Massachusetts C E C Online
by MaryAnn Byrnes, Ed.D.
byrnes@alumni.northwestern.edu
Traumatic Brain Injury. A typical student is injured in a car accident or on the playing field. He might lose consciousness or lapse into a coma. After a period of intense worry, everyone is vastly relieved when he recovers. Now the student is ready to return to school, but he's not the same person he was before the accident.
How do you respond, as a special educator? Do you know what to expect? Who to talk to? How to plan? Most of us don't. The Summer 2005 issue of the journal Preventing School Failure (Vol. 49, No. 4), highlights traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children and youth. The issue's eight articles provide an invaluable resource on traumatic brain injury. They cover everything from terminology to resources to performance expectations to transitions.
Since resources on TBI are few and far between, MCEC wanted to bring this useful collection to members' attention. The present review will highlight the articles in the Summer, 2005 issue of Preventing School Failure. Along with brief descriptions are Practitioner Notes which identify key elements for your consideration.
The 1990 reauthorization of IDEA established Traumatic Brain Injury as a sparate category. The definition follows:
“an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in a 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.”
Practitioners Note
While Massachusetts has not adopted this category, students with TBI would most likely fall into our category, Neurological Impairment.
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