Barriers to meeting the needs of students with traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Many students with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are identified by the medical community each year and many more experience head injuries that are not examined by medical personnel. School psychologists and allied consultants have important liaison roles to identify and assist these students post-injury. In this study, 75 school psychologists (the profession in the United States analogous to educational psychologists in the UK) were surveyed about their experiences meeting the needs of students after brain injury and asked to characterise barriers to service delivery in the schools. Qualitative analysis of respondents’ descriptions of barriers suggested that school psychologists encounter substantial problems in: communication about the injury; lack of knowledge and training among school personnel; lack of resources available to assist students; perceived lack of importance of TBI by school personnel; procedural impediments; and problematic placement options for students with TBI. Results of this study highlight the potential for improving systemic approaches to meeting the needs of students with TBI.

Keywords:

• TBI
• brain injury
• systems
• service delivery
• psychology
• education
• school

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant from the Florida State University Council on Research and Creativity First Year Assistant Professor grant programme. The authors would like to specifically acknowledge and thank the participating school psychologists.