Cognition after Head Injury in Adults and Veterans

This tip card helps survivors, families and caregivers recognize cognitive challenges after brain injury. It gives tips on using compensatory strategies for memory, attention, concentration, mental fatigue, slowed responses, planning, organizing, judgment, and safety awareness.

The survivor’s awareness of changes in abilities and skills after a brain injury can affect everything from willingness to enter therapy to accepting help and support. The effects of lowered self awareness can range a belief that “nothing has changed” to stubborn resistance and serious safety risks. This tip card helps survivors, family members, and therapists understand the reasons for altered awareness and gives strategies to compensate.

This Tip card is included in the Cognitive Rehabilitation Tool Kit after Brain Injury.

Survivors of traumatic brain injury often have changes in memory. This tip card has information on various types of memory, corrects myths about memory after head trauma, and gives strategies to compensate for changes in memory after TBI.

By using memory strategies every day, adult survivors of acquired and traumatic brain injury can improve memory, decrease frustrations, and be more productive at home, school, work and the community. This tip card gives practical strategies for improving memory registration and memory recall.

An acquired brain injury can affect a person’s speech and language. Communication impairments can range from difficulty speaking, understanding language, reading and writing. Changes can be obvious or subtle. They can affect not only communication, but personal relationships, employment, and community participation. This tip card describes common communication impairments and disorders after brain trauma.

This Tip card is included in the Cognitive Rehabilitation Tool Kit after Brain Injury.

After brain injury, sensory hypersensitivities are a real concern and can contribute to fatigue and overload. This tip card helps survivors, families, and caregivers identify signs and symptoms of sensory hypersensitivities and offers coping strategies to overcome sensory overload, pain and fatigue.