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Funding problems three years ago
forced George Washington University to cut its master's degree program
that prepared students to work with brain injury patients.
But it's back this fall, thanks
in part to a $340,000 grant from the Jason Foundation.
The school has the only master's
degree program in the country that trains people specifically to
work with brain injury patients, director Janis Ruoff said. The
program prepares students to work in schools, hospitals, rehabilitation
programs, advocacy programs or other fields. Already, 12 students
are enrolled.
When brain injury patients "come
back from the hospital, quite often, they are functioning at a lower
level academically," Ruoff said. "But with proper intervention,
they can move forward and function in regular classes."
She said there is a possibility
that a distance education class on brain injuries will be offered
at Radford University through the instructors at George Washington
University.
Additional federal funding has also
helped the college develop at the Center for Education and Human
Services In Acquired Brain Injury. The center will do some research
in brain injury.
Ruoff said the program might not
have gotten off its feet without the support of the Jason Foundation
grant, which made it possible for the agency to get additional federal
funding.
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