PROJECT BRAIN, A PROGRAM OF THE TENNESSEE DISABILITY COALITION
A Resource & Information Network for Educators, Families and Healthcare Professionals who
Support Tennessee Students who have sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury.
WHAT IS TBI?
The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act defines a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as an acquired brain injury caused by an external
physical force, resulting in a functional disability that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
WHAT IS PROJECT BRAIN?
Through a partnership between the Tennessee Disability Coalition and the Department of Health’s
statewide Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Program, Project BRAIN was created to improve educational
outcomes for students with a TBI. Federally funded by the Health Resources and Service
Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Project BRAIN is addressing how best to
support students with TBI through:
Partnering with TN hospitals to promote effective communication between healthcare professionals,
families and educators.
Reaching out to families & students to share helpful tools and resources.
Providing training and ongoing support to schools, families and healthcare providers in the early
identification of children with TBI.
Connecting all school faculty and staff to topical resources, information, and classroom supports.
Raising awareness about TBI.
WHY HAVE A BRAIN INJURY TRANSITION LIAISON?
Project BRAIN has strengthened relationships throughout our communities, especially among healthcare
professionals. The Tennessee Disability Coalition has partnered with prominent regional Children’s Hospitals across
the state of Tennessee, establishing effective communication links to provide these valuable, lasting resources.
Program staff are educating healthcare professionals about the students’ experiences beyond the hospital doors and
how their opportunities for “teachable moments” with the family could benefit their patients for a lifetime.
The Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt has led the efforts in TN. Within the hospital environment, a
Brain Injury Transition Liaison functions as an educational resource for the hospital, the family and the
school.
A signs & symptoms tool, “When Your Child’s Head Has Been Hurt” is incorporated into the hospital discharge
process. Whether the student is from TN or lives out of state, has been treated and released or admitted with a
diagnosis of a traumatic brain injury, the family will take this flyer home. Consent from the family will open the door for
Project BRAIN staff to follow up with the family and school.
The liaison is the communication link between the hospital, home and school.
TRAININGS
TRAININGS
Brain Injury 101: Supporting Students with TBI in the Classroom
A 2-hour training created for educators, families, healthcare professionals and others interested in TBI. See full
description on reverse.
Partners In Communication: Supporting Student Transitions, Hospital to Home to School
Designed specifically for healthcare professionals. They will learn how a student’s school and home life may change
following an injury. This training includes a PowerPoint presentation, self-guided train-the-trainer manual and a library of
resources.
Concussion Within Our Sports Community:
This workshop is specially geared for coaches, athletic trainers, athletes, parents and others to learn more about
concussion and sports-related head injuries. Basics about brain injury and the developing brain will also be covered.
All Project BRAIN trainings are provided at no charge.
RESOURCES
Project BRAIN Virtual School
This interactive tool for educators, families, and healthcare professionals guides the user through a virtual schoolhouse,
with each “room” providing information about supporting students with TBI in the educational environment.
Currents
An electronic newsletter highlighting program updates and resources.
Project BRAIN’s Website
Extensive TBI tools and resources for educators, families and healthcare professionals.
http://www.tndisability.org/brain
BRAIN INJURY 101:
AN OVERVIEW OF TBI
Despite the high incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among children and youth, it is sometimes thought to be a
“low incidence disability” within educational settings. This often causes a lack of training and information made
available to educators to prepare them for working with students with TBI.
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, “Brain Injury 101” 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
During this interactive session, the incidence and characteristics of TBI are given faces and names with the program
video, “Take Two: After Traumatic Brain Injury.” The video includes a collection of interviews with Tennessee
students who have sustained brain injuries, their families, and the professionals who work with them.
Participants are given educational materials which serve as a useful resource long after they attend
“Brain Injury 101.”
INCIDENCE OF BRAIN INJURY: NATIONAL DATA
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are 5.3 million Americans who live with disabilities from
traumatic brain injuries.
HOW DO THESE NUMBERS TRANSLATE IN TENNESSEE?
Statewide legislation mandates that hospitals report the number of
individuals admitted for treatment of a brain injury to a TBI Registry.
* Including all ages, an average of 8,000 people in Tennessee have been recorded in the registry each year
since 1996.
* 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 that these
injuries are under reported, and that those prior to 1996 were not counted, the scope of this public health
problem is larger than the staggeringly high registry numbers already suggest.
Many individuals have benefited as a result of the TBI Registry. "The data collected has helped the TBI Program
demonstrate the need for a variety of programs including service coordination for survivors and caregivers, a
recreational camp for survivors, brain injury prevention & education and Project BRAIN." Jean Doster, TBI Program.
TENNESSEE TBI PROGRAM, TBI REGISTRY AND SERVICES
CALL TOLL FREE 1.800.882.0611
TO SCHEDULE A TRAINING FOR YOUR SCHOOL OR ORGANIZATION
CALL TOLL FREE 1.888.643.7811
Based on a successful TBI Resource Team model implemented in other states, Project BRAIN established a
statewide network of Resource Teams in selected school systems. Resource Teams are comprised of
professionals from varying disciplines who have received extensive training on educating students with TBI. Team
Members serve as volunteer consultants for the school systems in which they work, and may also provide basic
training and resources to colleagues and families.
RESOURCES
*
*
*
*
Each year an average of 697,000 TBIs occur among children
60,000 children are hospitalized
631,000 children are seen in emergency departments
6,000 die
(CDC, 2010)
Paula Denslow, CBIS
Director / Trainer - Middle TN
Phone: 615.383.9442 ext. 8616
paula_d@tndisability.org
Wanda M. Baker, BASW
Resource Specialist / Trainer - West TN
Phone: 901.813.8595
wanda_b@tndisability.org
Jennifer J. Rayman, Ed.S., CRC, CBIS
Curriculum Coordinator / Trainer - East TN
Phone: 865.803.5995
jennifer_j@tndisability.org
Project BRAIN is supported in part by project H21MC06739 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration,
Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Additional support is from the Tennessee Department of Education, Division of College and Career Readiness, and the TN TBI
Program of the Department of Health. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the DHHS.
Project BRAIN is a program of the Tennessee Disability Coalition, implemented through a contract with the Tennessee Traumatic Brain Injury Program of the Department
of Health.