Wendy Stabler, Dixie State University
Humanities
Injuries to the brain, scalp, and skull are considered to be head injuries. In recent years, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has become the “silent epidemic,” leaving survivors to fend for themselves in most aspect of their lives. A massive lack of knowledge and understanding with regard to TBI besets the community and Dixie State University (DSU) in particular. As a result TBI students do not receive the services, resources, and empathy they need for scholastic success. In order to ensure that TBI students can thrive on campus, DSU’s Disability Resource Center, administrators, and instructors need to implement new programs that support TBI students and educate the general campus population about the effects and learning styles associated with TBI. Some of these new programs (i.e., better accommodations, a TBI support group, DSU training on TBI) may be extensive and difficult to incorporate at the University, but they are critical for TBI students. Drawing upon published data and statements provided by TBI students and educators, with this paper, an exercise in rhetoric, I will demonstrate how more knowledge and information on this campus will empower instructors as well as TBI students, potentially yielding higher graduation rates for TBI students. Once the recommendations are implemented, DSU will in turn be a leading university in TBI student support. The hope is that these findings and arguments can be used to help TBI student communities in other higher-education settings.