• School Years - Home
• Intro to Special Ed
• Individual Education Plan
  • What's on an IEP
  • A good IEP
• Parent Involvement
  • Preparing for the meetig
  • IEP services
  • Tips to Remember
  • Turtle Mountain & Hollywood
• Student Involvement
  • Parents: Helping Students
  • Student Self-Advocates
  • During the Meeting
  • If things go WRONG
• Classroom Modifications
  • Special in Special Education
  • Your Turn
• Social Skills
  • Social Skills Matter
  • Learning Social Skills
  • Teaching Social Skills
  • What You Can Say
  • What Not To Say
  • Teaching What Not To Say
  • More on Social Skills
  • Teasing
• Behavior Problems
  • You: Preventing Behavior Problems
  • Behavior Questionnaire
  • Disorganization
  • Non-compliant Children
  • Parents & Behavior
• Promoting Health
  • Health Problems: Obesity
    • Preventing Obesity
    • Eating Less
  • Exercise
    • Getting Exercise
• Traumatic Brain Injury
  • TBI Characteristics
  • What Can Family Do?
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What can the Family Do?

• Learn about TBI. The more you know, the more you can help yourself and your child/adolescent.
• Work with the medical team and special education team to understand your child/adolescent’s injury and treatment plan. Don’t be shy about asking questions. Tell them what you know or think. Make suggestions.
• Keep track of your child/adolescent’s treatment. A 3-ring binder or a box can help you store this history. As your child recovers, you may meet with many doctors, nurses, and others. Write down what they say. Put any paperwork they give you in the notebook or throw it in the box. You can’t remember all this! Also, if you need to share any of this paperwork with someone else, make a copy. Don’t give away your original!
• Talk to other parents who also have a child/adolescent with a TBI. There are parent groups all over the U.S. Parents can share practical advice and emotional support. Call NICHCY (1-800-695-0285) or find resources in your state, online at (www.nichcy.org/states.htm) to locate parent groups near you.
• If your child was in school before the injury, plan for his or her return to school. Get in touch with the school. Ask the principal about special education services. Have the medical team share information with the school.When your child/adolescent returns to school, ask the school to test your child as soon as possible to identify his or her special education needs. Meet with the school and help develop a plan for your child/adolescent called an Individualized Education Program (IEP).  It’s important to remember that the IEP is a flexible plan. It can be changed as the parents, the school, and the student learn more about what the student needs at school.
• Keep in touch with your child/adolescent’s teacher. Tell the teacher about how your child/adolescent is doing at home. Ask how your child/adolescent is doing in school.
• It’s also important to know that, as the child grows and develops, parents and teachers may notice new problems. This is because, as students grow, they are expected to use their brain in new and different ways. The damage to the brain from the earlier injury can make it hard for the student to learn new skills that come with getting older. Sometimes parents and educators may not even realize that the student’s difficulty comes from the earlier injury.

Congratulations! This is the end of our workshop on disability in the school years. However, you don't need to stop here. We have several other workshops in our Disability Access and Caring for Our People training series.

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