Join us for the 35th Annual Brain Injury Conference
Wednesday, November 1st 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Doubletree Hotel, South Burlington
2 Keynote Speakers: Stacia Bissell and Katya Bowen
9 Breakout Sessions to choose from with tracks for Survivors, Families, and Professionals
Exhibitors from Vermont and Surrounding Regions
Silent Auction and Raffle Drawings
Breakfast and Lunch Included
Past trainings
Click the link to register for the past event.
When registering for past events & trainings, you will receive a link to the recorded training in your confirmation email!
Vermont Assistive Technology Program
The Vermont Assistive Technology Program (VATP) is Vermont’s federal AT Act Program. The AT Acts Programs help individuals of all ages find accessible solutions to overcome barriers at home, work, and in the community as related to disability and aging needs. The mission of VATP is to support full access and integration for Vermonters with disabilities and aging-related needs, in education, work, and their communities.
In this webinar, associates from VATP explain the program and how it can benefit and support Vermonter’s living with a brain injury.
Strategies for the Management of TBI-Related Sequelae in Behavioral Settings Presented by Dr. Kim Gorgens
Join the Brain Injury Alliance of Vermont as we welcome Dr. Kim Gorgens, Professor of Psychophysiology, Clinical Neuropsychology, and Psychology of Criminal Behavior at the University of Denver This presentation will provide some compelling management strategies for the most common consequences of brain injury. The strategies are informed by 20 years of work with thousands of clients and hundreds of providers and paraprofessionals. This is the perfect talk for anyone frustrated with a client or the system. By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to;
- List 3 strategies to manage common sequelae of brain injury
- Will be able to generate strategies using whichever data is available
- Will be able to list an effective prevention strategy
This presentation is geared toward professionals and providers.
Registration is required, there is a fee of $20.00 to access the recording
A Chat with Attorney Jim Caffry and Associate Attorney Kaitlyn Lewis Keating
Caffry Law is an estate planning law firm with a focus on providing comprehensive special needs planning and advocacy to Vermonters with disabilities and their families. Special needs planning services include consultation regarding disability-related benefits and services, trust drafting and administration, guardianships, and more. They are committed to helping people with disabilities, their families and caregivers make informed choices by guiding them through some of life’s most important decisions and the complex maze of benefits and services for individuals with special needs. Their goal is to simultaneously protect individuals’ access to benefits and services while maximizing their quality of life and independence.
12 ways to Enhance our Lives, Well-Beings and Relationships after a brain Injury with
Craig Phillips, MRC BA
In this webinar, Craig Phillips discusses his experience and process of discovering a set of ways that help him in his recovery journey. In 1967, at the age of 10 Craig was in a car accident where he sustained an open skull fracture and was in a coma for 3 weeks. Since then he has gone on to obtain his degree in rehabilitation counseling and founded the website secondchancetolive.org. In this webinar, Craig offers his own personal story on recovery as well as the steps he continues to take in his recovery process.
Mindful Movement
- Becky Roy-Widschwenter
This class will introduce and explore mindful breathing, slow movements, and passive stretching pauses. Participants will be guided to sense, feel, hear, notice and honor what comes to the surface. This is a beginner level class, no prior experience necessary, with full permission to care for yourself.
A Tai Chi Session
- Anne Bower
Tai Chi’s gentle, coordinated movements focus the mind and provide the body with beneficial stretches and relaxation. During this hour long session we will play with moves from various tai chi forms, discovering how they awaken us to our own posture, tension points, and relationship to the space around us.
Participants can remain seated or stand to do the tai chi movements, and each person will be encouraged to make adjustments to suit her/his own body.
Participants can remain seated or stand to do the tai chi movements, and each person will be encouraged to make adjustments to suit her/his own body.
Blissful Life Planning Workshop
- Betsy Drury
This workshop will empower participants with the tools to live a life with rhythm and ease while a vision for the future begins to unfurl and blossom. A Blissful Life Planning sheet will be provided. This tangible planner is versatile and adaptable, whether you want to make sure you brush your teeth every day or want to start your own business, all while prioritizing comfort. Feeling-better exercises will be woven throughout the workshop for optimal comfort and understanding of content.Participants can remain seated or stand to do the tai chi movements, and each person will be encouraged to make adjustments to suit her/his own body.
Collaborate! The Massachusetts Model:
- How the ADRC Network educates providers and supports those aging with a brain injury.
