrist, tripping while climbing a hill and needing stitches, along with loss of balance while riding a mororcyle.  My ability to experience a lot of wonderful events might have been curtailed had my parents tried to protect me too much from my clumsinesss.

My father passed away in 1979, about 11 months after he was found to have a brain tumor.  My mother decided to move to Salem in 1982, weeks after I grauated from the University of Las Vegas, where I received a Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies.  I also have a diploma from a travel career school in Portland, Oregon.  

My Work was affected 

My work as a sports reporter at a newspaper in Lake Tahoe, from 1985-1992, resulted in me earning a couple of awards despite my cognitive challenges.  I also worked at newspapers in Seaside, Madras and St. Helens, Oregon.  In retrospect, it is clear that the limitations created by my brain injury adversely impacted my reporting careeer, resulting in my termination on various occasions.

Serving the BIRRDsong Community 

Helping others discover how fulfilling volunteering is, is just part of why I want to give time and energy to BIRRDsong.

As the Peer Support Group Meetings and Activities Coordinator, one goal I would like to realize is to make everyone always feel both welcome and wanted, not simply needed, as volunteers for meeting facilitation or set-up.   I truly believe that we BIRRDsong peers can show ourselves and others that brain injured individuals have the grit to recover --at least for the most part-- while serving our community.

Another goal of mine is to help BIRRDsong get the word out, that while brain injury has endowed many of us with some kind of obstacle to overcome in effective communication, we still have lots to share.   

I am looking forward to enjoying Erin Carr's workshop on Books on Brain Injury in late January.  She has her wings so it will be fun to see her soar.   It will be wonderful to see some of our BIRRDsong members get out from behind their masks.  

Maybe we can think of our gatherings as an ongoing Mardi Gras Party. Each month gives us a chance to take off our masks to reveal our abilities.  There is no need to worry about others in our group not being aware that our skills sometimes only shine sporadically, depsite being constantly near the surface. 

I truly hope our group discovers ways to show the public how rewarding it is to have the patience to hear our thoughts.  Books and articles that I have read state that brain-injured people sometimes seem to have repressed thoughts just because they feel it would be too difficult to state them as quickly as the general public desires.  I hope BIRRDsong's sense of being part of a flock somehow dispels any fears we may have.  

My brain recovery challenge is attempting to recall ideas without first writing them down. Therefore, I ask the group to please help me to serve our community by sending me as many e-mails as necessary, so I can capture and recall your many thoughts, feelings and ideas throughout the coming year.  

I am very excited about our 2012 Theme: Attending to Our Special Needs.  I look forward to getting to know all of you and serving our brain injury community together.  

Please feel free to contact me @:Peergroupcoordinator@birrdsong.org or bjliebenstein@gmail.com or by phone: 503-598-1822 or 541-279-9548.

Wishing everyone the best,

Brian Liebenstein