Our Stories
While each and every brain injury is unique, the goal of Minds Matter is the same – to collaborate with individuals so they can live independently and create meaningful connections in their community.
Our team of experts listens, understands and responds so you can live your life, your way.
Below are a few of our stories.
Josh’s Journey
Grant’s Journey
Cameron’s Journey
Teressa’s Journey
Steve’s Journey
Kevin’s Journey
Sandra’s Journey
Sonya
My story started when I was 12 years old. I was on my 10 speed going down a big hill and lost my brakes and hit a car head on. After hitting the windshield, I was thrown over the top of the car and landed with my face slamming into the pavement. About five years later I had another head injury when I was hit in the head with a brick by some neighborhood teenagers who threw it over a house. The brick left a nice goose-egg on my head. My most recent TBI was around 2005. I was in the driveway between my home and my neighbor’s home. Some roofing material slid off of my neighbor’s roof and hit me on the head. I didn’t realize how badly I was hurt, so I attended a BBQ at my niece’s house. My niece noticed my behavioral was different and encouraged me to go to a mental hospital. I spent two to three weeks at the mental hospital and realized that I didn’t need to be there; I got hurt and had an injury. As a result of the accident, my behavior was weird. I contacted my social worker who talked with my doctor. I was ordered to go to the hospital and the emergency department gave me a CT scan. The scan didn’t show any bleeding in my head.
My problems with judgment and memory continued and I eventually ended up at KU Med for additional testing. The doctors identified a slow bleed within my brain. Home health would come provide services to me, but it wasn’t enough. I was out of it. I wouldn’t stay home or stay put. I wandered down Interstate 635, playing in the highway, and got into all kinds of predicaments. I was always getting lost wandering the streets at night and sleeping in yards and on front porches. I was a mess.
I couldn’t understand what was wrong with me. I was scared an all alone. I didn’t know how to get any help, and I had never heard of the TBI waiver. Then, I was telling a neighbor about what was happening with me and the neighbor hooked me up with services. Though I was previously with two other agencies for therapy, I stopped services with each due to the quality of care I was receiving. I started looking for a better provider for consumers on the TBI waiver. I had heard good things about communityworks, which became Minds Matter. I received services from a great team of TLS, cognitive therapists, physical therapists, and a team leader. I know what I need when I need it. And I have a great plan of care. The staff is helping me relearn things such as math, spelling, and behavior management. I have learned how to take care of myself and how to start living again, as well as manage my doctor’s appointments and medications. Minds Matter has motivated me to get out of bed and join the world again. I’ve also learned to care for myself and that there is a lot to explore in the community I live in – which I’m excited to be participating in again.
I’m glad Janet started a company that looks out and cares for people with traumatic brain injuries. I’m happy the staff is there to encourage me to start living again. Now I want to help people with brain injuries. Because I have been through it, I think I could shine and help someone that feels alone, scared, and unsure of what direction their life is heading.
Bob
“Minds Matter set me up with therapists to improve my speech impediments and now I’m working with a Cognitive Therapist. With funding from Kansas Rehabilitation Services, I’m attending computer classes at KU helping me to express myself through writing and social connections, especially getting to know my six children and the grandkids I’ve never previously met. With the help of a Transitional Living Skills coach, I’m making my limited budget work and meet my obligations. Recently, I was diagnosed with diabetes. The Minds Matter team hooked me up with a government program to get me my meals. Before that, I’d sometimes go three days without eating. Thanks to their staff, I’ve got self-confidence and feel proud of what I can do. I’ve got myself back.”
Bob likes to think of himself as a 60-year-old Jerry Garcia, an old hippie whose life has been as turbulent as the times that shaped his youth growing up in Lawrence. Before the accident that changed the course of his life 12 years ago, Bob had bouts with drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness and trouble with relationships and finances, yet he was fully capable of making a living and accounting for his actions. He was an active community volunteer, giving time and what little money he could to various causes that made him happy. Bob was working on a project for the Lawrence Public Schools when the scaffolding he was on collapsed, sending him tumbling 55 feet to the ground where he landed on his head. Until hooking up with Minds Matter, Bob’s head injuries were misdiagnosed as mental illness and treated with drug therapies that gave him seizures. He led a very lonely existence laying on the couch, drinking beer, watching Jerry Springer and feeling sorry for himself. “Within 15 minutes of my first meeting with Minds Matter, they could tell I was suffering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and not mental illness,” said Bob. “They connected me with the resources and funding to give me my life back. I’m working toward my goal of working with TBI patients and eventually for Minds Matter. I’m a poster boy for the success of Minds Matter.”
Erin
(via email, May 2014 to her Cognitive Therapist)
Victoria, Good Morning!
I would like to thank you as well as let others know about how flexible you already have been with our initial meeting on Friday. Angela is a good person and she never ever has let me down. She has bent over backwards, so to speak, in trying to accommodate my ever growing myriad of issues. She must be a fine example of a leader at Minds Matter. I am amazed at the help that I have been given since returning home.
I truly believe that if the government were to contract with Minds Matter for the veterans returning home, the future of many families, millions of people would be dramatically improved.
Just an idea, but is there a way for our deserving veterans and their families to be able to have access to Minds Matter?
This is the best help I have ever received in my 43 years on earth!
I am a proud recipient, as well as a family member of many people whom have served our country. Our rates, drug use/abuse, homelessness, etc. are at all time record highs.
Push this email of my personal testimony through. You can save lives.
Matthew
When Minds Matter came into a Matthew’s life, he was still living at home with his parents. The 24-year-old had been living with his parents for most of his life, which is not uncommon. What is uncommon is that Matthew experienced a brain tumor when he was seven years old which resulted in him losing his vision and having cognitive deficits. This was a devastating experience, as anyone could possibly imagine. Matthew went through a life-altering traumatic change.