This session will include an introduction to brain injury and special considerations in the aging population. Learn about the benefits and power of utilizing partnerships between the Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) network and the brain injury community. Consider different outreach and education strategies to strengthen resource facilitation to better serve survivors, caregivers, and families within both systems – Aging and Brain Injury.
Improvements in Acute Traumatic Brain Injury Management
A brief history of traumatic brain injury management is discussed prior to demographics, risk factors, acute management and outcomes. Lastly, return to play recommendations and rationale are discussed.
Cognitive-Communication Consequences of Acquired Brain Injury
This course will define acquired brain injury (ABI), describe common types, and focus on common mild, moderate, and severe cognitive-communication consequences of each. Emphasis will be placed on evidence-supported strategies to facilitate individuals’ language, attention, memory, and executive functioning. Active attendee engagement will be encouraged throughout the course.
Language and Cognition Following Traumatic Brain Injury
Adults with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) often show deficits in higher-level cognitive abilities or executive functioning. Executive functioning refers to a set of tasks that allow individuals to plan, reason, problem solve, inhibit inappropriate responses, multitask, and hold multiple goals in memory. These abilities are also essential for language processing. This presentation covers common executive function and language processing deficits following an acquired TBI. Further, the impact of these deficits on day-to-day function will also be discussed.
Living Well after Moderate to Severe Brain Injury
- Lenny Hawley
For many individuals and families, challenges related to living life after brain injury may persist over the lifetime. Living well involves practicing habits to attain wellness in all aspects of one’s life: Physical, Emotional, Social, Spiritual and Cognitive. It also requires advocating for oneself in order to find the support, resources, and information needed to meet one’s goals. This presentation will discuss strategies, resources, and evidence-based interventions for living well after brain injury in all areas of wellness.
Best Practices for Returning to School Following Concussion
- Dr. Melissa McCart
Well-trained educators using consistent, yet flexible school support strategies can foster school success. In this webinar Best Practices for Student Success will be discussed. Evidence-based instructional strategies and resources for working with students with brain injury will be presented. Currently available resources will be shared.
Brain Injury: Rehabilitation and Employment Strategies
- Maria Crowley
Brain Injury (BI) can present numerous physical, emotional, and cognitive challenges that can interfere with vocational planning, training, job readiness and employment. People with BI often rely on public employment services through a state Vocational Rehabilitation system to help prepare for and find employment opportunities. To help them be successful, VR counselors need training in BI and effective approaches to the rehabilitation process. This session will provide an overview of BI and effective tools VR counselors and BI providers can implement when working with individuals with BI to maximize success. Discussion surrounding screening and challenges to identify, as well accommodations and strategies for helping individuals with TBI obtain and retain employment will be shared. There are several resources available, and guidance on accessing them will be provided to support both the individual seeking employment as well as the providers assisting them.
Power of Patients App: A Demo
- Lynne Becker
Have you ever wanted to SHOW your doctor your brain injury symptoms? Join us for a demonstration & registration for a FREE app to help you manage your brain injury care. Doctors like data and our symptom tracker does just that. Rather than emailing yourself or use a spreadsheet or carry huge files from doctor to doctor, you can create your own TBI tracking program with our system. And it’s free!
Suicide and TBI: Untangling the Complex Relationship
- Dr. Matthew Peters
The attendee will receive background information on suicide followed by a discussion of how TBI links to suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide completions. Relevant research is referenced. Both civilian and veteran populations will be discussed. The presentation will end with a consideration of underlying brain networks that may be disrupted in these cases.
TBI and Intimate Partner Violence
- Dr. Kim Gorgens
1. Participants will gain an understanding of a brain injury and the unique vulnerabilities of women.
2. Participants will learn about the relationship between Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
3. Participants will learn about the importance of advocacy and outreach and will be exposed to community and national resources.
2. Participants will learn about the relationship between Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
3. Participants will learn about the importance of advocacy and outreach and will be exposed to community and national resources.
Yoga and meditation for TBI recovery: results from first-ever meta-analysis
- Dr. Rebecca Acabchuk
Dr. Becky Acabchuk will review the results from her group’s meta-analysis that was recently published, showing that yoga and meditation may be effective treatments for certain chronic symptoms following brain injury. She will describe the methods, results, limitations and implications of this work, as well as discuss the proposed mechanisms through which these mind-body practices may exert their effects. In addition, Dr. Acabchuk will discuss what inspired her to do this work and personal insights as a researcher, yoga and meditation instructor, and mother of three teenage athletes. A brief experiential demonstration will also be included, followed by Q&A.
