Returning to School After a TBI
Contents:
- The Need for Support
- Plan for School Reentry
- Ideal Skill Set Students Need Before Returning to Class
The Need for Support
Families and school staff often expect a student to be fine and recover fully from a TBI. Although this attitude is hopeful, it can also make it harder to accept that the challenges and needs of a student following TBI are real and that these problems need prompt attention. This issue is compounded because students often look normal after a TBI, even when they have cognitive challenges, such as memory or executive functioning difficulties. It is helpful to recall that students will likely need support that can be altered quickly to meet the rapidly changing needs as they heal.
If a student has a moderate to severe brain injury, one of the first transitions is likely the move from the hospital to home. When the student first comes home, the focus is typically on meeting his or her physical needs, getting to appointments, adjusting to new routines, and trying to return to a normal life. Students with mild brain injuries may have little, if any, time in the hospital. For all students with traumatic brain injury, the school team is most successful in supplying interventions when communication flows between the medical community, the school, and the family. Families, students, and teachers may be confused — wondering whether the student will need support and what types of support will be most effective upon the student’s reentry to school.
Plan for School Reentry
- Build a team that works – the people on a student’s team are faced with the challenge of understanding TBI as a disability and working together. It is vital that team members have an understanding of TBI and the effects it can have on a student’s education.
- Get Information through in-service training, TBI consultants, and resource materials from the web, etc about TBI and students. Get specific information about the student and present levels of performance. The team needs to come to agreement on the types of services needed and the best way to accomplish desired objectives.
- Develop a shared philosophy to assist in coming to consensus about the student and interventions. This includes: a) close working relationship between family and school; b) problem solving approach that focuses on student’s strengths and needs; and c) acceptance of individual differences and response to student’s unique needs.
- Offer alternative options for learning considering the student’s behavioral and learning characteristics.
- Prepare the student for multiple transitions, hospital to school, class to class, grade to grade and school to adult world. Prepare the student and family, as well as the new environments prior to the arrival of the student.
- Adapt the curriculum to meet the student’s needs.
- Develop a comprehensive IEP if the student qualifies for Special Education. Plan for several follow-up meetings through out the school year.
Ideal Skill Set Students Need Before Returning to Class
- Attend to a task for 10–15 minutes
- Tolerate 20–30 minutes of general classroom stimulation
- Tolerate noise, movement, distractions from outside sources
- Function within a group of 2 or more students
- Follow simple directions
- Engage in meaningful communication
Adapted from:
Blosser, J. & Pearson, S. (1997 ) Transition coordination for students with brain injury: A challenge schools can meet. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation,12 (2), 21–31.
