The Light Center, College of the Redwoods

Probably all of us have had an opportunity to interact with someone who has suffered a head injury. The semantics that are used to describe the different types of head injuries vary depending on the type of damage, the type of injury, and the degree of the resulting impairment. It's when the terminology gets a bit difficult that many people shy away from trying to understand, thinking that they need an advanced degree in neurology to "get it". Not so.

Do we have students on campus with head injuries? Is it our responsibility to try to understand the nature of the problems related to the condition, and do our best to minimize the effects? Yes.

There are two primary kinds of Traumatic Brain Injury (sometimes referred to as Acquired Brain Injury).

1. Open Head Injury

An open head injury is one in which the skull is compromised. This can be the result of a gunshot or any other penetrating wound.

2. Closed Head Injury

A closed head injury is more diffuse and results in damage in larger areas of the brain. This is a result of the brain colliding with the skull resulting in bruising, bleeding and/or swelling of the brain itself.

The degree of deficits that result from a TBI depends on the amount of brain tissue damaged, the length of any subsequent state of coma or unconsciousness, and the length of the posttraumatic amnesia that results. Posttraumatic amnesia refers to the time between the injury and the time when the person regains a continuous memory for ongoing events. The longer the coma or unconsciousness, and the longer the posttraumatic amnesia period, the poorer the prognosis for recovery from the injury.

While one student with a brain injury may not be similar to another, there are some common characteristics that instructors should not be surprised to see. These include:

• Decreased attention
• Speech difficulties (slurring, mispronunciations)
• Inability to recall recently learned material
• Poor organization of writing and verbalization (rambling thoughts)
• Inappropriate social interactions
• Inability to "find the word" that is being sought
• Flat affect (monotone, sounds disinterested)
• Emotionally labile (cries or laughs without cause)
• Lack of awareness of the degree of disability
• Visual perceptual problems including double vision, depth judgments.

Comments? mailto:trish-blair@redwoods.edu

November 1, 1999

There are some reasonably easy things that an instructor can do to assist the student who has suffered a head injury.

• Utilize small group instruction; this will enhance attention and interaction of the student with TBI.

• Accompany all verbal instructions with written ones, and vice versa.

• When giving directions in class, pause between each step to allowing for increased processing time.

• Provide the student with a "buddy" in the classroom.

• Try to set aside a small amount of time after class to talk with the student to ensure his/her understanding of the material.

• Avoid asking the student "on the spot" questions in the classroom.

• Provide the student with extra time to respond to verbal or written questions.

• An outline would help the student avoid distractions and focus more directly upon the material at hand.

• Build redundancy into the material presented, especially if new vocabulary is involved.

• Avoid complicated figurative language; use paraphrasing when possible.

"When you believe there is no love in the world,
just gaze into the eyes of the cat in your lap
or the dog on your hearth."
--Welsh Poem