Objectives:
1. To understand learning and behavior challenges faced by children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and how these challenges impact school performance.
2. To learn about 2 effective approaches to training educators who work with children with TBI.
A TBI affects a student's ability to learn and perform in unpredictable and often confusing ways. It is estimated that each year 29,000 children are left with long-lasting, significant alterations in social, behavioral, physical, and cognitive functioning following TBI. Conservatively, if only one third of students with moderate to severe TBI needed special education services, the expected cumulative number of US students receiving special education would be 130,000. However, according to the most recent figures from the US Department of Education, the total number of students served in special education under the TBI category is 14,844. Children who have had TBIs typically recover physically and "look fine" to others. These children are nonetheless struggling significantly in other ways at school-particularly in the areas of responding to and using complex language, the speed and efficiency of their mental processing, new learning capacity, and executive functions such as organizational abilities, attention control, and decision making. Social development is often dramatically affected, and these children are at high risk for developing secondary psychological disorders following TBI. While special education training does address the academic, behavioral, and social needs of children with other types of disabling conditions, the unique and complex constellation of issues presented by each child with TBI challenges the skills and experience of many special educators. This article will discuss barriers to identifying and serving children with TBI. Effective intervention approaches will be highlighted. Finally, the Resource Team Model and BrainSTARS Program will be discussed as effective approaches to developing educators' competencies, serving these students, and improving both community integration and long-term outcomes for children who have TBI.
REFERENCES