GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION

In treating a client with a TBI a therapist must have a clear understanding of the nature of the injury from a medical, social and psychological standpoint. This review will examine types of TBI, levels of neuropsychological interventions and the complex presenting factors of a clinical presentation. This intermediate level course is comprised of eight html articles. The first article shows that the first consideration in treating a TBI client is a comprehensive neurological evaluation. The second article provides a comprehensive evaluation which must include the assessment of cognitive and behavioral abilities/deficiencies. The third article explores the neurobehavioral deficits that can occur and the neurological deficits that result from TBI which can include behavioral/personality changes, mood disorders, post concussion syndrome, frontal lobe syndrome and posttraumatic seizures. The next article discusses how cognitive rehabilitation and behavioral strategies have proven effective in treating TBI if the program is custom tailored to the individual. The next four articles give an overview of the medical complications that arise from TBI, including deep venous thrombosis, post traumatic seizures, hydrocephalus, heterotopic ossification and spasticity, discuss the need to consider cultural/linguistic factors, family involvement, community reintegration and school re-entry when working with a TBI client, provide an overview of TBI rehabilitation, which focuses on cognitive, communication and executive function retraining and finally discuss how recovery from TBI is often a long and complicated process that involves medical attention, counseling, family education and skills retraining.