Center on Interventions for Children and Youth with Traumatic Brain Injury: Building Capacity of Educators, Community-Based Therapists, and Families
Funded by:
US Department of Education—National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
Project Period:
October 1, 2009 – September 30, 2014
Project Contact:
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Cathy Thomas |
541-346-0593 |
Principal Investigator:
Shari Wade, Ph.D., Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Site Director:
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Ann Glang, Ph.D. |
541-346-0594 |
Research Team:
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Laura Beck |
541-346-0598 |
|
|
Hank Bersani, Ph.D. |
503-838-8687 |
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|
Debbie Ettel, Ph.D. |
541-346-0583 |
|
|
Cathy Thomas |
541-346-0593 |
Description:
The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Interventions for Children and Youth with Traumatic Brain Injury, housed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, supports and advances research of interventions to improve the long-term outcomes of children and youth post-TBI. Working in close collaboration with RRTC staff, the Center on Brain Injury Research and Training (CBIRT) develops training, dissemination, and technical assistance activities to ensure that evidence-based practices reach their intended audiences—families, educators, and service providers who support children with TBI throughout their lifespan.
Families: Increasingly, children with TBI are released from treatment with fewer services dedicated to families and lack of access to ongoing rehabilitative services. The Center will develop a variety of practical materials to assist families who support a child with TBI at home, including online information and resources (BrainlineKids.org) and interactive trainings on evidence-based practices.
Educators and community-based therapists: Traumatic brain injury and the resulting cognitive, behavioral, academic, and social implications are not included in the vast majority of pre-service training programs for educators in the United States. As a result, many educators and community-based therapists lack both an understanding of TBI and the knowledge of how to design and deliver appropriate services to meet the unique needs of children and youth following TBI.
The Center will develop course work and materials for university programs that train educators and related service personnel and pilot-test integration of these materials into the curriculum at a range of participating institutions. In addition, the Center will pilot and disseminate analogous materials for in-service educator and community-based therapist training. The revised products will be disseminated nationally to 1) professional educator and community-based therapist preparation programs at colleges and universities, 2) state departments of education, and 3) professional organizations of community-based therapists and psychologists.
For more information about the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Interventions for Children and Youth with Traumatic Brain Injury, please visit the Center website.
Products
- Educator knowledge and self-efficacy survey
- Brainline Kids website: www.brainlinekids.org
Project Update
February 28, 2012
The survey to determine educator knowledge, application, and self-efficacy related to TBI was advertised on LD Online, the leading website on learning disabilities and ADHD. A sample of over 400 educators completed the survey. The survey has also been administered to school psychologist and university faculty. The results of this research will be analyzed and submitted for publication.
Guidelines based on the LEARNet content (http://www.projectlearnet.org/), written by Mark Ylvisaker, PhD, and Tim Feeney, PhD, are being developed for use by classroom teachers. The resources are being written in a concise, user-friendly format that will provide guidance and support for teachers who want to use and implement best-practice strategies. The guides will be available on the TBI Focus website once they are complete.
Learning to Let Go, Again, written by Bonnie Todis, PhD, is the second feature story we have published on BrainlineKids. The first story, Mary Walia's Story: Humor and Moxie After a Brain Injury, is also available on the website.
October 19, 2011
Bonnie Todis was invited to present at the 2011 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Annual Conference, Progress in Rehabilitation Research. The Conference was held October 11-15, in Atlanta. Bonnie gave two presentations, STEP: Student Transition and re-Entry Program, and Transition into Adulthood for Students with TBI. The presentations can be downloaded below.
STEP: Student Transition and re-Entry Program
Transition into Adulthood for Students with TBI
June 18, 2011
Center partners presented at the Federal Interagency Conference on TBI in June 2011. The presentation was entitled: Empirically-Based Interventions to Improve Cognitive, Behavioral, and Academic Outcomes Following Pediatric TBI. Click on the link below to download the PPT presentation.
April 11, 2011
Colleagues at University of Dayton, Western Oregon University and University of Oregon have assisted us with a range of activities for the Center project. These include:
- Developing and pilot testing a knowledge and self-efficacy survey for use with preservice and inservice educators. This survey will be refined for use with ongoing curriculum development projects.
- Administering a survey of university education/special education faculty asking about inclusion of TBI content in their classes to 181 faculty members from across the country.
- Developing tutorials on TBI for use in university teacher preparation programs. The first tutorial will be pilot-tested in May, 2011.
- Continuing to collaborate with WETA on developing content for Brainline Kids.org
