Back to School With TBI

To show that veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) can successfully return to school, the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) created Back to School: Guide to Academic Success After Traumatic Brain Injury, available at http://www.dvbic.org/material/back-school-guide. The guide offers information on a variety of pertinent subjects from symptom management to choosing a school and adjusting to civilian campus culture.

The detailed Frequently Asked Questions section offers tips on topics such as how to talk about TBI with professors, where to get help on campus, as well as financial aid and tuition assistance.

Sections of the guide address ways the service member-student can work through deficits; for example, learning new ways of doing things, such as using assistive technology or participating in online classes, which could be beneficial for someone who needs multiple breaks. Students with TBI may be able to arrange to get extra time to finish assignments, take tests in different formats, or use tape recorders instead of taking notes by hand.

In the Maximize Your Learning section, students can tailor individual solutions to learning problems, such as attention issues and thought processing. For the student who has trouble remembering recent conversations, directions, and due dates, “Tips for Success” include having a large calendar in view, recording and playing back lectures, and recapping conversations.

The Make the Transition section reminds the service member of strengths gained in the military that can translate to the school environment: leadership, discipline, teamwork, communication, determination, punctuality. These skills may help the student identify goals quickly, work well on team projects, and meet deadlines.

The guide offers students examples of cognitive technology they can take advantage of, such as a screen reader, which identifies and interprets written material on a computer screen and reads the material out loud.

According to the DVBIC, health care providers can also use the guide as a teaching tool to help patients.