Traumatic Brain Injury

Today educators are seeing an increased number of students with brain injury entering and reentering their school systems. The consequences of traumatic brain injury cover the range from mild to severe deficits depending on extent and location of the damage.

Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a student'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; judgement; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech.

The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

TBI resources are available at http://www.ritap.org/tbi/resources/resources.html