Acquired brain injury
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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An acquired brain injury (ABI) is brain damage caused by events after birth, rather than as part of a genetic or congenital disorder. It usually affects cognitive, physical, emotional, social or independent functioning and can result from either traumatic brain injury (e.g. physical trauma due to accidents, falls, assaults etc.) or nontraumatic injury derived from either an internal or external source (e.g. stroke, brain tumours, infection, poisoning, hypoxia, ischemia, encephalopathy or substance abuse). Most definitions of ABI exclude neurodegenerative disorders.
Acquired brain injury is not to be confused with intellectual disability. People with a brain injury may have difficulty controlling, coordinating and communicating their thoughts and actions, but they retain their intellectual abilities. However, the intellectual abilities of a person with a brain injury are likely to be interfered with by the aforementioned thought coordination and communication difficulties, which can make it difficult for them to express themselves in a manner intelligible to others, which in turn might offer the perception of a damaged intelligence to others, even though such is not the case.
