Heidi Lerner
Gray Matters
Intriguing Book of Poetry Published by a Brain Injury Survivor
Gray Matters is filled with poetic insights of a woman who lived through a near-fatal head injury. Her intimate knowledge and sense of humor help survivors cope and better understand their injuries or themselves. This book gives a personal sense of what it is like to walk in the shoes of a brain injury survivor, thus enabling you to better understand brain injury survivors.
Brain injury occurs around the world in a variety of circumstances; in sports events, motor vehicle accidents, terrorist attacks & war. According to the International Brain Injury Association, head injury is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Thirty percent of the soldiers returning from Iraq have Traumatic Brain Injuries. More than two percent of the United States' population has sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury and it is almost impossible to know when you will come upon someone with this “invisible disability.”
Brain injury is so widespread, yet the average person can’t identify people living with its complications. This lack of awareness makes survivors’ lives quite problematic. With a creative flair, Ms. Lerner informs the readers about head injury; she strikes a chord in sharing personal changes, loss and challenges. The chapter subjects are brain injury, the symptoms, rehabilitation, the brain, academic rehab, nature/the ocean's healing influence, and brain injury support groups.
Gray Matters offers an introspective and sometimes humorous view of what it is like to suffer a near-fatal blow to the head and live with its complications. The author presents a thorough, subjective viewpoint as well as a professional and objective understanding of brain injury. Gray Matters presents a deeper understanding of the inner-workings of the mind and how in many ways, brain injury affects life as we know it.
In 1989, Heidi Lerner sustained a severe Traumatic Brain Injury in a car accident. After the most significant portion of her rehabilitation, though still struggling with cognitive and psychosocial impairments, she earned her masters degree in Special Education, specifically for survivors of brain injury. Presently, Heidi facilitates Gray Matters support groups at Scripps Hospital in Southern California, for people in the community living with brain injury.
In her poetry, Heidi Lerner offers an introspective and sometimes humorous view of what it is like to suffer a near-fatal blow to the head and live with it’s complications. With a creative flair, Ms. Lerner both educates and strikes a chord, sharing struggles with personal changes, loss, and challenges as well as ways that she’s found that help her to get by.
Heidi is happiest living beside the ocean, as this is where she finds the greatest peace of mind and creative inspiration, as well as time for surf kayaking. She believes that health and movement are the optimal means of restoring the body to it’s best condition and promoting holistic rehabilitation; she teaches Pilates exercise, specializing in working with senior citizens and those with mild disabilities. Ms. Lerner also works as an independent BIOPRO consultant, helping to prevent people from acquiring cognitive deficits through the effects of electrical pollution.
Silent Epidemic
Traumas perpetually occur.
Every 21 seconds,
One person in the US
Sustains a Traumatic Brain Injury.
These are the statistics,
This is what continually happens,
Of this we can be assured,
We are just now coming to know,
What we have already incurred.
Brain injury isn’t new,
Cave woman club man over head,
Back then,
You think it turned into something else instead?
Silenced,
Moving like a slug through time,
Brain injury then,
Brain injury now,
Epidemic…
Silently carrying on the infection somehow.
Do you think ADD
Did not exist 20 years ago?
Before the research…
