When Andrew first suffered a brain injury, he struggled to accept the situation. As a recovering alcoholic, he responded well to the 12-step recovery program. Staff at the Pittsfield home decided to develop their own 12-step program to help Andrew accept the fact that he has a brain injury. Andrew and the team are now on step three of their program and are seeing progress. Building Legos has played a large part of the process.
“I bought him a set last Christmas, partly as a joke, thinking he might like it, but he might dismiss it also,” said Colleen, the program’s manager. “I didn’t think it would be something we can use for him to grow and move forward.”
Today, a dozen Legos later, Andy can work one model over several days, non-stop. He has built the White House, Paris, London, and an elaborate tree, to name a few. Some of them several thousand pieces packed with detailed instructions.
“I think the Legos help him understand that his brain injury does not define him. He becomes a different person when it comes to Legos. He’s patient, he’s calm, he’s determined.”
“Somehow time passes fast when I work on these,” Andrew said in his room, surrounded by a dozen or so Lego models. “They have helped me focus, and have given me confidence about what I can accomplish.” They have also helped with his hand-eye coordination.
“I was never a model guy,” he said, trying to explain his new hobby. “Truth is, not sure how I got so into this. I just know I like to put them together.”
He moved some furnitur
e in his bedroom to make space for more projects. He looks forward to bringing his hobby to the new BCArc Brain Injury Club House, where he attends three days a week.
“I’ll share some of these with others there, and maybe other people will see what I see with the Legos,” he said.
“I think the Legos help him understand that his brain injury does not define him,” Colleen said. ‘He becomes a different person when it comes to Legos. He’s patient, he’s calm, he’s determined.” She pauses, laughs, and says, “Legos, that’s all it took to break through.”
A scene from Star Wars.
