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Birth
I was born at approximately 5 p.m. on Monday, April, 7, 1997. My Dad was so proud of his son. He immediately took me outside of the room to show me off to all the waiting relatives which included two sets of grandparents and many aunts and uncles. -
Family Medical History
Grandfather (Wright)- Died of a Brain Aneurysm at the age of 56, my father being 16 at the time.
Granddad (Clement)- Died of Stage 4 Lung Cancer, not related to smoking, this occurred when I was 12 (2011)
Grandmother (Clement)- History of Breast Cancer, and early onset dementia. Just survived Shingles which paralyzed her for 2 weeks making her have to live in my home. -
Family Medical History cont.
Father- Skin Cancer, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol
Mother- Mild Skin Cancer, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol
Uncle Taylor- Heart Disease, Ruptured Cornea
Uncle Wayne- Severe Heart Disease
Uncle Jimmy- Heart Disease
Uncle Steve- Eye Disorders, Partial Blindness
Cousin Shawn- Blindness -
Infancy: Language Development
My parents like to "fight" over which I said first, Dada or Mama, but they finally agreed and wrote in my baby book that I said Dada first. -
Infancy: Emotions & Stress
As an infant, my frustration and anger was shown by my biting of other children in the mother's day out program and when other children visited my family. My mother's day out program teacher taught my parents how to cope with my biting. She taught my parents to watch for actions that upset me and to correct those actions before I reached the point of biting. -
Infancy: Attachment
By the time I was one year old, I was securely attached to my mother. She was my primary caregiver. Although she treated me with love and care, she was overly protective and did too much for me. I depended on her to do things for me that I could and should have done myself but since she was willing to do them I just simply let her. -
Infancy: Physical Development and Motor Skills
My Parents would reward me for walking by reading to my books like Harry Potter, or Camelot. I was a fast learner as I wanted to imagine these wondrous tales. -
Infancy: Temperament
I was a quiet child, but I did have an attitude. When I wanted to do something, I did it. This caused me to be in some very precarious scenarios where I almost ran out into oncoming traffic. -
Infancy: Sleep
I never slept as a child unless driven around for a period in a car. -
Vocabulary Strategies: Phonics
My father bought over $3000 of Hooked on Phonics. I learned to read at a very young age and began reading several thousand-page books by the age of 5. -
Early Childhood: Language Development
When I was young I was hung up that McDonald's was called "AtDonald's." I also would call a Dilly Bar from Dairy Queen, a "Scooby-Doo Bar." My parents would go into the Dairy Queen ahead of me and explain that I was coming in and what I would be ordering so that they would go along with me.These word/phrases were how my developing brain interpreted and made it easier to say or relate to. -
Early Childhood: Emotion & Stress
Early on in my childhood, I managed my stress through anger and frustration. I was bullied frequently and often, but I learned to stand up for myself because I was the child always punished even though I was the child being bullied. I vented this anger into things like video games, reading, and my studies. -
Early Childhood: Sleep
I slept poorly throughout my early years, resorting to the car seat technique. -
Early Childhood: Physical Development & Motor Skills
I played sports like soccer, t-ball, and basketball. -
Early Childhood: Temperament
I was a fireball and always wanted to explore. I had a bad habit of running away from my parents, to which they instituted a leash (it was Elmo). -
Early Childhood: Attachment
I was shy and often hid behind my mom's legs. She was the one person I always trusted, that trust even going to today. -
Emotion-Dismissive Parents
My parents raised me to bottle my emotions and taught to only release what emotions were thought to be positive in their eyes. My dad is still stuck in this way, but my mom has begun to open up to me and talk out and about emotions. -
Death of Cousin (Lauren)
My cousin's death was a traumatic impact on all of my family, a girl only 16 died in a horrific texting-while-driving incident. Our family was shaken, but I did not understand why they grieved, why my closest cousin was not coming back from her beach vacation. I asked and asked and no one would tell me, only cry and stare at her body. This has made it hard for me to enter an open casket at a funeral home I do not like to remember a person on how they will be buried but how they lived. -
Late Childhood: Sleep
About this time I learned the power of a nap and how I had more energy if I actually slept. I became like a rock. -
Late Childhood: Language Development
I got kicked out of a Kindergarten because I argued that a color on a color wheel was silver, not grey because the page had a shimmer to it. -
Late Childhood: Attachment
My parents went on a business trip to China for 22 days. I was so mad at them for leaving me behind that I would refuse to talk whenever they called my grandmothers to speak with me. I would sulk and cry for days. When they came back I balled into my mother's arms. -
Late Childhood: Stress
As I grew, I began to become anxious with my surroundings and scared of getting injured. -
Late Childhood: Emotions
As I grew, I developed a strong attachment to friends. I began to become defensive of them and even protect them. They were the only brothers I had ever known. -
