Tailoring Direct Instruction techniques for use with elementary students with brain injury

This article describes three case studies in which Direct Instruction techniques were used to teach students with brain injuries who participated in a 6-week tutoring program. The subjects were three children with closed head injuries who exhibited significant learning problems: two boys, ages 8 and 10, and a girl, age 6. After approximately 12 hourly instructional sessions, all three students made substantial academic progress as demonstrated by probe data collected in their targeted instructional areas (reading, language, math, and keyboarding). The gains were seen in both discrete and more complex skills, and some of the gains made represented new learning. In addition, the aggressive outbursts of one student were decreased substantially through use of a self-monitoring technique in the context of academic instruction. Results from these case studies suggest that Direct Instruction is a promising approach for teaching both academic and behavioral skills to students with TBI.