A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain caused by the head being hit by something or shaken violently. (The exact definition of TBI, according to special education law, is given below.) This injury can change how the person acts, moves, and thinks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) helps us understand how often brain injuries occur and who may be affected.
Each year, about 2.8 million people in the United States experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Many of these injuries are serious enough to require medical care, with over 220,000 people hospitalized and around 64,000 lives lost each year. Today, an estimated 5.3 million Americans are living with long-term effects from a brain injury, which can affect learning, communication, behavior, physical abilities, and daily independence.
Brain injuries can happen in many everyday situations. In the U.S., the most common causes include:
-
Falls (about 48%), which are especially common among young children and older adults
-
Motor vehicle crashes (17%), including car, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents
-
Assaults (9%), including domestic violence and child abuse
-
Sports and recreational activities (8%), where concussions are more common in children and teens
For families of children with disabilities, these numbers are more than statistics; they represent real children, real challenges, and real resilience. Understanding how brain injuries happen can help families seek support, advocate for safety, and access the services their child may need to thrive.
A traumatic brain injury can also change how a student learns and acts in school. The term TBI is used for head injuries that can cause changes in one or more areas, such as:
- thinking and reasoning,
- understanding words,
- remembering things,
- paying attention,
- solving problems,
- thinking abstractly,
- talking,
- behaving,
- walking and other physical activities,
- seeing and/or hearing, and
- learning.
The term TBI is not used for a person who is born with a brain injury, and it is not used for brain injuries that happen during birth.
TBI can create difficulties at school that might not have been present before the injury. For instance, a student may experience fatigue and struggle with the ability to use a computer or concentrate for an extended period of time. The list above includes possible areas affected by TBI, but as with all disabilities, each person differs depending on the severity of the injury.
It’s important to remember that a student with a TBI may require an IEP or Section 504 plan in order to access an appropriate education. The request for evaluation should be made in writing, explaining how the TBI affects the child as part of the Child Find process.
According to the Utah State Board of Education special education rules, a traumatic brain injury means “an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a student’s educational performance. Traumatic brain injury applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition, language, memory, attention, reasoning, abstract thinking, judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech, that affects a student’s educational performance. Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.”
(Information adapted from the Center for Parent Information and Resources)
It’s very helpful to read more about traumatic brain injuries. The following are links to additional information:
The Center for Parent Information and Resources’ information page includes basic information about TBI, what parents and teachers can do, and a variety of other resources.
Brain Injury Association of Utah
The Brain Injury Alliance of Utah was established in 1984 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Alliance is the only non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to education and support for the issues of prevention and recovery of brain injury in the state of Utah. In addition to resources and activities, low-cost bike helmets are offered through this website.
Maintained by the CDC, this site includes excellent information about how to prevent concussions and TBI including information for coaches, parents and professionals.
Visit this site to learn what TBI is, treatments, prognosis, research that is being done, and organizations that you can contact.
Medline Plus has excellent information about TBI, how it’s diagnosed, clinical trials, how to adjust to living with a TBI, as well as videos.
Brainline is a site dedicated to information on TBI and PTSD. An excellent article on understanding being a TBI survivor is here.
How a TBI can affect communication, speech, language, and swallowing is discussed here, and the role of speech language therapists.
Founded in the late 1970s, Family Caregiver Alliance is the first community-based nonprofit organization in the country to address the needs of families and friends providing long-term care for loved ones at home. This link connects to their page on TBI and caregiving.
This site’s page on TBI includes information about how TBI can affect education and also specific teaching strategies.
The IDEA’s Special Education Categories: Traumatic Brain Injury
TBI is explained in this brief YouTube video.
School-related head injuries and management of sports-related concussion
Utah Department of Health and Human Services
Head Injury Procedures and School Nursing
School Concussion Observation Checklist
Athletes and Students with Head Injuries