Laura Hagemann was born in Fargo, North Dakota when her parents were there for summer vacation. As the daughter of two teachers, she was raised in Fort Dodge, Iowa. She has an older sister and they spent their summers at family lake cabins in Minnesota. Laura has a Bachelor of Arts in English Writing from Wartburg College, a Master of Arts in English Literature from St. Thomas University, and also a Master of Library and Information Science from St. Catherine University.
After getting her BA, Laura moved to the Twin Cities and started to work in marketing communications and advertising, first as a proofreader and then as a project manager. Since experiencing a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in 2016, she has been on disability and has gotten involved in volunteering for organizations that have helped her since her injuries. Most notably, she volunteers as the Social Media Specialist for Hearing Loss Association of America - Twin Cities Chapter (HLAA-TC) and she serves on the HLAA-TC Board of Directors as Vice President (her term ends shortly). Laura also runs and organizes a monthly virtual book club for HLAA-TC. She also write a personal blog where she covers what it’s like living and writing with a Traumatic Brain Injury.
Laura shares, “I love learning new technology and using what I learn to help myself and others.” When Laura worked as a project manager she was constantly learning and teaching herself new skills in new technologies. That has continued especially as she navigates the world of disabilities that are often aided by technology. “I enjoy sharing the new things that I learn with the HLAA and HLAA-TC communities.”
Since her severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has resulted in severe aural distortions that alter all sound and prevent her brain from understanding layered sound (such as music), Laura has to rely on her other senses for usable information. “Therefore, every time I interact with sound I am uncertain of what is really happening - it makes editing and uploading videos for social media challenging… but not impossible.”
Laura shares the following advice: "Lead with kindness’ is a personal motto that I use to inspire me to both be kind to others I interact with and also to be kind to myself as I move forward living a new reality after my disabilities.”
Laura loves to write and is actively writing her memoir of her experience with Traumatic Brain Injury. “I have discovered an incredible online world of writing groups, communities and classes. As is probably evident since I run a book club, I love reading.” After her TBI, she has also gotten into drawing and watercolor. “I love to make funny homemade cards that feature my artwork”.
“There is so much that the general public doesn’t know about brain injury and how an injured brain can often lead to other disabilities like hearing loss. Truly every brain injury is different and the more Traumatic Brain Injury survivors who tell their stories the better.”
For more information about HLAA-TC, check out the (HLAA-TC) website for information about meetings and the book club.
To read more about Laura’s experiences with a TBI, check out her blog at Writing by Laura.
The #CanDoAnything campaign showcases people who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing at work, giving them an opportunity to share what they do at their jobs and explain how communication access works for them. This campaign shows what our community can do, which is anything!
