CDS introduces new course on brain injury into its curriculum

The College of Direct Support (CDS), an internet-based college for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and managed in partnership by Elsevier/MC Strategies and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center, has introduced its fourth Disability Intensive Course (DIC) into the CDS Curriculum - "Brain Injury."

This newest DIC course in the CDS curriculum joins the courses on "Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders," "Cerebral Palsy," and "Depression."

Jennifer Hall-Lande and Michelle Trotter, Research Assistants at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota, co-authored this course. The ICI team creates and authors all CDS courses. A DIC is a specialized course within the CDS that focuses on one disability or condition. Unlike other CDS courses, they have only one lesson. Each course defines and describes the nature of a specific condition. It has information about the causes, characteristics, and symptoms and shares some stories of people who have this condition.

This course will give Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and others an overview of brain injury and covers the challenges someone with a brain injury may face. It will help them understand the short and long-term effects of brain injury and cover some of the most common causes of brain injury.

Brain injury is a greater problem than most people think. Someone in the United States sustains a brain injury every 21 seconds, according to the Brain Injury Association of America. These injuries can result in short-term issues. But they can also result in lifelong challenges. Chances are a learner will be taking this course because they support someone who has a brain injury. They may be a DSP, a family member or a friend of someone with a brain injury.

The leading causes of Brain Injury are: Falls - 28%; Motor Vehicle Accidents - 20%; Collisions or being hit by an object - 19%; Unknown or other - 16%; Assault - 11%; Bicycle accidents- 3%; Other transport - 2%; and Suicide - 1%.