TBI or LD?

Determining Eligibility

Examine information about the student’s physical, social and cognitive abilities when determining eligibility for special education under the category of traumatic brain injury. It is also helpful to examine the student’s performance before and after the injury in these and other areas. This examination helps the team determine the effects of the injury that might need to be addressed. If behaviors are a concern and the student needs specially designed instruction in an IEP, it is important that the team conducts a functional behavioral analysis and creates a behavior plan to assist the student with social skills and appropriate behaviors

Varying Abilities in Students with TBI

Students with TBI often demonstrate wide variability in skills and abilities over time. In contrast, students with learning disabilities tend to have life-long patterns of learning that are fairly stable. Students with TBI tend to need a wider variety of supports as their abilities change. These changes occur for two primary reasons.  First, as the student is healing after the injury, there may be dramatic increases in some abilities. However, the student’s abilities may appear to decline in comparison with other students because she is unable to organize increasingly complex materials or solve abstract problems in the same way her peers can.

TBI is Not a Learning Disability

A student with TBI has a history of performance at a higher level.  A student with a Learning Disability has had challenges since birth.

• When evaluating for a TBI, compare differences in pre-injury performance to the student’s performance after the injury.
• When evaluating for a Learning Disability, compare ability and performance expectations.