PROVIDING INDIVIDUALIZED SERVICES - A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY CASE-STUDY

This applied study was designed to improve the time on task and accura cy for a woman, several years post traumatic brain injury (TBI), who p reviously did not reside in settings which provided individualized reh abilitation programs for persons with TBI. The program took place in a rural Adult Developmental Activity Program (ADAP) and employed a sing le subject design. The individual sat at a computer work station and p ressed a Liberator, speech device, connected to a personal computer. T he individual responded to questions concerning how she wanted to desi gn greeting cards. Because this was a rehabilitation applied study, in structors changed her environmental setting to enhance program success . Each external change is referred to as a phase. Instructors recorded her mean baseline time on task, subsequent mean times for each phase of the study and the percentage of accurate responses to the computer- based design questions. The individual's time on task increased, stead ily, from her 4.8-min mean baseline, to a mean of over 90 min (with br eaks). Her accuracy also improved from 0% to very high percentages, on ce scoring 100%. The applied study illustrates the rehabilitation gain s that may occur when programs are individually designed to accommodat e ongoing adjustments. The study also reinforces the resiliency of som e individuals many years post injury.