Traumatic Brain Injury

Definition
Our nation's special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines traumatic brain injury as "an an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psycho-social behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Teaching Implications
Many children with TBI will exhibit characteristics of learning and or behavioral disabilities. Some areas of difficulty may include all or some of the following items:
Difficulty with logic, thinking and reasoning
Slower to respond, react and complete actvities and tasks
Difficulty focusing attention
Physical limitations
Inappropriate social behaviors
Difficulty remembering
Frequently puzzled or challenged by grade level work
Difficulty learning
It is believe that TBI has a profound effect on new learning even though previous learning may remain in tact
Never underestimate the potential for growth and development
Some TBI children will have speech and language deficits

Assitive Technology
Assistive technology is a device or service that can help you to function better in your daily life.
Assistive technology and Augmentative and Alternative Communication are utilized at some point in the recovery process of many survivors of traumatic brain injury. Several professionals participate in the rehabilitation process. The Speech-Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, and Physical Therapist are discussed on this web page because of their intense involvement in implementing assistive technology during the process of rehabilitation.
Rehabilitation professionals need to be aware of the roles and responsibilities of team members so they can collaborate effectively to assist a TBI survivor in living independently. The composition of professionals on the rehabilitation team is dictated on an individual basis and depends on a person's needs.

Speech-Language Pathologist
-Coordinates team
-Assesses understanding of language, use of language, and interaction patterns of different communication partners
-Assesses muscle control for speech, pronunciation of speech sounds and prognosis for improvement
-Assesses reading comprehension
-Assesses auditory comprehension
-Evaluates ability to sequence
-Evaluates use of nonverbal communication
-Determines appropriate vocabulary for use with AAC systems
-Recommends types of specialized communication aids and techniques

Occupational Therapist
-Evaluates muscle control of different body parts with and without special equipment
-Evaluates hand functioning
-Evaluates fine motor abilities
-Assesses visual acuity, visual scanning, visual perception, and visual fields
-Assesses seating aActivities of daily living (ADL)
-Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL)

Physical Therapist
-Assesses seating and positioning aEvaluates muscle strength, range of movement, flexibility, balance, and coordination aAssesses mobility issues and system transportation.

Family and TBI Survivor
-Center of the team
-Finalizes team decisions to fit needs of the individual
-Reinforcement, maintenance, and training of technology
-Reinforces, maintains, and trains the survivor
-Joins treatment session to facilitate generalization
-Provides significant background information
-Establishes good relationship with staff
Adding non-traditional team members could help improve the groups problem solving skills (e.g., Educator, Special Educator, Recreation Therapist, Psychologist, Audiologist, Nursing Staff, Dietician) and offer valuable insights.

References
http://specialed.about.com/od/disabilities/a/tbi.htm
Traumatic Brain Injury can have a significant impact on classroom performance and may affect cognitive, social, physical and psychological functioning which can vary from being quite severe or to being quite mild depending on the amount of damage

http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/medicalinterventions/a/prgbraininjld.htm
Program Development for Brain Injuries in Schools - Collaboration and Cooperation are Key in Serving Brain Injured Students

http://drnpa.org/File/publications/assistive-technology-for-persons-with-traumatic-brain-injury.pdf
Assistive Technology for Persons with Traunmatic Brain Injury

http://tbi.unl.edu/savedTBI/AT/team.html
Information and resources on Assistive Technology and TBI survivors for professionals and families

Heward. William L. Exceptional Children; An Introduction to Specail Education, 9th edition
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey Columbus, Ohio