A program for adult learners with brain injuries helps rebuild skills and confidence
A brain injury can happen in an instant, changing the trajectory of not just one person’s life, but of those around them as well. Recovery can be arduous and support hard to come by, but Mt. Diablo Adult Education School’s On Track program offers adults with acquired (ABI) or traumatic brain injuries (TBI) the opportunity to relearn how to manage life anew.
“A brain injury can happen to anyone and when it happens, it’s life-changing and you need support,” says Susie Passeggi, a retired program coordinator for Mt. Diablo Adult Education’s (MDAE) Adults with Disabilities Program (AWD) who helped start the program in 1996. “It’s not like a broken leg or a broken arm, people typically don’t fully recover. Their brain gets better, their skills improve, but it’s a long road.”
According to Karen Lingenfelter, MDAE’s current AWD program director, On Track is the only adult school program in the state serving people with brain injuries, with a focus on cognitive retraining, memory strategies, workforce reentry skills and more.
While insurance covers treatments for a time, coverage eventually runs out—typically after about a year—which is where On Track picks up.
“A brain injury can happen to anyone, and when it happens, it’s life-changing and you need support.”
Susie Passeggi, Retired Coordinator, Mt. Diablo Adult Education School’s Adults with Disabilities Program
The extended support is vital, Lingenfelter says, because even after months of treatment, patients still typically have short term memory impairment, possibly aphasia, a language disorder that results in difficulties with understanding, speaking, reading, or writing and other cognitive challenges. They also often don’t have the confidence or skills to go back to school or work.
“We can help these folks get their life back on track, do an inventory, see what they used to do and what they’d like to do with their future,” Lingenfelter says. “Then we start to break it down into steps and goals they can achieve.”
MDAE created its On Track in collaboration with the Head Injury Task Force of the East Bay and John Muir Medical Center in 1996 as a continuation program for adults with traumatic or acquired brain injury. Administration and educators worked with medical professionals to create a comprehensive curriculum and ensure the program met students’ cognitive, social and vocational needs.
“We are adult education, our mission is to provide education to help adults move forward in their lives,” Passeggi says. “We developed a curriculum, we pulled found materials and really focused on cognitive retraining and helping people learn things that would help them be as independent as possible.”
Passeggi adds that On Track helps students better understand their own injury and capabilities. The program also gives them regular opportunities to interact with peers, a group that has likely changed after their injury.
“We do a lot of education around brains and then just helping them feel good about themselves for who they are and where they are now,” Passeggi says. “When they come there, none of us knew them before—the teachers, the other students, anyone that’s working in the program— so they fully accept who they are now as an individual with a brain injury.”
For more information on Mt. Diablo Adult Education School’s Adult with Disabilities On Track Program visit https://mdae.mdusd.org/programs/awd
Written by Anne Stokes
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| Bay Area California | Life Skills |
