Recognizing Neurotoxicity - Raymond Singer, PhD

This may be relevant to some buddies. He is a neuropsychologist and applied neurotoxicologist who does not agree with some other neuropsychologists who will only diagnose someone with impairment if they are well below average, recognizing that baseline functionality may have been well above average previously.

http://neurotox.com/project/recognizing-neurotoxicity/

Recognizing Neurotoxicity

The symptoms of brain injury from exposure to hazards like lead paint and toxic chemicals vary widely. But there are ways you and your experts can pinpoint the damage and its cause.

Raymond Singer and Dana Darby Johnson

Neurotoxicity—poisoning of the brain and nervous system—is a well-documented effect of exposure to many widely used chemicals, yet doctors (and lawyers) often fail to recognize it. Chemically injured clients often report a confusing array of symptoms, with no medical diagnosis. The symptoms may seem vague and unconnected, leading you to wonder, “Could these symptoms really be caused by a chemical exposure?” Once you recognize the signs and understand them in context—as a constellation of symptoms resulting from a toxic injury—you will have greater confidence in bringing your client’s case to justice.

A person who has suffered a serious chemical injury is likely to have sustained considerable damage to his or her brain and nervous system. This is important for a lawyer to know, because doctors often recognize only the person’s physical illness, not realizing that serious brain and nervous system damage may have also occurred.

Neurotoxicity can be documented, but perhaps not in the way you might think. A person’s ability to think, perceive, control emotions, plan, and manage his or her life can diminish drastically without anything being visible to a radiologist or neurologist on an MRI or a CT scan.1

The most reliable and widely accepted way to assess actual brain function is through neuropsychological evaluation. (This is true for head-injury patients and those suffering from dementia, as well as those affected by exposure to toxic chemicals.)

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The article is quite informative and well worth reading.