Legal Challenges in Educating Traumatic Brain Injured Students

Abstract

Students with a disability that adversely affects educational performance have a right to certain special education services through their public schools. The vast majority of traumatic brain injured (TBI) students would presumably have not been in special education prior to the trauma causing their injury. Their entitlement to special services, their parents' role in securing those services, and the school district's perception of them as disabled will all be new and very sudden. In this writer's experience, the parents of a TBI student are much less likely to be able to advocate effectively for their youngster's special educational needs than the parents of a child born with disabilities who have learned over time how to work with the educational system. In fact, both parents and regular school personnel may be resistant to special educational services.