Grandview Heights woman heads up brain injury education and advocacy group

IF yoU HAD talked to Suzanne Minnich 35 years ago, she would’ve told you she wanted to be a French teacher.

Today, Minnich is the executive director for the Brain Injury Association of Ohio. She’s been the director for 26 years and loves it.

“I found the mission (of BIAOH) to be very compelling, and I found it very exciting to work on the ground floor in an organization that focuses on awareness and education and quality of life for people with brain injuries and their families,” Minnich says. “(At the time) there was no (state government department) for people … with brain injuries.”

After graduating from Alexandria, Ohio’s Northridge High School in 1968, Minnich studied French and education at The Ohio State University. However, due to a shortage of teaching positions at the time of her graduation, she wound up in another field.

“I ended up working for (Franklin) County … with kids with disabilities from various causes,” Minnich says. “I had to research how to teach kids with developmental disabilities, so I signed up for courses at Ohio State for certification, and (then) I pursued a master’s degree in special education.”

She married her husband, John O’Connell, in 1979. They bought a home in Grandview Heights, where they still live, and Minnich became a stay-athome mom. When their daughter was still young, Minnich began looking for a part-time job. In 1986, she was hired by the founders of BIAOH.

BIAOH is a nonprofit statewide advocacy and education organization that tries to improve services and support for Ohioans with brain injuries and their families, and to promote prevention of brain injuries.

Traumatic Brain Injuries – which are caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury – disrupt the normal function of the brain. The lingering effects of a TBI range widely, from full recovery to chronic fatigue and slight memory problems, to more severe effects that render the patient unable to return to a former career or normal life.

Even though 75 percent of TBIs are mild, the overall number of injuries is high. Each year, at least 1.7 million people in the United States sustain a TBI. Of those, about 52,000 die and 275,000 are hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Minnich’s work covers a wide array of responsibilities – everything from grant applications to paying the electric bill to public speaking. She even recently attended a hearing for House Bill 143, which passed in December.

“We’re very excited about it,” Minnich says of the bill. “This (bill) makes sure that young athletes and coaches are educated … about identifying the signs and symptoms of a concussion … and requires that before that child can go back in, they … have to be evaluated to see if the concussion symptoms have resolved.

“If their brains are not allowed enough time to heal in between (multiple concussions), that results in long-term disabilities common to brain injuries,” Minnich says.

Minnich also attends a monthly TBI support group meeting at the Grandview Heights Public Library.

“The support group meeting is … a time for people to share and contribute to the conversation in a setting where they feel comfortable to be honest about the struggles they’re having,” Minnich says.

“It’s most meaningful for people to hear from other people with brain injuries … to be able to speak freely and let other people respond, perhaps with a practical tip or how you can use your cell phone to be a memory prompt,” Minnich says. “And to hear them honestly tell their story and how they work to surmount it to have a good quality of life with family, friends and in the community, it’s very inspiring.”

It wasn’t until recently that Minnich realized that she is related to someone with a TBI.

“My dad was a great guy, and he had what we thought were just personality quirks,” Minnich says. “When he was 14 … (my father) was injured – a cable let loose and hit him in the head – and I think he had five days of posttraumatic amnesia as a result. … That meant that he had a brain injury.”

Looking back, Minnich concludes that her father’s memory problems and occasional inflexibility to changes were related to his injury. But they did not get in the way of providing for his family.

“Nobody would’ve ever thought that (he had a TBI),” Minnich says. “(That’s) one of the difficulties – the disability (from TBI) can be completely invisible, (the person) looks and walks and talks fine. … (People with TBI) can still be brilliant and