Photo/WES KELLER ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY is being targeted by a new support group: From left, Darren Davidson of Davidson Rehab, support workers Norman Phillips and Wendy Cook, and members Dale Armstrong and Kevin Franklin discuss next Tuesday's founding meeting of a Dufferin acquired brain injury association. The 6:30 p.m. meeting at Community Living Dufferin promises to be both educational and helpful as there are many causes of injury, many different results, and many roads to recovery. CLD is wheelchair-accessible, and everyone is welcome. A group of professionals in Orangeville has been quietly putting together what it calls a "grassroots organization" to provide support for persons who have sustained "acquired brain injury" (ABI), which it says can result from a host of experiences in addition to the obvious one of a blow to the head.

"It can result from (such as) aneurisms and strokes, as well as from car accidents, falls on the ice or from a ladder or a tree," says Wendy Cook, a member of the group whose son, Keaton, suffered a severe head injury in Grand Valley more than a decade ago and whose survival has been "nothing short of a miracle," she said.

Darren Davidson, one of the professional founders of the group, said the organization "will allow ABI survivors an opportunity to access resources and funding (such as workshops, seminars, outings, peer support meetings, professional resource referral service) that will facilitate an improved quality of life and will provide opportunities for more independent living."

He said the Orangeville group would not be the first in Ontario. "There are many such groups in other parts of Ontario, but none to speak of in Dufferin County," he said.

"The Ontario Brain Injury Association (OBIA), as part of their mandate, will help our group by facilitating our first couple meetings, and will be a future resource when need be. Our first invited guest speaker will be Scott Farraway from Peel-Halton Acquired Brain Injury Services (PHABIS), who will be outlining the services his association can offer people from around our region."

The initial meeting of the local group is scheduled for next Tuesday evening, Oct. 20, from 6:30 to 8:30 at Community Living Dufferin, 29 Centennial Road. It is wheelchairaccessible, and everyone is invited.

Because the brain is something of a compartmentalized thing, different types of trauma can affect victims in many different ways.

Kevin Franklin, a member of the group, was an estimator prior to his injury. Now he has problems with mathematics but is learning to compensate to some extent. David Armstrong, another member, said Tuesday he has been having problems with spelling since he was hurt in a car accident.

Others outlined varying causes and symptoms. Ms. Cook said it's important to keep smiling.

For more information about the group or about upcoming meetings, including next Tuesday evening's, you can contact either Darrin Davidson at Davidson Rehab, email davidsonrehab @rogers.com or 519-217- 3033, or Michele Meehan of OBIA at 1-800-263-5404 or michelem@ obia.on.ca