April 2009 Conference Wrap
BIATX's 25th Annual Statewide Conference was a great success! With over 150 attendees and a terrific line-up of speakers, we are considering it one of our best conferences ever! We would like to thank our co-sponsor, Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, and of course, all of our sponsors and exhibitors. Please take the time to visit their websites to learn more about their services and what they offer the TBI community.
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month
(click here for resources and information from the Brain Injury Association of America)
Take action to support continued funding for the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services program. Let your voice be heard in the Texas Legislature. Click here to take action!
BIATX Board Member Jason Ferguson and Wife, Susannah, Tell Their Story on Coping with TBI and Raising a Family to BrainLine.org
From BrainLine.org, a service of WETA, Washington, D.C. Used with permission.
BrainLine is funded by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, the primary operational TBI component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, through a subcontract award with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.
This work is supported by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command under Contract No. W81XWH-07-C-0089. The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this work are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy or decision unless so designated by other documentation.
Request For Information (RFI)
Texas Health and Human Services Commission announces the Request for Information for RFI# 529-09-0056, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) for the purpose of obtaining information for consideration by HHSC in the development of a study designed to assess the need in the state for long-term services and supports for persons with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), including Texas veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). No contract is awarded from information received under an RFI; however, the information received will be reviewed for the purposes described in the RFI. Comments will be accepted until February 12, 2009. Please check the HHSC website at: http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/about_hhsc/BusOpp/BO_opportunities.asp regularly for further information and updates.
Winter 2008 Newsletter
U.S. panel calls for brain injury screening for troops:
Head wounds have been linked to aggression, dementia
Friday, December 05, 2008
"A long-awaited government report is calling on the U.S. military to test all new recruits for cognitive skills and then do large-scale studies of returning combat veterans to better evaluate and respond to traumatic brain injury, the signature wound of the Iraq war.
For years, veterans' advocates and researchers have called for more careful investigation of head injuries — not just severe wounds but also "closed" head injuries, which do not produce visible damage and do not show up on CT scans.
Some doctors and veterans say the high blast impact of roadside bombs, which have accounted for most head injuries to troops in Iraq, may be creating symptoms that differ from the sort of concussions suffered in sports or car wrecks. Many veterans have complained of persistent, disabling symptoms like sleeplessness, dizziness and confusion that can resemble disorders like post-traumatic stress and can complicate disability assessments." Statesman.com
Walk For Thought Wrap
December 5, 2008
The Association would like to thank each and everyone of you for your support of and participation in our 2008 Walk For Thought. We raised upwards of $13,000.00! We couldn't have done it without you!!
The Association would like to thank the following sponsors for their contributions to the Walk For Thought:
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsor
Lone Star Milk Producers
Roger McDowell
Basic Sponsors
Bayou City Lumber
Allen & Allen Company
Isothermal Protective Coatings
Tejas Industries
Know Your Rights Under Texas Law Regarding Health Insurance Plan Coverage for Treatment of Brain Injury
Fall Newsletter 2008- Special Veterans Edition
A Message From the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services
April 28, 2008
"The Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) thanks the Brain Injury Association of Texas (BIATX) again for providing quality information and referral services to our consumers in the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services program (CRS). With the assistance of BIATX and our many providers around the State, the CRS program has already served 622 consumers and expects to serve more by August 31, 2008-the end of the fiscal year.
We expect to be able to reduce the waiting list in the CRS program with the $9.6 million that will be available to serve consumers starting September 1, 2008.
Historically, 5% to 8% of the consumers in the CRS program are veterans. While we require all consumers to use other available resources first, veterans have the same opportunity to receive CRS as other Texans.
CRS Eligibility Criteria
The consumer must have a traumatic brain injury and/or spinal cord injury that results in a substantial impediment to functioning independently in the home and in the community in terms of mobility, self-care and/or communication; and
- be at least 16 years old when services on the individualized written rehabilitation program (IWRP) are completed;
- be a citizen or immigrant alien of the United States;
- be a resident of Texas for at least six months, or have a family member living in the state for at least six months who is, or will become, the consumer's primary caregiver;
- be willing to accept treatment.
Consumers may want to discuss the eligibility criteria with their DARS counselors. Some other eligibility criteria may also need to be met.
The CRS counselor must reasonably expect that having received CRS program core services the consumer will be able to function more independently in the home and the community.
As we move forward, in order to provide the most timely services, we hope we can enlist your support in ensuring referrals early in the recovery process. If you know of people, veterans and others, who are recovering from traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, please refer them to the CRS program or DARS."
For more information about the CRS program please call 800-628-5115, or visit the DARS website at http://www.dars.state.tx.us/drs/index.shtml.
2008 Seminar Series Wrap-Up
Houston
"I am proud to say that the Houston Seminar was a huge success for the fact that we had a respectable turn out, a great line of speakers and people that wanted to be educated about Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI. We were able to reach to people from as far away as Weimar down to Victoria. We had the pleasure of of having the following talks: "How to be an Effective COnsumer of Neuropsychology Services", "Keeping Relationships alive after TBI", "Management of Spasticity and Post-Traumatic Movement Disorders", "The Story of HB 1919: Brain Injury, Insurance and Rehabilitation", "Brain Injury and Depression", "Neuroanatomy of Behavior After Brain Injury or 'You Don't Like My Behavior? You'll Have to Discuss That With My Brain Directly'", "Interventions to Improve Social Communication After TBI", and "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury". We would not have been able to make it happen without our sponsors, CORE Healthcare, ResCare Premier, MENTIS Neuro Rehabilitation, Memorial Hermann/TIRR, Pate Rehabilitation and Innovative Neurotronics. I heard nothing but positive feedback on everything."
-Jason Ferguson, Houston Regional Seminar Chair
Lubbock
Lubbock seminar wrap coming soon.
Tyler
The Tyler one day seminar was canceled this year.
Austin Man Competes in Brazosport Relay Triathlon
September 4, 2008
Ledlie Competing for a Cause
A former football and track athlete at Brazoswood High School, Jason Ledlie never imagined putting his body through the rigors of a triathlon. But something kept tugging at him to finish what his father, Robert Ledlie, couldn’t. (thefacts.com)
5/1/08 10:00