As some background, I suffered a traumatic brain injury when I was 11, but I’d like to think that I turned out okay. Perhaps "turned out" is incorrect, since it is a process; we are continually evolving and becoming more as we move forward in society. I recognize in my own life how profound an impact the whole computer-mediated communication paradigm (big idea, way of looking at the world) has been in my life.
Okay, let us consider what computer-mediated communication is, first and foremost. It is, quite simply, communicating to others through the use of networked computers as a medium. In simplest terms, it is e-mail, or asynchronous communications of times past during the heyday of bulletin board systems, or BBSs.
As the Internet evolved, so too did various ways of finding like-minded individuals on dating sites and the like, but that has less to do with the goal of advocating for expanding the use of computer-mediated communication among disabled individuals. It's a profound realization that when you have ideas that are presented on a more or less level playing field alongside other ideas, an exponential increase in credibility is gained just because the ideas are not attached to the physical bag of the disabled individual.
There have pretty much always been various means of communicating in different levels of near real time. Some of the Multi-User Domains (MUDs) have been fun, as have the ubiquitous Usenet newsgroups, and various similar groups thrive today. Then there is the Internet Relay Chat, or somewhat related ICQ which is used to communicate. There also is Skype, or Chatroulette, but those latter two pieces might not be beneficial when trying to win friends and impress others for the subsets of the general population that I’m thinking of.
I know that due to my own disabilities, people tend to be impatient waiting for ideas to formulate and become verbalized, to the point where, more often than not, I feel that many of my ideas tend to be dismissed merely because of the packaging that is associated with the ideas.
Article comments
1 - Dr Dreadful
My wife works as a speech therapist in a hospital rehab unit, and she testifies to the importance of family support in recovering from a brain injury. Glad to see the military is getting that too.
2 - Marty Salo
My parents were very active in getting me out of the hospital, and getting me home as soon as possible. Fortunately, mom is an RN, and had some RN friends who were also great supports.