Glamping is camping only glamorous – this is camping in comfort by bringing non-essential items that fit in your car. With a car full, you can drive up to a campsite and set up a tent without keeping track of daylight. Really, this is the chief concern next to a masterful culinary creation. Making food requires no consideration for bulk and all regards for flavor (Flavor isn’t much of a concern after hiking-in with what can be carried on your back.) With a cooler full of food, a Bluetooth speaker gently played music, which romanticized the moment.

As a survivor of brain injury who utilizes services associated with the Connecticut Department of Social Services ABI Waiver program, I was interested in finding out more about those who help develop and oversee my support services. Often there is a divide between providers and those they support and in this post I ask The Supported Living Group’s Executive Director, Jamie Arber, to open up about himself to help me better understand what motivates him to support me and others in the brain injury community.

It didn’t occur to me until days later that I had been in a ski accident and was totally paralyzed. A merciful doctor diagnosed me with locked-in syndrome. A blot clot formed in my neck, broke free, and entered my brain stem causing an ischemic stroke; I was lucky to be alive. He didn’t need to explain further – I was trapped in my body or ‘locked-in.’ What hope did I have to live a normal life? I’d ruminate on this until the words lost their meaning.