This can be a huge problem when you first start back to school with an ABI. There are things that can be done to help and there can be both good and bad things about being treated differently.

Good things about being treated differently:

• You might get ‘special attention’ or might get allowances made for you which means that you don’t have to do something that everyone else is doing.
• You can sometimes get away with things when before you would have been told off or got into trouble.

Bad things about being treated differently:

• Sometimes, you school friends might not want to play with you or people that you thought were good friends don’t seem very interested now.
• Maybe before you felt popular and now you find it hard finding people to play or talk with.
• Maybe you can’t play sports because people are worried about you hurting your head again.

There are lots of reasons why people might be treating you differently. This can be very upsetting for you and it is hard to not take it personally. Here are some reasons why people might treat you differently. They aren’t usually doing it to hurt you, they are doing it because they don’t understand or feel uncomfortable.

• Personality change: Sometimes, an ABI can cause changes in your personality that you aren’t really aware of. This can be ever so small but can make a big difference to how people react around you. This is tough because your friends don’t understand how your ABI has affected you. Sometimes they can find it hard to talk to you and they may stay away because they feel uncomfortable.
• Being limited with what you can do: There are very good reasons why you are limited to what you can do. People don't want you to hurt your head again and make things worse, this is known as second impact syndrome. The trouble is, perhaps your friends like playing rough sports and you can’t join in. This can limit your social contact and your friends might talk to you less and this can be difficult becuase you feel left out.
• You find it hard to understand your friends: You can find it hard to understand your friends or find what they say difficult to understand. Maybe you don’t understand their jokes. This can make it hard for them to talk to you too.
• Getting into fights: Sometimes, your brain injury can affect the way you see things around you and you may accidently bump into people which can get you into trouble or even fights.

All of these reasons can make you feel very sad. It can be hard when before you felt like you were really popular. You should talk to someone about these feelings, try talking to your friends, a teacher you like or the school counsellor, if your school has one.