Question:
I am about to enrol into my school a 13 year old boy - single leg amputee above the knee but more importantly Acquired Brain Injury (car accident: mother + one sibling fatal; 1 sibling severe brain trauma with high medical needs); He has limited attention span and epilepsy. He is enrolling at our school for 6 months for respite care from family; has been in alternative behavioural unit at previous school; has been with a teacher aide or teacher constantly. We have a Special Education Unit. He classification of educational need to access Special Ed. is based on his physical impairment and does not address his high need for behaviour support - that is a mainstream school issue. He is borderline cognitively - unsure of his adaptive behaviour as yet. We have a high level of inclusion at our school; few alternative programs especially those which specialise in high behaviour concerns. We have no experience in Acquired Brain Injury (some quick professional development coming up); Acquired Brain Injury is NOT a classification for Special Education within our system which attracts resourcing or support .Any suggestions re appropriate strategies to support this student. We have limited human resources (what's new?)

Answer: I'm not surprised he's got behavioral issues! They go with the territory of TBI and would not be a complete surprise as the result of only losing a limb or sibling... but your son had all three happen to him. I'm not familiar with what's available to Jr & Sr High School students, but adults have job coaches. Does your district offer something that resembles Vocational Rehabilitation services for students? Your son probably has physical therapy, does he also get occupational therapy? OTs know a lot about how the brain works. They can be your information provider and ally in securing the proper services for your son.

Unfortunately, traumatic brain injury is extremely serious and the repercussions are dramatic to say the least. Behavioral issues resulting from a traumatic brain injury are almost impossible to "fix", so I guess that's why your district doesn't offer services for them. However, I still fail to understand why behavioral concerns are not addressed by special education in your district.... unless it's like my district is - and just ignores the general fact that a huge number of students have social/emotional issues that impact their ability to learn and deny other students an optimal learning environment.