CBIS Spotlight: Heather Matty
Categories: ACBIS Insider, Professionals
Heather Matty, CBIS, is an information and resource specialist with the Brain Injury Association of America.
What made you choose a career in brain injury? Why are you passionate about brain injury?
I started my career in brain injury in 1999. I was working at the Center for Independent Living, their head injury program was starting up and they were looking for people who were interested. I took the initial training, was working as an independent living specialist, and moved into case management.
After that, I had a brain injury myself. After my brain injury, I really started seeing the lack of understanding and resources available. When I was able to return to work, I decided to work for a brain injury-specific organization. I started working for the Brain Injury Association of Kansas in 2008; my injury was in 2003. I was the information and resource specialist and did some advocacy work as well. In 2021, I joined the Brain Injury Association of America. I had another injury and had to take some time off, and I went through the Kansas Brain Injury program. I did a paid internship through a workforce partnership, then I was hired in the national office.
The reason why I’m so passionate is because I’ve been there. I saw the lack of resources and information, and when you go through something like that in life, using what you’ve been through, it gives you insight someone else might not have. Understanding both sides of the coin, the professional and the survivor side, is really helpful.
I was very shocked with how many professionals are not experienced in brain injury. Having a CBIS would be so helpful, CBIS is so multifaceted.
Another thing I see a lot, is professionals have knowledge in one area – like severe TBI – but with people that are at different levels of brain injury, they might have different experience levels. Training is so important.
Why is it important for your fellow CBISs to understand that, in many cases, brain injury can be a chronic or lifelong condition?
For many persons with a brain injury, not having brain injury recognized as a chronic or lifelong condition interferes with the proper rehabilitation and services they need in their brain injury journey.
Another variable we often see is that many professionals still have the mindset that full recovery happens win the first six months; that is not supported by research. Many of the current rehabilitation and Home and Community Based Services are defined as short term rehabilitative services and do not provide long term services.
For many survivors due to the sequel of other medical, cognitive, and behavioral issues that can result months or years after the initial injury, they often are not able to receive proper diagnosis and habilitative care.
Why is having a CBIS important to you?
Having a CBIS Is really important to me because the training provides understanding for all fields of brain injury. The training really helped me to see how important it is to keep up and educate yourself on new advances. It helps me when I’m talking with caregivers and survivors, to help give them a more in-depth understanding of brain injury as a whole. Everything, from the ADA, to seizures, to knowing your rights, to physical therapy – it’s so multifaceted. Sometimes in a field like speech language therapy or physical therapy, that’s all you focus on, whereas this, it shows you all the different aspects. And that’s why I think it’s good, why we need to get more enrollment. When you take classes that are not actually in your area of work, it gives you a whole picture.
How is having a CBIS helpful in your daily work?
It keeps me up to date on new treatment information, different aspects of brain injury, and new resources.
I’m asked to be on committees a lot – I have to start saying no! I see things from both the CBIS side and the survivor’s side. It’s really important for people to understand that there are two sides of this. I want more people with brain injury to be involved, more professionals with personal experience, because they see things in a different way. Caregivers also – when they’re on the professional side, they bring that personal experience. I think part of Fundamentals would be helpful for caregivers, so they have a better understanding.
Over the course of your career in brain injury, what have you learned about the chronic nature of brain injury?
The one thing I’ve learned a lot, from my personal experience and from other people, is that when they have a brain injury and time goes on, and they develop new symptoms they didn’t have before, it doesn’t make sense to them. When you have an injury to one part of the brain, other parts of the brain have to work so much harder. Other doctors don’t understand. They’ll think, the temporal lobe is damaged, why are you having symptoms in another part of the brain? As you age, you’re going to see new symptoms. After rehab, and you get home, you’re going to see other symptoms.
What advice would you offer to someone with a CBIS or CBIST who wants to be more involved with BIAA’s programs?
People with CBIS have a wealth of information. I think our trainings are really helpful, too.
One thing I would like to see more of, is for BIAA to reach out to CBISes and see what they’re interested in. It would be good to have their input on trainings or what would be helpful to them in treating their patients.