Rehabilitation
At Home Rehabilitation Exercises
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19- Locating Information
LEVEL 1 - Have the student locate information in common items such as the phonebook (business and residential) and the newspaper (such as the classifieds or entertainment features), dictionary, and encyclopedia. For instance, ask the student to find the phone number of several plumbers from the business phonebook, look up the definition of a word in the dictionary, or locate a topic in the encyclopedia.Ask the student to locate sections of the newspaper and specific information, such as the weather or sport scores
LEVEL 2 - Reading the Television Schedule
- Use any television schedule that is available such as those found in the paper or grocery store. Find the schedule for THAT day.Have the student find the shows that are on television at that moment. Have the student locate a specific show on TV that should be on according to the schedule.
- Ask the student to find multiple shows that will be on television later that day at a specific time. Ask the student to find specific shows and tell you what time and channel they will be on. Have the student list all the shows on a specific channel over a span of several hours. Ask the student to recall the shows that you have looked up during this session.
- Have the student plan an evening (no more than 2 hours) of television viewing. At the conclusion of each show ask the student for a brief summary of the show.
LEVEL 3 - Use dictionaries and encyclopedias to encourage the student to locate information and focus their attention longer.
LEVEL 4 - Encourage the collection of information that leads to a decision.For instance, give the student the basic requirements of a used car (4 door sedan, 1995-1998, air conditioned, etc) and ask the student to locate appropriate vehicles in the For Sale section of the classified advertising in the newspaper.
LEVEL 5 - Have the student learn or re-learn how to locate information on a computer and on the internet utilizing a search engine. If you do not have a computer with internet access at home, this service is usually available at public libraries.
LEVEL 6 - Report Writing
Ask the student to choose a topic of interest (perhaps that has to do with an area of study or work that they are interested in). Have the student write a report on that topic. Limit the report to approximately a page in length, typed; 2 pages hand-written.
Assist them in outlining material, library use (you may need to assist the student in obtaining a library card, which can be a good community outing) or Internet research, good search engines to recommend could include: www.google.com and www.msn.com). This activity could take a week or more, depending on what the student is involved in. Have the student turn in sections of the report, such as the outline and the first draft. Discuss with the student any thing in the report that is not understood or is incorrect, including spelling or grammar. See if the student can catch their own mistakes and do the editing for the report themselves.
Taken from Tasks for Home-Based Cognitive Stimulation Program, the Traumatic Brain Injury Model System at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dept. of P M & R, Birmingham, AL. © 1998-2003 University of Alabama at Birmingham