Brain STEPS Child & Adolescent Brain Injury School Re-Entry Program

1
Brain STEPS Child Adolescent Brain Injury
School Re-Entry Program

• Brenda Eagan Brown, M.S.Ed., CBIS
• Program Coordinator
• eaganbrown_at_biapa.org
• Phone [phone]

2
Brain STEPS

• Strategies
• Teaching
• Educators
• Parents
• Students

3
Brain STEPS

• Funded through a Title V Maternal Child Health
  Block Grant from the PA Department of Health
• Implemented by the Brain Injury Association of
  Pennsylvania
• Partnered with the PA Department of Education

4
Traumatic Brain Injury Statistics
5
Statistics in Pennsylvania
In one year (2004) the PA Department of Health
recorded 3,374 children ages 3-21, who were
hospitalized, meaning they had a moderate to
severe brain injury.
Children Discharged from Hospitals in PA with TBI
Diagnosis 3374
Number of students classified as TBI receiving
Special Education as of the 12/1/07 PDE Report
860
6
Why the Discrepancies?

• Not all parents want to have their child
  classified
• The effects of a brain injury can be latent
• Effects of TBI may mimic other disabilities
  leading to misdiagnosis and inappropriate
  placement
• Under-identification Misidentification within
  the educational system.

7
School Re-Entry Following Brain Injury
8
Traditional Course School Re-Entry for Brain
Injured Students
FAMILY
SCHOOL
MEDICAL
Re-Entry Evaluation Revision Disruption
Trauma Care Neurological Stabilization Rehabilit
ation Discharge
TBI Inservice Training Module, Janet Siantz
Tyler, PhD., Kansas Dept. of Education, TBI
Project
9
Ideal School Re-Entry for Brain Injured Students
FAMILY
SCHOOL
MEDICAL
Trauma Care
Verbal/written information about
educational needs and school services
Preservice Training
Neurological Stabilization
In-service Training
Hospital/ Rehabilitation Evaluation Therapy
Technical Assistance
Connect with community resources
Interim Rehabilitation/ Education Plan
School Entry
Re-Evaluate/Revise Plan
TBI Inservice Training Module, Janet Siantz
Tyler, PhD., Kansas Dept. of Education, TBI
Project
10
Brain STEPS
11
What is Brain STEPS?

• The Brain STEPS School Re-Entry Program
  establishes consulting teams available to
  families and schools throughout Pennsylvania.
• Teams are extensively trained in the educational
  needs of students returning to school following
  brain injury.
• Teams will work with local school staff to
  develop educational programs, academic
  interventions, strategy implementation, and
  monitoring of students.

12
The Brain STEPS Program

• Traumatic Brain Injuries
• Non-Traumatic Brain Injuries

13
Team Membership

• Varies according to regional needs
• Members based
• Schools
• Intermediate Units
• Medical Rehabilitation Centers
• Families

14
Who Can Be On a Team? Any Combination!
15
Team Composition

• Minimum of 5 members from each IU region
• (PT/OT/speech therapists, school
  psychologists, consultants school district
  personnel teacher, school nurse, etc.)
• At least 1 Parent of a child with a brain injury.
  
• 1-2 Medical Rehabilitation Professionals from
  the community

16
Teams will

• Plan adequately for any and all transitions
• Hospital to School
• School to School
• Grade to Grade
• Classroom to Classroom
• Establish effective means of communication
  between school and home
• Establish primary contacts for the family both at
  the school level and at the administrative level
• Develop peer supports for the student

17

• Team members can provide training and
  consultation regarding
• identification
• school re-entry planning
• IEP development
• intervention selection implementation
• long-term monitoring

18

• Brain STEPS team members will provide
• Brain STEPS 101 presentations, helping
  schools compensate for the lack of brain injury
  knowledge.
• Brain STEPS team members are available to provide
  individualized consultations presentations on a
  case by case basis to school personnel.

19
Brain STEPS Teams
20
Harrisburg Regional Training
21
(No Transcript)
22

• Ongoing training and support provided to the
  teams by the Brain STEPS Program Coordinator.

23

• Funding is available to support community expert
  consultations, when needed, to factiliate a
  successful school re-entry 

24

• A Model for School Re-Entry
• The Team Leader is Notified.
• The Leader sends out a team email
• Team Members decide which members
• will take part in the re-entry process
• Team members follow Re-Entry
• Guidelines

25
Team Members - Re-Entry Responsibilities

• Based on the identified needs of the student
  referred, the appropriate team members will be
  involved in the following activities
• Increasing Brain Injury knowledge of educators
  and related professionals
• IEP development
• Behavioral consultations
• Classroom strategies
• Family education
• Long term monitoring through graduation

26
Team Leaders

• Team Leaders have a Monthly Teleconference with
  Program Coordinator to discuss cases and
  referrals.
• Team Leaders collect logs from team members for
  consultations presentations given. Compiled
  for Program Coordinators data collection.
• Team Leader holds monthly regional Team Meetings

27
Program Coordinator

• Meets monthly with team leaders
• Brainstorms/consults with teams - ongoing
• Annual training of teams throughout the state
• Coordination of expert leaders in the field for
  update training/consultations for teams

28
Getting the Word Out Teams

• Are in the process of setting up partnerships
  with hospitals/rehab. centers in their region by
  presenting to therapist departments, grand
  rounds, emergency room discharge staff,
  pediatricians, etc.
• Advertise their Brain STEPS Team Services to
  local school districts through teacher in-service
  days, etc.

29
Advantages of Our Model

• Easily accessed resource for educators, parents
  and medical personnel
• Builds local capacity
• Professional development that spans disability
  groups
• Raises awareness of brain injury
• Brings family, school, medical partners together

30
For More Information on the Brain STEPS Program

• Contact
• Brenda Eagan Brown, M.S.Ed., CBIS
• Program Coordinator
• Brain STEPS
• Brain Injury School Re-Entry Program
• Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania
• Phone [phone]
• Email eaganbrown_at_biapa.org