Teaching+Strategies+for+Students+with+Brain+Injuries


 * //Teaching Strategies for students with brain injuries//**

Although the effects are not always visible or seemingly minor, brain injury is complex. It can cause physical, cognitive and social changes that can affect the individual for either a short period of time or permanently. The effects of brain injury depend on the location and the extent if the injury. Some common effects are seizures, loss of coordination, difficulty with speech, limited concentration, memory loss and loss of organisational and reasoning skills.

Some considerations:
 * Recovery from a brain injury can be inconsistent. A student might take one step forward, two back, do nothing for a while, and then unexpectedly make a series of gains.
 * Students with acquired brain injuries may not be able to predict that they will have difficulty with a task post-injury until they have attempted it. Essentially, they have to “re-learn” how they learn.
 * Common accommodations for students with brain injuries are exam modifications, time extensions, taped lectures, instructions presented in more than one way, priority registration, study skills and strategies training, and alternative print formats (University of California).

Instruction Strategies: Students with brain injuries often benefit from instructional strategies simial to those listed for other disabilities.
 * Provide modifications in scheduling for those students with chronic fatigue.
 * Simplify verbal and written instruction.
 * Allow the student more time to complete work.
 * Ensure the student has a ‘buddy’ who can help with instructions, transitions and assignments.
 * Allow the students to record lessons.
 * Clearly define course requirements, dates of assessment and provide advance notice for changes.
 * Provide handouts and visual aids.
 * Use more than one way to demonstrate or explain information.
 * Break information into small steps when teaching many new tasks in one lesson (state objectives, review previous lesson, summarize periodically).
 * Allow time for clarification of directions and essential information.
 * Provide study guides or review sheets for exams.
 * Help student develop memory skills by encouraging student to categorize, rehearse, visualize and chunk information and make associations.
 * Provide alternative ways for the students to do tasks, such as dictations or oral presentations.
 * Write assignments on the board or pass them out in written form.
 * Have consistent routines. This helps the student know what to expect. If the routine is going to change, let the student know ahead of time.
 * For large projects or long papers, students with traumatic brain injuries benefit from assistance with breaking the task down into its component parts and setting deadlines for each part.
 * Check to make sure that the student has actually learned the new skill. Give the student lots of opportunities to practice the new skill.
 * Show the student how to use an assignment book and a daily schedule. This helps the student get organized.
 * Realize that the student may get tired quickly. Let the student rest as needed.
 * Reduce distractions.
 * Keep in touch with the student's parents. Share information about how the student is doing at home and at school.
 * Be flexible about expectations. Be patient. Maximize the student's chances for success.
 * When in doubt about how to assist the student, ask them.
 * Allow the student the same anonymity as other students (i.e. avoid pointing out the student or the alternative arrangements to the rest of the class).

These strategies enable the student to be successfully included in a mainstream classroom with the help of the teachers, peers, school and parents. Through the use of these strategies a student can develop their skills in many areas of their schooling.

References:

Council for Exceptional Children, //Traumatic Brain Injury//, retrieved from http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Traumatic_Brain_Injury&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=37&ContentID=5633

Lash, M. 2000, Teaching Strategies for Students with Brain Injuries, Brain Injury Association of America, vol 4, no. 2.

Special Needs Technology Assessment Resource Support Team, //Meeting the Needs of Students with Traumatic Brain Injury//, retrieved from []

University of California, //Instructional Strategies for Students with a Traumatic Brain Injury//, retrieved from []