Several days ago I wrote the above article. In the article I shared some of my thoughts surrounding what I need to keep in mind. In my experience, I have found that many “professionals” who work in the field of “helping” individuals living with brain injuries, practically patronize the individuals whom they are charged to empower.
Instead of seeking to learn from our experience, strength and hope – actually living with and succeeding – they practically dismiss, discount, minimize and marginalize who we are as brain injury survivors. It is as though they tell us to sit in the back of the bus, while they take their seats in the front of the bus. It is as though they are telling us to sit down and shut up. My question is why can we not all sit up in the front of the bus?
Instead of seeking out how they can benefit from — who we are and what we have learned through — living with brain injuries and invisible disabilities, they seek to keep us silent. It is as though these professionals see us as less than and unworthy to be heard. I do not know why this is my friend. Do they see us as a threat to their fostering dependence? I do not know why they do not see us as beacons of hope? Do they see us as a threat to their bottom line? I do not know why the do not see us as agents of empowerment? Do they see us as a threat to their agendas?
To me, this just does not make sense.
The professional community says that we as brain injury survivors are the experts, however they practically show little credence to what we have to offer to the brain injury communities recovery and rehabilitation process. I do not know why professionals serving brain injury survivors do not see the benefit and value of our experience, strength and hope in living and recovering from — which is an ongoing process – the impact and effect of living with brain injuries and invisible disabilities.
With the above in mind, I have 5 questions:
Can some one in the professional community — charged to empower and give hope to brain injury survivors – please tell me, Why Are Brain Injury Survivors being told to Sit In the Back Of the Bus?
Can some one in the professional community please tell me, Why are beacons of hope and agents of empowerment being dismissed, discounted, discredited, minimized and marginalized by the professional community?
Can anyone in the professional community please tell me, Why the professional community seeks to divide and separate us from the individuals working with in the professional community?
Can anyone in the professional community please tell me, Why are we as assigned experts, not listened to, valued or heard?
Can some one in the professional community please tell me, Why are professionals communicating — by their behavior — to brain injury survivors that we need to ride in the back of the bus?
Today’s Thought
Knowledge plus experience equals wisdom. Professional may have knowledge, but we who live with brain injuries and invisible disabilities have real life experience. Why don’t we work together?
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Amen, brother!
Thank you Janice. I hope you are well my friend.
Have a great day.
Craig
Thanks for this Craig. We have talked about this for many years now – the saga continues. My guess is that for the most part they aren’t held accountable for their actions because they don’t really understand what they are doing when they patronize us because to them they are “supporting” us. It is a child and parent situation. We are the child and they are the parent and what ever they say or do is part of this role. Sometimes they give us credit for doing good and sometimes they have to scold us for acting up. This is why we have no value to them other than when they pat themselves on the back or do some research project or study that shows whatever they believe to be true. Then they take all the credit for learning something we have taught them. This parent child relationship has value to them. It gives them the authority to do what they want just like a parent does to their child. Most of the so called leadership in brain injury services are parents of someone with a brain injury. They legitimize their actions by going to conferences they organize to talk about us like we aren’t there. This in a lot of ways is true because they don’t really value what we say unless we are saying nice things about them. Then when we speak up and try and change this we are labeled as “trouble makers” and kicked out of the family. It seems like many of these people are control freaks more than anything else. They have a vulnerable population to exploit and this makes them feel good because of their egos and big bucks they make. If it feels good – why should they look at anything else or change anything?
Thanks Ken. Actually the article’s title is rhetorical. My title is meant to get the professional community to take notice and stop ignoring what brain injury survivors bring to the table. See my article: https://secondchancetolive.org/2014/07/18/is-the-medical-model-of-treatment-defining-and-keeping-you-in-a-box/