Late Childhood: Physical Development & Motor Skills
I was a serious athlete who competed in Soccer, Basketball, Baseball, Tennis, Football, & Bowling. -
Late Childhood: Temperament
I learned to be a listener and hear out other people's problems so that I could learn and understand what they had to say. I learned to debate. -
Start School
Started Kindergarten -
Death of Step-Grandfather (Mac)
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Adolescence: Stress
I became better aware of death and learned to unhealthily repress the stress involved and found outlets to vent it. -
Adolescence: Emotions
I became very mature, by helping others cope even though I was not always the best at following my own advice. -
Adolescence: Learning Development
I continued to excel at my work and began to mentor others in anatomy & physiology. -
Adolescence: Physical Development & Motor Skills
I continued to be an athlete and narrowed my scope to only Tennis and Marching Band. I won the state tournament as our #4 seated player in tennis. I also worked my way up the ranks in the band until I became the Frontline Percussion Section Leader and Center Marimba. -
Adolescence: Sleep
I can nap anywhere. Up until my brain injury, I had no issues falling asleep. I loved bringing friends over to spend the night. -
Moved
My family built a new house and we moved into it. It was not far from our previous home. -
My dog, Keisha, died.
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Saved by God
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Stress
In middle school, I learned to handle my stress by shutting off the world and reading. -
Started High School
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I Joined the Band
When I entered high school I was uncertain about a lot of things and especially how I was to fit in. My father had made the argument that I needed to be in a "real" man's sport. I could barely play my parts without constant practice, but I could lead. I played the Marimba my Sophmore- Senior years, to most this is just a deeper and richer xylophone, to me my "Mamba" (later named "Shakira") was my home and was how I kept my muscles in shape from hauling equipment. -
Dialect Terms
Big Mood - Oof - and phrases such as these were used by my friends and I used to differentiate general emotional cues to a more modern meme culture. -
Eagle Scout Award
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Grandfather Died
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Traumatic Brain Injury
I fell in my high school biology lab and my head bounced on the concrete floor. It caused me to have a traumatic brain injury. I spent several days in Trauma ICU and many weeks in rehabilitation. I still suffer some effects from the injury. After I woke up, I realized my senses were heightened, vision stronger, smell putrid, sound piercing. As time went on though, my senses have all but dulled leaving me mostly deaf in my right ear. -
Graduated High School
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Start College
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Study Abroad (Germany & Switzerland)
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Sleep Cycle
Even when I was an infant I had trouble sleeping, I would not cry, just not sleep. My parents would drive me around in a car for hours to put me asleep and they found this an effective method. Unfortunately, I now suffer from the inability from staying awake in cars. -
Early Adulthood
I identify with identity achievement because I have developed my own beliefs and values and I am comfortable with who I am. -
Early Adulthood
The Big Five Personality test indicated that I am open-minded, do things haphazardly, am extremely outgoing, social and energetic, that itis easy for me to express irritation with others and that I am generally an anxious person and tend to worry about things. I agree with this assessment. I have always been open-minded and extraverted and I have always done things haphazardly. The irritation I express with others and my negative emotionality I believe have occurred after my brain injury. -
Early Adulthood: Sleep
I have very poor sleep habits and struggle to get a full 8 hours. I love to sleep, but I also love to stay up and pursue studying and recreational activities. -
Early Adulthood: Stress
College and graduate school, responsibilities, car payments and my little bubble of self-awareness have popped and now I have a sudden rush of stressors to contribute to my anxiety. I have depression and anxiety regarding this stress. I manage it well, but there are times where it can be overwhelming. -
Early Adulthood: Attachment
I have a safety net of friends, have had my fair share of serious relationships, use my parents to cope with some of my bigger stressors (They were here yesterday 3/31/19 due to a potential breakup). I have been heartbroken and I have heartbroke others. I have made many mistakes and lost many friends I used to call brothers. My cousin Luke has continued to be a direct point of contact and one of my best friends here, Cosby, are two of my best friends. -
Early Adulthood: Language Development
I exist in the "meme" generation so many of our terminologies are actually abbreviated slang. for example, Big mood- means that this is thought to be a common way the sayer and the listener are able to empathize with one another. Oof- not a convenient situation or something that hurt to watch/listen to, has begun to lose its meaning as many people use it for other definitions. Ye- Yes or to be thrown Yeet/Yote- to throw one's self or another object at something or someone. -
Future Graduation 2020 (UAB)
