BrainSTEPS

(Strategies Teaching Educators, Parents, and Students)

A School Re-Entry Program for Children with Brain Injuries

Each year, approximately 4,000 of Pennsylvania’s children survive severe traumatic brain injuries significant enough to require hospitalization. Many are left with life-altering difficulties in physical, cognitive, or behavioral functioning.

BrainSTEPS is working to make sure that the individuals who provide educational support to children with brain injury have an understanding of brain injury, the resulting challenges, and the supports and interventions that will help these students achieve educational success through graduation.

BrainSTEPS Consulting Teams are comprised of professionals from varying disciplines who have received extensive training on educating children with brain injuries. When a child who attends a Pennsylvania public school has experienced educa­tional effects following a brain injury, a BrainSTEPS team from the child’s county of residence will act as consultants to coordinate services and provide basic training and resources to colleagues and families.

BrainSTEPS Teams will provide:

• Accurate identification and intervention by personnel already employed in the school system

• Coordinated training and consultation regarding identification, school re-entry planning, Individualized Educational Program (IEP) development, intervention selection and implementation, long-term monitoring of students, and other con­cerns professionals face in supporting students with traumatic brain injury

• Consistent and familiar contacts for hospitals and rehabilitation personnel working to successfully transition children back into schools

For more information about Philadelphia’s BrainSTEPS Brain Injury School Re-Entry Program, or to make a referral to the Philadelphia County BrainSTEPS team, contact brainsteps@philasd.org or call Tracey Williams, 215-400-6004.

For more information about Brain Injury and a link to other resources, go to the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania at:

www.biapa.org

or the Pennsylvania BrainSTEPS School Re-entry Program at: 

www.brainsteps.net