PABI Plan - The Sarah Jane Brain Project

Social Opportunities
The services and programs support a child’s social life and personal, social, and emotional
development are strongly linked to the aforementioned educational programs offered through
Birth to 3, Child Find, Special Education and supported school/vocational education programs.
There has been a significant emphasis within these programs on development of social skills,
psychological growth, and emotional competencies, including behavior regulation, hobby
development, and development of fitness and sports competencies. Therefore, it is not surprising
that when these school-based services end at age 21, the young adult with acquired brain injury
finds him or herself in a devastating situation with regard to social support and opportunities for
friendships and meaningful relationships outside of the home and family. For children with all
levels of disability related to their brain injuries, a variety of school-based and community-based
programs have provided excellent opportunities for social interaction and involvement in the
normal group experiences that promote social skills, friendships, and personal maturity. Private
outdoor education groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, 4-H, school-based clubs, after-school
activities, community recreation programs, community sports programs, integrated sports
leagues, and social skills groups both housed at school and in the community offer remedial,
therapeutic, and purely recreational opportunities for children with acquired brain injuries to
develop and enhance their social skills, meet and make friends, and develop hobbies and
recreational interests.
There are many parallel programs that have been developed for adults who have acquired brain
injuries, but there is often a lack of education and awareness about the existence of these
programs. This may occur because the social opportunities for children are based in the
education system, through the school and community based programs for children, whether they
have special needs or not. The programs available in the community for adults who have
sustained brain injury are largely those affiliated with a day treatment program, a residential
hospital program for adults, or a program associated with the local brain injury association,
which typically does not offer very much in the way of services for children and families.
Therefore, the individual who has had a pretty full day thanks to her Individualized Education
Program at school, providing formal, group, organized, and informal opportunities to be around
same aged peers, suddenly and very precipitously is left without anything to do and no obvious
support or in fracture for meeting same age peers, making friends, or developing those
friendships.
For individuals who have very serious and high level of needs following their pediatric acquired
brain injuries, the transition from living at home to living outside of home may be better
supported than for those who have more moderate level of needs following their brain injuries.
Individuals whose IQ is below 70 or whose functional adaptive skill level is at a similar level
(below the 2 nd percentile for their age group) may be candidates for independent living centers,
day programs, residential living programs, and programs available through the network of
community center boards. The large majority of individuals who have survived very serious
level of brain injury into their adulthood have a much more scattered skill set and typically do
not have IQs and functional adaptive levels below the 2 nd percentile. Therefore they are not
eligible for these programs and they face a significant dearth of any kind of social opportunities.
Their families typically report quite depressing and destabilizing period of time following high
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