Social Worker – The social worker serves as a liaison between
the professional team and other parties concerned with the
patient, including: the family, funding sources, friends, and
representatives of past or future placements. An important role
of the social worker is to help ensure that if home placement does
not materialize, or if home placement is not indicated, the social
worker provides assistance to the patient and family for finding
other alternatives.
Spasm – An involuntary and abnormal muscular contraction;
also, a sudden violent and temporary effort or emotion.
Speech and Hearing Therapist – The speech pathologist and
audiologist identifies problem areas of visual (seeing) and
auditory (hearing) comprehension, attention, memory (recent
and past), language skills, writing skills and reading skills. The
information gathered by the speech and hearing specialist is
valuable to other team members; for example, whether or not
to use reading as a means of communicating information to the
patient. The speech therapist provides instruction and practice in
improving skills in comprehension and communication.
Speech-language Pathology Services – A continuum of services
including prevention, identification, diagnosis, consultation,
and treatment of patients regarding speech, language, oral and
pharyngeal sensorimotor function.
Stimulus – That which causes sensation (i.e., light for vision,
salt for taste, sound for hearing, etc.). When a patient begins
to emerge from a coma, an organized program of controlled
stimulation is sometimes used to begin “exercising” the brain.
However, when a patient becomes agitated, the amount and
intensity of stimulation should be limited (e.g., only one task for
one sense at a time).
Sub-acute rehabilitation program – This program is designed
for patients following the acute level of therapy; generally for
people with a longer recovery time and for which more time is
needed to decide the best treatment.
Subdural – Beneath the dura (tough membrane) covering the
brain and spinal cord.
Support Group – A group established for families and/or persons
with disabilities to discuss the problems they may have in coping
with their life situation and to seek solutions to these problems.
Supported Employment – Competitive work in integrated
work settings for individuals with severe disabilities for whom
competitive employment has not traditionally occurred, or for
whom competitive employment has been interrupted as a result of
severe disability, and who because of the disability, need ongoing
support services to perform that work.
Team, Interdisciplinary – A team in which the persons
representing each discipline (field of study) have a voice in
establishing priorities to be undertaken by
the team.
Temporal Lobes – There are two temporal lobes, one on each
side of the brain located at about the level of the ears. These lobes
allow a person to tell one smell from another and one sound
from another. They also help in sorting new information and are
believed to be responsible for short-term memory. Right Lobe
- Mainly involved in visual memory (i.e., memory for pictures
and faces). Left Lobe - Mainly involved in verbal memory (i.e.,
memory for words and names).
Tracheostomy – A temporary surgical opening at the front of
the throat providing access to the trachea or windpipe to assist in
breathing.
Vegetative State – Return of wakefulness but not accompanied by
cognitive function; eyes open to verbal stimuli; does not localize
motor responses; autonomic functions preserved. Sleep-wake
cycles exist. (Note: the term Vegetative State is currently under
scrutiny in order to replace it with a more appropriate term.)
Verbal Ability – Composed of verbal understanding and verbal
fluency. Verbal understanding is the ability of an individual
to understand the subtleties and meaning of words. Verbal
fluency is the ability to imagine, process and say words without
associating them with any particular object and also the ability to
communicate by talking, writing, listening and reading.
Vestibular – Pertaining to the vestibular system in the middle
ear and the brain which senses movements of the head. Disorders
of the vestibular system can lead to dizziness, poor regulation of
postural muscle tone and inability to detect quick movements of
the head.
Visual Perception – The ability to recognize and discriminate
between visual stimuli and to interpret these stimuli through
association with earlier experiences. For example, to separate a
figure from a background, to synthesize the contents of a picture
and to interpret the invariability of an object which is seen from
different directions.
Vocational Evaluation Program Manager (Case Manager) –
The professional responsible for the entire evaluation program
of an individual client. This includes reviewing all referral
information, orientation of the client, scheduling services,
planning the individual program, maintaining integration and
coordination in his or her program, maintaining a written case
record, holding formal and informal conferences as appropriate,
making the termination decision, preparing the final report and
follow up.
Resource: www.waiting.com
56 2020-2022 BIAK Resource Journal
/www.waiting.com