Purpose: Right hemisphere brain damage (RHD) commonly causes pragmatic language disorders that are apparent in discourse production. Specific characteristics and approaches to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of these disorders are not well-defined. RHDBank, a shared database of multimedia interactions for the study of communication using…

Treatment of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents within a school setting poses unique and specific challenges. Further, schools vary in resources available to students, and school psychologists differ in training regarding interventions for youth who self-injure. Currently there are no evidence-based approaches to the assessment and…

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a concern among professionals working with youth. The present study examined school counsellors' experiences, training and school preparedness, perceived knowledge, beliefs, and intervention approaches related to NSSI. Participants were 470 school counsellors (417 female, 53 male) from across North America (156…

Patients with traumatic brain injury show clear impairments in behavioural flexibility and inhibition that often persist beyond the time of injury, affecting independent living and psychosocial functioning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown that patients with traumatic brain injury typically show increased and more broadly…

Although delusional statements in people with intellectual disabilities and traumatic brain injury can be treated using behavioral interventions, none have demonstrated long-term treatment effects. In the current study, a functional analysis demonstrated that delusional statements were maintained by attention. Differential reinforcement of…

The underlying structure of the Postconcussion Syndrome Questionnaire (PCS) was evaluated in a large sample of 1,116 medical and psychiatric patients. Balancing internal consistency, confirmatory factor analysis, and parsimony results in endorsement of the four-factor solution for the PCS for this sample. (SLD)

A model for evaluating traumatically brain-injured adults' competency to consent to rehabilitative interventions is presented. Assessment foci are capacity to understand and reason. Judgments regarding competency should be based on best observed performance under optimal conditions in a rehabilitative context that promotes patient self…

The article summarizes a series of articles concerning acquired cerebral trauma. Reviewed are technological advances, treatment, assessment, potential innovative therapies, long-term outcome, family impact of chronic brain injury, and prevention. (DB)

Whether performance patterns on four variables from the California Verbal Learning Test could differentiate patients with moderate or severe brain injuries from those with mild injuries giving incomplete effort was studied with 46 patients, half of whom were in litigation. The test appeared to be useful as part of an evaluation of brain injury.…

This study used dependency analysis to document and describe the narrative discourse impairments of 10 children (mean age 12) and 10 adults (mean age 35) with traumatic brain injury (TBI), and matched controls. Individuals with TBI were significantly more disfluent than controls and their narrative performance required a significant listener…

This study of 54 individuals with head injuries compares a commonly used measure of physical disability, the Barthel Index, with three measures designed to assess intellectual functioning, communication, behavior, and mobility. The results indicate support for using scales other than the Barthel Index when describing disability following traumatic…

A study involving four adults with disabilities examined effects of presenting motion video stimuli as job choice response options in single and paired-choice formats. All participants expressed preferences using the motion video by differentially responding to the job videos. In the paired presentation, participants were more discriminating in…

Compensatory strategies were designed to enable a client with traumatic brain injury to obtain professional employment. In a series of speech-language therapy sessions, compensatory strategies targeting impairments in executive function were developed, refined, and trained in mock-interview situations. Significant improvements were noted in…

Describes a study involving 29 low-income parents with learning difficulties that validated a prescriptive home-danger and safety-precaution instrument containing 14 epidemiological categories to be used in the design and evaluation of family-tailored injury prevention and safety interventions. (Author/CR)

This book provides an overview of the causes and symptoms, and the typical courses, treatments, and outcomes of neurogenic communication disorders. Chapter 1 reviews the human nervous system and neurologic causes of adult communication disorders. Chapter 2 discusses the neurologic assessment and arriving at a diagnosis, including the neurologist's…