Serving Students With Acquired Brain Injury: Understanding Long-Term Need and Outcomes After the BrainSTEPS Program

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to inform school-based services for children with acquired brain injury (ABI) by describing and analyzing functional student-outcome data from a state-wide, school-based, school re-entry consultation program, BrainSTEPS (Strategies Teaching Educators, Parents, and Students), in Pennsylvania. Method: A nonexperimental, retrospective analysis was conducted with data collected during a pilot follow-up survey for BrainSTEPS. Caregivers reported on 337 students with ABI participating in BrainSTEPS. Results: Most students post-ABI who were participating in BrainSTEPS were enrolled in regular education and reported no ongoing symptoms, as well as no parent perception of need for additional BrainSTEPS consultation during the time period of the follow-up survey. Current receipt of therapy was significantly associated with injury type, χ 2 (1, n = 329) = 16.72, p < .001. A multiple logistic regression was significant ( p < .001) in predicting the need for additional BrainSTEPS consultation. More severe injuries, educational placement postinjury of regular education with a 504 plan (compared to regular education), and current receipt of therapy significantly increased the odds of need for consultation. Conclusions: Due to the wide range of experiences of students in this sample, hospital-to-school transition services, educational supports and services, and long-term follow-up must be individualized for children with ABI. Speech-language pathologists are critical members of the school-based academic team for students with ABI to decrease long-term unmet needs.