Strategies for the Management of TBI-related Sequelae in Behavioral Health Settings
- Dr. Kim Gorgens
1) Participants will be able to list at least three strategies to manage common sequelae of brain injury.
2) Participants will be able to generate strategies using whichever data are available to them.
3) Participants will be able to list an effective prevention strategy.
This session will provide some compelling management strategies for the most common consequences of brain injury. The strategies are informed by 20 years of work with thousands of clients and hundreds of providers and paraprofessionals. This is the perfect talk for anyone frustrated with a client or the system.
2) Participants will be able to generate strategies using whichever data are available to them.
3) Participants will be able to list an effective prevention strategy.
This session will provide some compelling management strategies for the most common consequences of brain injury. The strategies are informed by 20 years of work with thousands of clients and hundreds of providers and paraprofessionals. This is the perfect talk for anyone frustrated with a client or the system.
Loving What Is: Rediscovering Our Nature by Embracing Daily Rhythms
In this workshop we’ll take a beginner’s look at Ayurveda and consider how daily routines and reflections on sensory input could make a powerful impact on healing and adapting to life with a TBI. Managing the balance between rest and activity can make a difference in how we experience common symptoms of TBI, such as fatigue, headaches, sensory overload, and emotional lability.
32nd Annual Brain Injury Conference
Get access to a dozen recordings from our 32nd Annual Brain Injury Conference. View presentations from amazing speakers such as renowned speaker, Dr. Kim Gorgens, as well as inspirational speaker and American former professional snowboarder, Kevin Pearce.
Traumatic Brain Injury & Opioid Misuse w/Dr. John Corrigan & Dr. Rachel Sayko Adams
People who have a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are more likely to be exposed to prescription opioids, appear to be more vulnerable to its misuse and face greater challenges trying to recover from an opioid use disorder (OUD). These combined risks have been called a “perfect storm” of TBI and opioids.
I Just Can’t Think Straight: Domestic Violence, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Strangulation
- Rachel Ramirez
In the domestic violence field, we have known for decades that abusers intentionally target a victim’s head, neck and face, with terrifying and painful repeated assaults and strangulation. The Center on Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury’s groundbreaking research revealed that over 8 out of 10 people accessing domestic violence services had experienced head trauma, often repeatedly and concurrently–and the significant ways this violence can impact the brain. These invisible injuries are rarely identified and almost never immediately treated, and have a host of physical, emotional, and cognitive consequences that can impact every area of a person’s life. This makes it more difficult for them to get what they need from agencies designed to serve them. Come to learn about the dynamics of domestic violence, partner-inflicted brain injury, and Ohio’s practical, free tools developed for you to raise awareness and build relationships with domestic violence service providers.
Sports & Concussion Management
- Dr. Kristine Karlson
Dr. Karlson is a sports medicine fellowship trained family physician practicing at DHMC since 1997. She directs the sports concussion program at DHMC and manages all varsity sports concussions at Dartmouth College. In this presentation she will discuss the management of concussions in sports.
Identifying & Screening for Brain Injuries
- Dr. Kim Gorgens
This presentation will highlight a novel model from Colorado that is designed to quickly identify brain injury history in any setting, assess cognitive functioning and psycho-social vulnerabilities (by clinician assessment or brief self-report instrument) and to make customized recommendations that support the individual through various systems (e.g., school, criminal justice, behavioral health).
Vermont Brain Injury Programs & Resources
Webinar on brain injury programs and resources in Vermont by Sara Lane, BSN, RN, Quality Management Nurse, TBI/CFC Programs, DAIL- Adult Services Division.
A Chat with Attorney Jim Caffry and Associate Attorney Kaitlyn Lewis Keating
Caffry Law is an estate planning law firm with a focus on providing comprehensive special needs planning and advocacy to Vermonters with disabilities and their families. Special needs planning services include consultation regarding disability-related benefits and services, trust drafting and administration, guardianships, and more. They are committed to helping people with disabilities, their families and caregivers make informed choices by guiding them through some of life’s most important decisions and the complex maze of benefits and services for individuals with special needs. Their goal is to simultaneously protect individuals’ access to benefits and services while maximizing their quality of life and independence.