Project B.R.A.I.N.

At A Glance

What is Project B.R.A.I.N.?

The Tennessee Disability Coalition and the TBI Program established a partnership in July of 2000 with a shared goal of improving educational outcomes for students in Tennessee with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). TBI, as defined by the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), is an acquired brain injury caused by an external physical force, resulting in a functional disability that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. With funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau and Tennessee’s TBI program, Project BRAIN was developed to address the issues around identifying and supporting these students in school.

Project BRAIN objectives include:

• Increasing awareness of children and youth with brain injury who are served by the school system.
  
  
• Providing training and technical assistance to schools, families, and health care providers in the early identification of children with TBI.
  
  
• Supporting “BRAIN Resource Teams” within selected school systems that will consult locally on issues of developing supports for Tennessee students with brain injuries.
  
  
• Partnering with Tennessee hospitals to promote effective communication between healthcare providers and educators to facilitate successful transitions.
  

Project BRAIN Resource Teams:
Local, Lasting Supports for Tennessee Students with TBI

Based on a successful “TBI Resource Team” model implemented in other states, Project BRAIN has established Resource Teams in selected school systems across the state. BRAIN Resource Teams are comprised of professionals from varying disciplines who have received extensive training on educating students with TBI. Team Members act as consultants for the school systems in which they work, and may also provide basic training and resources to colleagues and families as needed. Listed below are participating school systems.

Brain Injury 101: An Overview of TBI

Despite the high incidence of traumatic brain injury among children and youth, it is still considered a “low incidence disability” within educational settings. In turn, there is often a lack of training and information made available to education professionals to prepare them for supporting students with TBI in educational settings. Project BRAIN provides free “Brain Injury 101” training to school systems, families, health care professionals and related service providers around the state. The primary objective of “Brain Injury 101” is to help people who support students with TBI understand the nature of brain injury and the unique needs of this group of children and young adults. Designed by experts in pediatric brain injury, this training session includes basic information about the following: brain injury; the potential impact of brain injury on physical, psychosocial, and cognitive skills; considerations for planning of educational services, including information about local and national resources. The incidence and characteristics of TBI are given faces and names with the project video, “Take Two: After Traumatic Brain Injury”, a collection of interviews with Tennessee students who have sustained brain injuries, their families, and the professionals who work with them. Case studies further personalize the material by allowing participants to apply useful strategies to actual physical, cognitive, and social profiles of students with TBI. Participants are also given a copy of the PowerPoint® slides, educational handouts and articles, which continue to be a useful resource long after they attend “Brain Injury 101.” To schedule a training for your school system or group, contact a regional Resource Specialist.

Think About It: How Prevalent is TBI?

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are 5.3 million Americans who live with disabilities from traumatic brain injuries. TBI is also noted as the primary cause of disability and death for children in the United States.

How do these numbers translate in Tennessee? In 1994, Tennessee legislation was enacted requiring hospitals to report the number of individuals admitted for treatment of a brain injury to a TBI Registry. Mandatory statewide collection of this data began in 1996, and has since demonstrated the growing number of Tennesseans who sustain TBI’s each year. Including all ages, an average of 5,500 people in Tennessee has been recorded in the registry each year. Among students (ages 3-21), the number of injuries has increased since the registry’s inception. It is important to note, however, that these numbers do not include Tennesseans who never receive emergency treatment for an injury, or those who do go to the hospital but are released within 23 hours. Given these uncounted injuries, and those not reported prior to 1996, the scope of this public health problem is larger than the staggeringly high registry numbers already suggest. Many benefits have resulted from the services of the TBI Registry. The data collected has helped the TBI program to demonstrate the need for a variety of programs, including brain injury prevention and education programs, service coordination for survivors and their caregivers, Project BRAIN, and a recreational camp for TBI survivors.

For more information on the TBI registry, the state TBI Program, or other TBI services in Tennessee, call Toll Free 1-800-882-0611.

For more information:

Project Coordinator & Middle TN Resource Specialist
Paula Denslow: 615/383-9442
TTY/TDD 615/292-7790
paula_d@tndisability.org

East TN Resource Specialist
Jennifer Jones: 865/689-1797
jennifer_j@tndisability.org