Coping with the challenges that follow an acquired brain injury can be stressful, frustrating and confusing for families and survivors. Samantha Backhaus’ new workbook, Brain Injury Coping Skills, educates and supports families by giving them the information and skills needed to cope, problem solve and manage life at home. Published by Lash and Associates, the 16 week curriculum is designed for small groups but can also be used independently as a self-help program.

As a survivor of a traumatic brain injury, Mike Strand knows the challenge of surviving a severe brain injury and learning how to first accept the changes caused by his injury and then to move forward into a rewarding post-TBI life. Ten years after his injury, he began writing about his hard-won lessons, and these short essays are now collected in the second edition of his book, Meditations on Brain Injury.

New tip card on compassion fatigue by Janet Cromer describes the signs and symptoms of secondary traumatic stress among caregivers. It helps families and other caregivers recognize the early warning signs of stress and burnout and how to take steps to care for the caregiver. Essential information for family caregivers as well as agencies providing home care.

New story book for children helps them understand their fears and reactions when a parent is injured in war. With so many service members and veterans with traumatic brain injuries and other traumas sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan, this book is a great resource for children and their families. Based on the author’s and illustrator’s personal experience, this book offers insights, reassurance and hope for children when their worlds have been changed by a mother or father’s injury.

This concussion tip card by Phil Hossler provides checklists and practical strategies on educating everyone on the signs and symptoms of concussion in student-athletes with tips for support and accommodations. When any athlete sustains a sports concussion, sensitive, trained and compassionate neighbors are needed to monitor the athlete’s recovery. For student-athletes, this managing team or “neighborhood” includes coaches, athletic trainers, parents, physicians, teachers, school nurses and school psychologists along with concussion specialists.

Learning how to adjust and use strategies to compensate for changes in thinking and learning after a traumatic brain injury is a huge challenge for survivors. Authors Flora Hammond, Tami Guerrier and Marilyn Lash give tips on how to use compensatory strategies to help with memory, attention, concentration, mental fatigue, slowed responses, planning, organization, judgment, and safety awareness. Written for adults and veterans with brain injury, it is also useful for families and caregivers in rehabilitation and at home.

Authors, Marilyn Lash and Janelle Breese Biagioni, help veterans, parents and professionals recognize and understand the symptoms of a parent’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its effects on children in the family. It gives tips on how to support children and help them understand and cope with changes in family dynamics and parental relationships.

Marshele Waddell has lived with the challenges and stresses common to many wives of wounded warriors struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) as they return home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Leader of weekend retreats for Wives of Wounded Warriors through Hope for the Home Front with support from Operation Homefront, Waddell met with key stakeholders in the brain injury community at a special luncheon at Lash and Associates Publishing/Training.
For more than 25 years, Waddell has stood faithfully by her husband’s side while he was in the military and continues now as he battles a new war – this time against post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

New Tip Card on Sleep Disorders after Brain Injury for Adults and Veterans describes causes and symptoms of changes in sleep patterns after brain trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Authors Samantha Backhaus, Kathleen Bell, and Marilyn Lash provide tips and strategies to help adults, veterans, and service members manage and improve sleep patterns.

Youngsville, NC – After Brain Injury: Telling Your Story, A Journaling Workbook by Barbara Stahura and Susan B. Schuster, M.A., CCC-SLP is a unique resource and tool for survivors to express their thoughts, explore their emotions, and cope with the cognitive challenges of traumatic brain injury.