EXECUTIVE BOARD
OFFICERS
Kayla
Menucha Fogel, BS, SDS, SW
Founder and
President
Edwin
F. Richter III, MD Executive Chair Bruce
Solitar, MD Executive Vice Chair Leonard
Diller, PhD Executive Secretary Ifeoma
Okoronkwo, MD Executive Treasurer
OFFICE STAFF
Susan M. Wilson, BA Webmaster
ADVISORY BOARD
William B. Barr, PhD Neuropsychologist
NYU Medical Center Paul Berger-Gross, PhD Neuropsychologist
St. Mary's Hospital For Children Ludmilla Bronfin, MD Neurologist
Mt. Sinai-NYU Medical Center Leonard Diller, PhD Psychologist
Mt. Sinai-NYU Medical Center Philip
Gautreau, MPH Vice
President, Network Development North
Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System Joan
Gold, MD Physiatrist--Pediatric
Maimonides Medical Center--Rusk
Instit. Rehabilitation Medicine Sidney
Hirth, RE Neera Kapoor, OD, MS Optometrist
SUNY School Of Optometry Daniel
Luciano, MD Epileptologist/Neurologist Comprehensive
Epilepsy Center NYU-Mt Sinai Medical Center
Edwin F. Richter, MD Physiatrist Rusk Instit. Rehabilitation Medicine
Executive Chair--Medical & Community Mark
Segal, MD Internist Mt.
Sinai-NYU Medical Center Bruce
M. Solitar, MD Rheumatologist
Mt. Sinai-NYU Medical Center/Manhattan Veteran's
Hospital Mark
Ylvisaker, PhD Communication Disorders
College of St. Rose, Albany, NY
CORPORATE COUNCIL Marcia Eisenberg, Esq.
NEW YORK CHAPTERS DOWNSTATE NYC
Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Reva Rapps--Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island
Rockland
Westchester
LONG ISLAND Nassau Suffolk UPSTATE Capital District
COMMITTEES DIVISIONS
Advocacy Services
Community Education
Informational Services In-Service Training Brain Injury Law, Legal, Estate,
Employment, Social Security, Insurance Medical Examination (IME), Workman Compensation,
Personal Injury, Attorney Referral Issues Medical & Psychological Referral
Services Medicaid Waiver Service Provider Newsletter Peer Resource Support
Groups Vocational Issues
Web Maintainance
HB Ward Tech
Student Interns
Riverhead, NY
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Brain
Power Eases Pain... NY Daily News Article Online
It
is with friends, such as Dr. Edwin Richter, that Brain Injury Society
has grown and become a viable force in assistance with recovery of the
brain injured population. Brain Injury Society has now opened a Manhattan
office in the medical complex of Edwin F. Richter MD in: Rusk Institute
of Rehabilitation Medicine for consultation, 400 East 34th Street, Room
RR 119, New York, New York 10016. Advocacy, counseling, and support
will be held at 19 W 34rd St, Penthouse Suite, Manhattan NY. Available
to you will be Kayla Menucha Fogel, BS, SDS, Founder and President of
Brain Injury Society. Programs available at this office: Medicaid Waiver
Programs and Patient Advocacy. Hours are by appointment only. With this
cooperation, Brain Injury Society will continue to assist the brain
injured population. Often, they do not know about programs available
to them that they are eligible for. It is with your assistance with
donations or by volunteering for our education, support, social events
that will we continue to grow and be a positive force in the recovery
of individuals affected by brain injuries and their families. Call our
Executive President Menucha Fogel at 718 645-4401 for more information
and to make an appointment.
The Executive,
Community, and Medical Boards congratulate our Founder and Executive President,
Kayla Menucha Fogel. Kayla Menucha has decided to return to school and has chosen
New York University School of Social Work for her graduate degree. She is an inspiration
and breathe of fresh air to those who are seeking a way up.
Mission
Statement
The
Brain Injury Society is a federally-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation committed to
empowering persons living with conditions caused by a brain injury. The organization
works with clients, families and caregivers to identify strategies and techniques
to maximize the new found potentials for a stronger recovery. In this way individuals
recovering from brain injuries are better able to lead active, productive and
meaningful lives while becoming as independent as possible in a rarely given second
chance. Engagement in sports, like football, nurtures cognitive skills, fostering strategic thinking, decision-making, and resilience. Similarly, football betting challenges the mind, requiring analysis, risk assessment, and adaptability. Both activities stimulate mental agility and discipline. To explore the cognitive benefits of football betting, read this insightful article.
