Spring Break
Greenwood still improving
Former Blugold continues recovery from brain injury
Lindsey Lewandowski
Issue date: 5/12/05 Section: Campus News
Glenda Greenwood said she has been busy - doing homework.
However, Greenwood isn't referring to hitting the books; rather, she has been scoping out programs for her son, Justin Greenwood, to get involved in. It's been more than a year and a half since Justin, a former Blugold linebacker, suffered a traumatic brain injury during a Sept. 27, 2003 football game.
"He's making progress," she said. "With brain injury ... you just have to take one day at a time. We're still early in the recovery."
She said having to wait for openings in programs like the one he currently is in and for insurance approval sometimes delays Justin's progress.
"I think the biggest time factor in brain injury is having to wait for all these programs," Greenwood said. "You stay kind of on a plateau. You don't keep moving."
Justin participates in a program focused on community independent skills at TBI Metro Services in Richfield, Minn., which specializes in employment and education for adults with brain injuries.
These skills include riding the bus and making a menu and a grocery list, and Justin practices them from 8:30 a.m. to noon Monday mornings and all day on Wednesday.
Justin's name also is on a waiting list for a peacework job, or a basic job, which is like working on an assembly line creating tablecloth holders.
"It's a repetition thing," she said of the job. "People with brain injury have short-term memory. Repetitive work is helpful."
It's also important for Justin to keep a planner, Greenwood said, calling it "the key to his life."
Justin said because he knows using his planner is important, he writes in it everyday.
"It kind of helps me with my memory," he said. "It kind of replaces my memory."
Greenwood said Justin does remember a lot and is able to concentrate.
"His memory is pretty good, I think, for his brain injury," she said.
Senior Nels Fredrickson, who Justin said he loves like a brother, attested Justin's memory has returned.
However, Greenwood isn't referring to hitting the books; rather, she has been scoping out programs for her son, Justin Greenwood, to get involved in. It's been more than a year and a half since Justin, a former Blugold linebacker, suffered a traumatic brain injury during a Sept. 27, 2003 football game.
"He's making progress," she said. "With brain injury ... you just have to take one day at a time. We're still early in the recovery."
She said having to wait for openings in programs like the one he currently is in and for insurance approval sometimes delays Justin's progress.
"I think the biggest time factor in brain injury is having to wait for all these programs," Greenwood said. "You stay kind of on a plateau. You don't keep moving."
Justin participates in a program focused on community independent skills at TBI Metro Services in Richfield, Minn., which specializes in employment and education for adults with brain injuries.
These skills include riding the bus and making a menu and a grocery list, and Justin practices them from 8:30 a.m. to noon Monday mornings and all day on Wednesday.
Justin's name also is on a waiting list for a peacework job, or a basic job, which is like working on an assembly line creating tablecloth holders.
"It's a repetition thing," she said of the job. "People with brain injury have short-term memory. Repetitive work is helpful."
It's also important for Justin to keep a planner, Greenwood said, calling it "the key to his life."
Justin said because he knows using his planner is important, he writes in it everyday.
"It kind of helps me with my memory," he said. "It kind of replaces my memory."
Greenwood said Justin does remember a lot and is able to concentrate.
"His memory is pretty good, I think, for his brain injury," she said.
Senior Nels Fredrickson, who Justin said he loves like a brother, attested Justin's memory has returned.