This week’s resource is the Website America’s Heroes at Work.

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) created this site in order to address the “employment challenges of returning service members living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).”

America’s Heroes gives employers tools that can help our military men and women affected by TBI and PTSD better succeed in the civilian workplace. To accomplish this they are collaborating with the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) and the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).

For more information, visit their site here.

This week’s resource is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) teen driver fact sheet.

The CDC says that motor vehicle accidents are the leading U.S. cause of teen deaths, accounting for more than one in three deaths. This site has some valuable information such as the size of this problem, who is at risk, risk factors and how to prevent these accidents.

They include a section specifically for traumatic brain injury (TBI), citing 1.4 million cases a year in the U.S. alone.

For more information and additional resources, visit the CDC fact sheet.

This week’s resource is the Northeast Center for Special Care’s Brain Injury Conference, Symposium and Event Listing page.

If you are interested in knowing what brain injury related workshops, conferences and meetings are available near you, or what topics are being explored right now, then this page will be a great resource. They have listings that cover the entire year and span the whole world.

You can also sign up for updates and reminders if you want to easily keep on top of things. To check out this resource, click here.

This week’s resource is the Traumatic Brain Injury Model System. We have been talking about ways to increase your brain’s ability to recall and process information after a TBI, and this site has some good data that can help with the process.

Run by the University of Alabama, this Website provides activities that are created to enhance cognitive function in people with brain injuries. According to their introduction page, “Each activity provides a group of tasks listed by their level of difficulty…you can select activities you feel might be appropriate and increase the level of difficulty by selecting appropriate task as progress warrants.”

They include 48 activities, a skill index that organizes the tasks according to which thinking skills are used and an appendices that has additional resources. You can choose to practice your Fine Motor Control, Attention/Concentration Skills, Memory-Oriented Skills, Reasoning/Problem Solving Skills, Visual Spatial Skills and Language Skills.

We found this site to be both helpful and easy to use. Let us know what you think!

This week’s resource is the National Direct Service Workforce Resource Center (DSW). The Website, created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to the growing need for caregivers, provides information on care professionals, care attendants, personal assistance providers, home health aides and others.

The DSW database provides a variety of resources to help you locate the right home care professional from ones who are state registered. This increases your chance of finding someone who is reliable and properly certified.

Visit their Website here.

This week’s highlighted resource is the Disability Claims - Information & Resources Website. They include a staggering amount of links to everything claims related.

If you need information on Social Security Disability, Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income benefits and their requirements, this site will provide you with the answers. There is a high cost associated with brain injuries, and it’s important to understand exactly what you can do to meet it.

There are a myriad of details that need to be considered along with various restrictions on which programs you can apply for - and knowing before you begin what can be a grueling process, will save a good deal of time!

The Disability Help Site is our recommended resource for this week. This Website includes a wide variety of useful information for those with a disability. Some of the topics are:

Federal and State disability benefits, with information on benefits and review procedures.

Financial Aid, with an emphasis on grants, job placement, disability tax and education financing.

Housing Issues, including modifications and funding for home assistance devices.

Impairment Sites, for dealing with pain and a variety of disabilities.

Prescriptions Meds, with information about free and discounted prescriptions options.

Your Rights, which includes resources such as the disability act.

This site also includes a forum for additional questions and answers along with opportunities to connect with others who are navigating issues that are related to a disability.

DisabilityInfo.gov

“DisabilityInfo.gov is a comprehensive online resource designed to provide people with disabilities with quick and easy access to the information they need. With just a few clicks, the site provides access to disability-related information and programs available across the government on numerous subjects, including benefits, civil rights, community life, education, employment, housing, health, technology and transportation.

DisabilityInfo.gov is managed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), in partnership with 21 other federal agencies.

DisabilityInfo.gov is the result of an Executive Memorandum issued by President George W. Bush on August 28, 2002 as part of his New Freedom Initiative which directed federal agencies to work together to build a one-stop interagency Web portal for people with disabilities, their families, employers, service providers and community members.”

This site provides some excellent resources for everything disability related, with an emphasis on government policies and procedures. It’s worth checking out.

National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

The National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) is devoted to providing both leadership and support to all research related to the rehabilitation of people with disabilities. Located in Washington, D.C., NIDRR is part of the U.S. Department of Education, and works in conjunction with the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

NIDRR’s goals are two-fold: to help people with disabilities better live in their communities, and to expand society’s ability to provide full accommodations and opportunities to people with disabilities. NIDRR does research in the areas of social integration, employment, independent living, and technology, and is a key player in the growth in scientific knowledge such as rehabilitation medicine, engineering, psychosocial rehabilitation, integration, and vocational outcomes.

NIDRR also recommends a list of rehabilitation centers depending upon whether they meet certain stringent criteria.

NIDRR can be accessed through the U.S. Department of Education’s website, at www.ed.gov.

www.ClinicalTrials.gov

ClinicalTrials.gov, a service by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is a registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials, both in the United States and throughout the world.

Extremely user-friendly, ClinicalTrials.gov makes it easy to search for traumatic brain and spinal cord injury clinical research trials using the specific medical condition or other criteria. Study topics are listed by condition, by drug intervention, by sponsor, and also by location.

The listings include information about the reason for the trial, who may participate, the location of the trials, and other pertinent details.

In addition, ClinicalTrials.gov includes additional resources on its site, such as educational materials for those seeking education on clinical trials, a section devoted to what’s new in clinical trials, as well a glossary of terms used in clinical trial research.