Changes in behavior can be frustrating, challenging and confusing for survivors, families and caregivers. These brain injury blogs explain the connection between an injury to the brain and changes in behavior and suggest coping strategies and accommodations.
There’s always hope… Encouragement after TBI By Bill Herrin My dad would often tell me not to get discouraged, and as a young man, I didn’t understand why…sometimes it made me frustrated. What he knew (that I didn’t at the time) was that he was preparing me for discouraging times in my life. […]
You Did That on Purpose! Misinterpretations and Anger after Brain Injury By Dawn Neumann, Ph.D., FACRM Imagine that you are waiting in line at the store and someone cuts in front of you. A) Do you think the person cut in front of you on purpose or was trying to be mean? B) […]
The huge task of bringing yourself down from the “mountain” of anxiety after TBI is a unchartered trek, since every brain injury is different. This blog post points to some ways to make the journey easier, with some considerable suggestions to help find your way.
An injury to the brain, especially the frontal lobes behind the forehead, can directly affect behavior. This is the area that controls what are called the “executive skills.” They affect how a person thinks and learns. Cognitive changes in memory, and/or, information processing and/or problem solving can be related factors. Even physical things like loud noises, bright lights, or crowded spaces, can affect behaviors. The bottom line: behavior changes for a reason – an injury to the brain.
Lash & Associates Publishing (www.lapublishing.com) proudly presents a new publication for survivors, caregivers, and professionals working with survivors: MY BRAIN AND I By Jennifer Callaghan Jennifer shares the triumphs and gains she’s experienced over a 16-year period after sustaining severe traumatic brain injury. In poignant detail, she writes of her struggles, the many obstacles, and […]
The brain, when it is functioning at optimum capacity, works in a unified way allowing us to take in information, process it, and act in a purposeful fashion. Purposeful behavior allows us to live safely in our environment, accomplish goals, and succeed to the best of our ability. Although the brain works in a unified way, the control mechanisms are complex systems. One system is executive functions. When they are compromised, there is a failure to organize and prioritize actions and behaviors.
Inside the Brain: Changes in Behaviors and Emotions After Brain Injury by Donna O’Donnell Figurski Every brain injury is different. When injury occurs to any part of the brain, there is going to be a change. The part of the brain damaged determines the kind of symptoms experienced. Because the brain is a complex organ, some damage […]
Changes in behavior after a brain injury are common and particularly stressful for families and caregivers. “Why does he act that way? What can we do? She’s like a different person.” These are just a few comments repeatedly heard by clinicians when talking with families and caregivers. It’s not only the person with the brain injury who has changed. Family members now find they have to change their expectations and about the survivor’s behavior. They also learn to change how they respond to these new and often frustrating and challenging behaviors that they see at home and out in the community.
Changes in behavior after a brain injury can result in problems in the classroom for the student, along with frustration and confusion not only for the student but for teachers and parents as well. Dr. Katherine Kimes explains the importance of person-centered approaches for effective behavior management techniques. She provides examples of the antecedent-behavior-consequence approach, commonly known as the A-B-C Model of benavior management. Her behavioral checklist will help educators and therapists develop educational and behavioral plans for students with brain injuries.
Managing the behavior of students with traumatic brain injury can be challenging and frustrating for teachers, therapists and parents. Katherine Kimes explains four types of behavior management strategies that can be used in rehabilitation as well as at home and in school. By understanding how to identify changes in behaviors that are related to the brain injury or TBI and then measuring those behaviors, educators and therapists can develop and implement a plan to encourage positive adaptive behaviors and to decrease “problem” behaviors in children and adolescents.
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