By Judith Dorato O’Gara

The Brain Injury Association of America designates every March as Brain Injury Awareness Month. Their website, www.biausa.org, and that of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts, www.biama.org, provides resources for professionals, resources for caregivers, and, of course, resources for survivors. What you won’t find, however, is a resource that explains to young children what happens when a brain gets injured.

Thanks to Franklin advocate, survivor, teacher, artist, author, and “fun Auntie,” Alison “Ali” Rheaume, now, there is a way to explain brain injury to the youngest of us. Her book, Buddy the Brain, was released last month.

Rheaume, a survivor of brain injury, witnessed her young niece and nephews struggle to understand their aunt’s limitations, where she was an adult.

“As I was healing from brain injury, my nieces and nephews where born,” says Rheaume.As they grew, she wanted to answer their questions, “’Why is Auntie different? Why does Auntie use a wheelchair? Why does Auntie ask me to be quiet sometimes when I want to have fun?’” 

A physical education teacher until her injury forced her to step back, Rheaume searched for resources. “When I looked … I could not find any children’s books that were primarily educational at the level of these young children, pre-school to second grade,” she says, “I decided to use my background in health and physical education to pull it all together. I love educating young children, being around and getting to positively influence the world around them,” she says. This book, she says, is meant to be an engaging and cute way to start the conversation in understanding the brain, what it does, how to keep it safe, and what someone who has sustained a brain injury may be going through, whether it’s a parent, relative friend, or even themselves.

The author was mindful to present Buddy the Brain in many formats for accessibility, with an e-book with alt text (for someone that uses a screen reader) embedded, Braille print, ASL video, and an audiobook with two versions - one reading the text and one reading the text and added character descriptions She is thankful to Steve Sherlock, of Franklin TV,  for his work on the audiobook recording and editing.

“I have struggled to read children’s books to my niece and nephews, which has felt embarrassing to me,” explains Rheaume, “The crazy fonts, visually busy illustrations, and text on top of graphics has made it extremely difficult to read. I realized that if books were more accessible to read, then many more people, like myself, could be included and feel confident in reading.” 

Therefore, this children’s book is presented in large print with a simple font (that Rheaume created from her own handwriting), well-contrasted text on a solid background (never on top of images), and fun, yet simple images that will not visually overstimulate. The author notes she has said before and will say again, “Accessibility helps everyone, and it harms no one.”

Rheaume timed the release of her book to coincide with Brain Injury Awareness Month. She’s already brought her book to some local classrooms, and this month, she’ll read it to the first-grade class at Franklin Charter School on March 3rd, hold a book reading, signing and brain injury awareness educational event at the Franklin Public Library on March 20th (3:30 p.m.), and will hold another sale, signing and reading at Tatnuck Bookseller in Westborough on March 28th.  She will also present “Navigating Brain Injury in the Young Adult Population” at the annual Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts Conference on Thursday, March 26th, at 10:30 a.m.  

Rheaume, who serves on the Brain Injury Council of MA, the Franklin Commission on Disability, and the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA), also serves as a speaker and educator on disability awareness as well as hosts a monthly social hour for adults navigating disability at the Franklin United Methodist Church, from 10-11 a.m. every third Saturday of the month. To learn more about her advocacy, artwork and other initiatives, visit https://alirheaume.com.