June 26, 2017 | Brain Injuries | Social Share
Whether you were in a traffic accident, suffered a bad fall, or if your injury was the result of a sporting event or military service, a traumatic brain injury can have a major impact on your life. Internal bleeding, bruising, or swelling in the brain is a serious injury, and depending on the area of the brain that was affected, you could suffer some form of impairment or disability for months or years after your accident.
Even a minor injury can lead to memory loss, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue that can limit your ability to function in your daily life. When you’ve been injured and it affects the rest of your life, you may be eligible for compensation. The personal injury attorneys like those at Wilson Kehoe Winingham can help you navigate the process.
Here is what you need to know about traumatic brain injuries and the disabilities they may cause.
Is a Brain Injury Preventing You from Working?
Severe brain injuries could severely impact abstract thinking skills, the ability to communicate, and motor control, as well as cause sleeping problems, headaches, depression, and problems with memory and attention span. These types of impairments can prevent previously dedicated workers from getting up in the morning, and earning an income at all might be out of the question.
Communication problems mean that using phones or talking to coworkers or clients becomes difficult. Mobility problems, paralysis, and numbness can require special accommodations in an office. Physical jobs that require a great deal of lifting, grasping, or moving could become impossible. Office jobs and record-keeping jobs might need to be ruled out for someone with memory loss or concentration problems. Vision problems make detail, maintenance, inspection, and assembly a challenge.
If you or a loved one has been injured or disabled due to a head injury, you are not alone. Speak to a personal injury attorney about compensation for disability or lost wages for your specific case.
What is the Disability Rating Scale (DRS)?
The Disability Rating Scale was developed and tested for adult and older juvenile patients with TBIs in an inpatient rehabilitation setting. This scale is used to track individual progress as well as give them a numerical score suggesting how impaired they are. The test can be self-administered or scored through an interview to gauge functional changes for patients on the scale from coma to full functionality. It uses the World Health Organization categories of impairment, disability, and handicap to gauge cognitive and physical functionality.
It can be difficult to take care of a loved one through a dramatic change, and you and your family might feel abandoned. With the help of a personal injury attorney, you don’t have to go through this alone.
Social Security and Disability
For the purposes of Social Security, a TBI is considered brain damage caused by a closed head injury, but can also be classified as a skull fracture or penetration of the brain tissue by a foreign object. Qualifying for Social Security benefits requires medical records that document either of these limitations:
- An inability to control the movement of at least two limbs for three consecutive months after injury, which can cause problems in balance, standing, or using the arms; or
- Having “marked” physical and cognitive limitations for at least three months after your injury. These limitations can involve thinking, focusing on tasks, regulating emotions, controlling behavior, and interacting with other people.
This is where documents are important for you and your personal injury attorney. Keep your emergency room records, clinic notes, counselor or caseworker notes, any test results, documentation of impairments beyond your TBI, and even written statements from friends, family, and coworkers or employers.
Get the Compensation You Deserve: Indianapolis Personal Injury Lawyers
It can be hard to know what to do after your traumatic brain injury. If you have a temporary or permanent disability as a result of your injury, your life has been drastically changed. You do not have to face your fight for justice alone.
The personal injury attorneys at WKW help Indianapolis victims try for the compensation they deserve after their accident. We offer free, no obligation consultations about your options. Contact us at 317.920.6400 or online.