Brain Injury Society was created
to offer a quick response service to all brain injured (whether acquired
or traumatic, recovered and recovering) individuals. Acquired and traumatic brain
injuries have overlapping symptoms yet are very distinct from each other. Acquired
brain injury is an internal disorder caused by neuro-organic malfunctions. Traumatic
brain injuries are externally caused, as in car accidents, sports injuries and
physical assaults.
"Each year"
in New York City and Downstate New York 62,000 people are affected with acquired
and traumatic brain injuries. At the onset, the entire being is overwhelmed from
an inability to cope with life. There is always an area of dysfunction that, with
training, one can learn to overcome; however, the strategy to do so must be learned.
A significant number of these individuals will no longer have the ability to function
in the real world again. Brain injuries last throughout life.
These
62,000 cases do not take into account those individuals who were diagnosed incorrectly.
This second category includes the effects of long-term misdiagnosis or undiagnosed
traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injuries always assault the physiological
and psychological senses. When there is a misdiagnosis the situation is compounded
causing needless intense suffering. Therefore, patients cannot function to their
expected capacity in their jobs or have had their family lives disrupted or destroyed.
Plus, there are those with genetic disorders such as epilepsy who endure a traumatic
injury from a seizure; or persons with Down Syndrome who sustain a traumatic brain
injury from an automobile accident, thus compounding their problems.
Acquired
and Traumatic brain injuries are a lifetime disability; but, timely and correct
treatment has been proven to produce compensatory skills for the affected areas.
Without such treatment, the ability to function in life is often needlessly impaired.
The
physiological problem of acquired and traumatic injuries impinges upon the entire
person. Generally misunderstood, these symptoms include: impaired, physical coordination,
visual and spatial impairment, short-term memory loss, cognitive dysfunction,
inability to learn new things or remember old tasks. Daily activities such as
remembering an address or phone number can be unreliable in recall. Small crowds
of people or sudden loud noises can cause confusion and loss of equilibrium.
The
population afflicted with acquired and traumatic brain injury comprises a negative
impact on the economy. The loss of revenues from diminished employee productivity
is substantial and represents billions of dollars each year. Many employers and
co-workers cannot comprehend the recovery process or the impact that a brain injury
makes. They will sometimes choose to not utilize their own corporate flexibility
to create noncompetitive programs and instead dismiss the individual as lazy and
unproductive. The Brain Injury Society will make this a particular target
for change.
From
the Founder and Executive President Kayla Menucha Fogel
There
is much to say about Acquired and Traumatic Brain Injury. The needs of the Acquired
and Traumatic Brain Injured individual are broad and significant. There is a void
in the health care for these people that must be addressed. How that will be accomplished
is more dependent on the funds that are available than upon the techniques or
facilities that are provided. The operation of Brain Injury Society will be structure
as to expand as the funds permit, starting with the core of services that will
respond to most people. When funding is sufficient, there is no reason this cannot
be a definitive answer to the many needs of the acquired and traumatic brain injured
individuals who suffer from the effects of these debilitating brain injuries.
Respectfully submitted:
K. Menucha Fogel
Why
Brain Injury Society?
In October 1989, a Brooklyn gang assaulted the founder's son, 19. The gang was
initiating four new members. The initiation was to kill a Jew. The founder's son
was wearing his yalmuka (skullcap) and the gang called him Jewish slurs, then
proceeded to pummel him. The founder's son sustained a three point fractured skull,
severe traumatic brain injuries and physical injuries. He was taken Kings County
Medical Center for emergency services and then transferred to Downstate Medical
Center for approximately a week. His physical appearance grew grotesque. His head
had swelled and he had welts the size of fists on his neck, arms and upper body
along with cuts, bruises and scrapes. He had been hit with beer bottles, baseball
bats and kicked with steel tips boots. During that week, she watched as her son
changed into someone she wasn't sure she knew. His language, attitude and behavior
towards her were abusive. The doctors told her that this was normal for the type
of brain injuries he had sustained. They also said that they have seen DOA's with
those injuries. Her son was a rarity.
After
her son's release from the hospital, his behavior got increasingly worse. His
memory, behavior, what is now called "the classics of traumatic brain injury",
came down on her like an avalanche. There was no stopping it and she was unprepared
and alone, but it did not stop her. She took him to doctors and would not listen
to them when they said there was no program for him. She called and covered every
lead possible until she found the correct program for him. Her son was 19. He
was in outpatient rehab for two years. Today, the founder's son is a success.
