What is Brain Injury?
The Brain Injury Association of America describes brain injury as neither an event or an outcome. It is the start of a misdiagnosed, misunderstood, under-funded neurological disease. People who sustain brain injuries must have timely access to expert trauma care, specialized rehabilitation, lifelong disease management, and individualized services and supports in order to live healthy, independent, and satisfying lives.
Some types of brain injury are:
Diffuse Axonal Injury (TBI)
Concussion (TBI)
Contusion (TBI)
Coup-contre coup injury (TBI)
Second Impact Syndrome (TBI)
Open and Closed Head Injuries
Penetrating Injury (TBI)
Shaken Baby Syndrome (TBI)
Locked in Syndrome (TBI)
Anoxic brain injury (ABI)
Hypoxic brain injury (ABI)
Neuropsychological Evaluation
Understanding the neurological sources of individual differences helps identify brain-based disorders in attention, memory, personality, self-awareness (conscious experience), cognition, and emotional expression. Understanding these differences in learning can define current and future expectations in the lifestyle of the individual. READ MORE
Positive Behavioral Supports
Provision of direct technical assistance to individuals with challenging behaviors and staff training for development of program support strategies.
Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports assists individuals in dealing with behavioral responses that could jeopardize their ability to live successfully in the community. Providers help the individuals recognize behaviors that are ineffective and assist with learning behaviors that are more positive and effective. A detailed, holistic behavioral treatment plan will be developed with the individual that outlines steps necessary to improve behavioral regulation.
Community Integration Counseling
Counseling is provided to individuals and/or family members to assist with issues related to adjusting to live after injury.
Community Integration Counseling assists the individual with the emotional challenges associated with adjusting to and living in the community after sustaining an injury. It is a counseling service provided to an individual coping with altered abilities and skills. It also helps the individual to navigate changes in relationships with significant others. The information shared in a session is confidential, unless safety of the participant and/or others is at risk.
Independent Living Skills Training
Provides one-to-one support to focus on increasing independence in practical skills, such as cooking, shopping, banking, etc.
Independent Living Skills Training helps the individual to utilize his/her strengths in order to live in the community as independently as possible. Providers work one on one with the participant, in the home or in the community, identifying skills needed to achieve goals. Some of the skills may include self-care, medication management, assisting with how to best complete a task, improved communication and interpersonal skills, increased socialization, use of community transportation, problem solving skills, money management, pre-vocational skills and ability to maintain a household.
Service Coordination
A case management service that assists an individual and/or guardian to work with them in identifying and coordinating supports and services.
Our service coordinators provide both Initial and Ongoing service coordination to individuals applying to or enrolled in the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or Nursing Home Transition Diversion Waiver (NHTD) Programs.
Our Initial Service coordinators work with individuals and their supports to develop an appropriate plan that will help them be successful living in the community.
Our Ongoing Service Coordinators assist individuals to remain in the community . Service coordinators meet with each individual monthly, helping maintain proper insurance, identify and coordinate medical, social and other support services.
Structured Day Program
Provides an environment focused on task oriented activities and social skill building.
Designed and developed by families and individuals, the Ability Center is an approved structured day program through the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver Program. This program is designed by individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury and who are seeking cognitive remediation in addition to a personalized, community experience. These experiences are unique, there are scheduled cognitive, recreational or volunteer activities and the offerings change as the seasons change.
Enrolled individuals work one on one with an advocate to develop an outcome based personal plan. The team will assist the individuals into the local community through various activities. Activities are based on the interests of the individuals being served and their families. These activities have included and are not limited to the frequenting of restaurants, movie theaters, baseball stadiums, parks, providing food for the homeless, educating the public about TBI, dancing, barbeques, attending a gym, swimming, volunteer work and other prevocational activities.
We are dedicated to meeting each individual’s goals—whether they are looking to regain employment, improve cognition or engage in social and leisure activities . The Ability Center provides a myriad of cognitive, physical, social and leisure activities that will increase the individual’s community independence.