A forty-year old construction worker had a moderate brain injury. He was hospitalized for less than a month. Even with medication, he suffered from "stabbing" headaches daily for three to five hours at a time. When they came on, he had to stop whatever he was doing and sit down until he felt better.

A fifty-year old newspaper editor had a concussion and lost consciousness for less than an hour. She was seen briefly in the emergency room and returned home. She was unable to sleep more than three hours at a time and could not remember what she read. She spoke slowly, often went off topic, and had word finding problems.

Each of these people had a serious injury and each had a challenging job. Yet, they were all able to hold a job.

Job counselors have had a hard time predicting work success from medical data and standardized test results. Support in the work environment seems to be the most important predictor of success.

There are at least three things you can do to affect the level of support you receive in the workplace.