To The Editor:

My name is Craig Sears. I am a Connecticut native, a survivor of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and a plaintiff in the Conn. Traumatic Brain Injury Assoc v Hogan class-action lawsuit. I write not for pity, but because what happened to me could happen to anyone, and it’s still happening to thousands across our country.

At age 20, a motorcycle accident left me with a TBI. Instead of proper rehabilitation, I was locked in a psychiatric ward — punished for symptoms of my injury, not helped. I was misdiagnosed, isolated, and labeled as a problem to be warehoused, not a person to be helped. My story is not unique: across the US, people with brain injuries are routinely trapped in hospitals, group homes, or — more and more — prisons and jails.

Connecticut’s closure of places like Fairfield Hills Hospital was supposed to end institutional warehousing. In reality, it just changed the address. I went from hospital bed to prison cell, sometimes for years, stripped of dignity and rights. Nationwide, people with disabilities are three times more likely to be incarcerated than those without. Instead of care, we get confinement.

I joined the class-action lawsuit that led to Connecticut’s Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Waiver, a program that’s supposed to help people like me live in the community. While it was an important step, the waiver and similar programs remain deeply flawed. There is too little oversight, too much bureaucracy, and not enough respect for the voices of people with disabilities. The system still fails too many.

What’s worse, when I tried to speak up or fight back, I hit a wall of polite dismissal. Whether it’s a policymaker, a journalist, or a supposed advocate, I’ve heard it all: “Thank you for sharing. We’ll look into it. Keep fighting.” But nothing has changed. The buck gets passed; the system keeps rolling along, and survivors are left behind. We don’t need more platitudes — we need real accountability and reform.

Here’s what needs to change:

Every state must have strong, community-based services for people with brain injuries — backed by independent oversight.

Reporting abuse or neglect must be safe and effective.

Disability rights laws must be enforced with real consequences.

Survivors must be at the table, not on the sidelines.

Above all, we must end the cycle that turns medical crises into criminal records.

If we want justice, we must listen to survivors. We need a system that treats people with dignity, not as problems to be hidden away.

For every person still trapped in a hospital or a prison because of their disability, I refuse to stay silent. I hope you won’t either.

Craig Sears

Wilton