He became a licensed stockbroker in 1992 and was married in the Spring of 1998
to a Speech Language Pathologist. We are all very proud of him. His sister stated
that she likes his new personality. There is an upside to a traumatic brain injury.
In September
1995, the founder was hit and dragged by a van 2/3rds of a block. She was taken
to the hospital and released. She was told that she sustained a minor concussion
and would be fine. She had passed out four times leaving the emergency room, but
was told to go home. During the next few weeks, she felt changes, but her physical
appearance was healing. She suffered minor seizure and her vision and balance
were becoming distressed. She saw a neuropsychiatrist and several tests were taken.
She was advised that she had sustained a minor traumatic brain injury. She went
to an outpatient rehab, but it was not satisfying. She investigated other rehabs
and programs. She sought a private neuropsychologist and enrolled in a specialized
traumatic brain injury program more to her personality and character. It included,
various physical, occupational, vestibular and cognitive remediation therapies.
She also entered a vision therapy program at still a another traumatic brain injury
program.
What
made Menucha's program so different is that she advocated for herself into each
program before obtaining a physiatrist, which is the usual course of action. Two
years post injury, Menucha had adapted to her many dysfunctions, but many of the
strategies she had developed were imprecise compensatory strategies. It was now
time to retrain her brain to obtain a qualitative life and to understand how to
live with this permanent injury.
Menucha
was taught new ways of processing information. She learned to understand how her
brain was now processing. She began to experiment with various methodologies to
assist her in her daily life. It was always trial and error. During that first
year there were hours of effort and frustration. All the while maintaining a full-time
college schedule and therapeutic program.
Her
vision specialist taught her eyes to work together. Her vestibular physical therapist
worked with her to regain balance which became more relaxed and secure. Her movements,
now, were more automatic. She was taught to walk without aids, such as walls,
shopping wagon or a luggage carrier. She was re-taught to walk steps; make turns;
stop on cue without losing her balance; walk on uneven ground; and soft unsecured
ground, such as grass or inclines and walk backwards. Her disorientation and hyerarousal
began to decrease. She will always need to develop better skills, techniques and
strategies and she must be careful not to fall. When a person has sustained a
traumatic brain injury, each new fall re-injures the old brain cells and injures
new brain cells. It takes the brain that much longer to heal, compensate and adjust.
So Menucha must be diligent in her maintaining her balance exercises in order
not to fall. It was only recently that she was given permission to return to her
true love horseback riding, but only inside a corral. No trail riding and no jumping.
She has yet to obtain permission to return to climbing, bike riding, ice skating,
and rollerblading. Menucha laughed when asked when will she be returning to her
second love of biking. "I am hoping that when my doctor sees 40, he'll let me
ride, otherwise, when I see twenty again!" "The last time I told him I was bike
riding, he turned green. He is a young father. I don't want to turn his hair white
before his time. I'll let his son do it."
Her
accident showed her what her son had gone through. She is a new person on two
levels. Her sensitivity and diligence to each caller shows in her vivid memories
of what occurred in 1989 as a secondary and in 1995 as a primary. In 1996, She
was elected as a board member for the state brain injury group. She received calls
asking for assistance. She realized that a grassroots organization closer to the
peoples needs was necessary and essential. She resigned her board position in
1997 and created Brain Injury Society which began immediately to hold open forums
on traumatic brain injury. Also created were a referral system and support groups.
Recently opened
in April 2000, the Complete Healing Management features an assistance program
for the traumatic brain injury who needs help with managing a return to their
new life. Brain Injury Society needs volunteers and contributions to continue
where medical and clinicians leave loopholes. A brain injury-free society is crucial for promoting inclusivity, especially in casinos where diverse individuals gather to enjoy gaming. By implementing awareness programs and accessibility features, casinos can create a welcoming atmosphere for all. This leads people to ask for gibt es wirklich gute Casinos ohne Einsatzlimit? Which offers an inclusive experience for players. Help us to help others go forward
and reach their new goals and potentials. This is a brain injury community project
and your efforts help us. It is called the Hands Helping Hands. Click here to
help to help Brain Injury Society help others with our gratitude. Many thanks.
Brain Injury Society Membership Form--
(This form
MUST be printed
and mailed--it is not electronic!)
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to donate...
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you feel this site is valuable to you, please show your appreciation by making
a donation. Many, many people visit this site, so a small donation--even
$5--can add up quickly. This will enable us to expand our services!
We have a lot of ideas on the drawing board, just waiting for the resources needed
to implement them. Click
above on the "Donate" button to make your donation. Thanks in advance for your
support.
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