The brain tumor was operated on and Matthew endured chemotherapy and radiation treatment, a daunting experience for anyone, let alone a 7 year old. Multiple surgeries were done, taking out a majority of the brain. Matthew still has the tumor in his brain which was reduced from a lemon size to a the size of grain of rice.
This had residual effects on his mental health and cognition. Daily struggles included facing the barriers of visual impairments, OCD and depression. Having to take 20 pills a day (12 prescriptions and shots) was not ideal. Constant pharmacy access, blister packs and choosing the right reminder system took its toll. He had to take the right pills at the right time, over the course of four different times of the day. This would be a challenge for anyone, but for a person with memory and visual deficits it would almost appear impossible. Matthew was embattled in feelings of self-hatred and depression.
Matthew also has had to contend with lack of understanding of people not paying attention. He was once bumped by a car and stumbled into the street. He was even shoved into the street and physically harassed. There are times when Matthew had to deal with insensitive people who would actually play tricks on him and take advantage of the fact that he was visually impaired. Other times he would deal with overly-sensitive people, who have good intentions. In Tulsa, Oklahoma when he was 12, a stranger approached him in a public restroom and squeezed his head while praying for him. Mathew learned the hard way that good intentions are not always good.
Enter Minds Matter. Matthew’s goal plan consisted of housing search,
self-reflection, initiation and memory enhancement. OT worked with Matthew on adapting to his home, organization skills within the home, cooking/cleaning, and general daily living. CT focused on self-reflection, task initiation and memory. Practice was done using variations on a medication reminder system. Matthew even worked on his own inventions to remind him to take his medications.
Matthew accepted a position at an social service agency to work with homeless individuals on transitioning out of homelessness. He works with his CT twice a week on memory skills in order to prepare for workshop breakout groups.
Matthew’s first attempt at moving out of the house was an exciting experience. It was his first time ever to be out on his own. The experience only lasted one week because the arrangement made with the roommate resulted in a mutual parting of ways. This also is not uncommon, as sometimes the first attempt is the trial attempt. Mathew’s second attempt at housing was found through a mutual connection with his father. This resulted in a permanent arrangement where Mathew continues to live on his own, with OT teaching him skills to adapt to the new environment.
In many aspects, Matthew had to teach his own teachers.
Consumer-centered planning means that the consumer is in control of the goal plan, which brings empowerment back to their lives. This required adaptation in approach style from the therapist coupled with goal plan updating. Matthew had to change his own goal plan, as some of the wording was his parents input and not his own.
In the time Matthew has worked with Minds Matter, he has moved out of his home and found employment. These major steps toward independence were the result of his resolve, with therapy providing support to increase the likelihood of success.
Matthew has used his creative talent for both work and meaningful activities. He calls himself Mattgician (Mathew + magician), using his creativity to do street busking, magic tricks, ukulele, harmonica, and bucket drumming. These activities emphasis tactile and audible traits, skills which he hones on a daily basis that contribute toward the structure of his day.
Many times when we work with a consumer, we don’t know where to start. Meeting the consumer where they are is the first step. The goal plan is the compass.
The driving message that Matthew would like to share with the world is “creative and positivity are the keys to success.” He would appreciate that pedestrians and drivers make sure not to be intoxicated or distracted by device use.
The world has come along way when it comes to accommodations for people with visual impairments, but there are still many aspects of society that do not do meet this need. Apps, websites and public places could be more accessible. Matthew continues to face challenges on a daily basis, but at this point he is doing more on his own terms.
To not just be in the community, but Of the community.
Cornelious
Cornelious came to Minds Matter in August of 2020 after sustaining a brain injury in September of 2019 and spending a period of time in a rehabilitation facility. Cornelious sustained his injury through a major fall and was working to get his motor functions and cognitive skills back when he met Minds Matter. When Cornelious began therapy, his main goals were to schedule a long list of doctor’s appointments, find transportation in order make it to his appointments, manage his medications, and receive Social Security benefits. Cornelious stated “I just want to be independent again.” Cornelious expressed that he struggled advocating for himself and had trouble processing conversations, both in person and over the phone.
Today, Cornelious has been approved for Social Security Supplemental Income, is consistently keeping doctor’s appointments, and managing his medications with the use of his IPad. Cornelious is currently using his Ipad to complete the final steps to move into his own apartment. Cornelious is very vocal about his self-advocacy and leading his team meetings. Cornelious is passionate about cooking and music and enjoys these things in his free time.
Kade
Kade acquired his traumatic brain injury in 2019 during a motorcycle accident. During this time in his life, Kade expressed that his struggles with alcohol and drug use had nearly consumed him and had become his only priority. Now, Kade looks at the adversity he experienced as a blessing as it offered him a “second chance” at life. It allowed him to turn his life around and change his priorities. Since his motorcycle accident, Kade has remained sober and has actively participated in sober communities. Kade is currently attending classes at Kansas City Community College working toward his degree to become a certified medical assistant with plans to work toward becoming a physical therapy assistant. Kade expressed that the main thing that assisted him in making progress while working through his newly acquired brain injury include his faith, family, and friends. Kade often spends time organizing community gatherings with other individuals with physical disabilities to foster a community of acceptance, collaboration, and grace. Kade’s main hobbies include spending time with his strong support network, exercising, and bird watching. Kade is also interested in one day meeting the requirements to become a pastor and remains active in his church community, sharing his journey throughout the last several years to offer hope to others who are struggling with similar situations. Through his positive mentality and unwavering faith, Kade expressed “If there is one thing I could tell someone going through this, it’s to never give up. Anything is possible. Don’t ever give up.”
