To some extent, his lack of inhibition has an endearing quality. As his parents say, if you ask him a question, you'd better expect an honest answer.
Dr. Benjamin Yorkoff, his primary care physician at the Baltimore VA, said his patient has benefited greatly from the speech therapy, psychotherapy and other services he receives at Humanim, a private rehabilitation center in Columbia. The VA made the referral and pays for much of the care.
"Now you can take Jason out in public and he's more appropriate," said Yorkoff, who first saw Ehrhart in a nearly vegetative state at the Richmond VA. "There was a time when you could barely take him into a public arena because he didn't have the social skills."
Injured in October 2006, Perry receives occupational and psychotherapy at the veterans hospital in Perry Point. He wants to become a preacher but is not currently working, owing in part to his problems with short-term memory.
"My wife gives me things to do, and I'll remember some of the things but not all of them," he said.
She started making lists for him but he would often forget that he had them. More recently, he has found that entering tasks in a hand-held device is helpful - and not just as a reminder to do things. Somehow, he said, the act of recording things makes them easier to remember.
Perry has to cope with the fact that many people he meets don't realize he has suffered a brain injury, said Cernich. That's because his head looks unscathed.
"Some people you meet may never be able to see the injury," she said, referring to Perry. "But it's just as valid an injury as breaking your elbow or having an amputation."
jonathan.bor@baltsun.com
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