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October 2024
Save the Date
2025 BIAPA Annual Conference
Monday, June 30 and Tuesday, July 1, 2025 Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square
Theme: Celebrating an Empowered Brain Injury Community: A Conference for Survivors, Care Partners, and Professional
2025 BIAPA Annual Conference
Call for Presentations! The conference committee invites you to submit a presentation proposal for the BIAPA 2025 Annual Conference to be held June 30 and July 1, 2025, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Complete presentation proposals, including resume/CV, session outline, and references, must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, November 1, 2024.
If you have any questions about this process, please email Sandra Powell at admin@biapa.org.
A Day of Brain Injury Advocacy at the Pennsylvania State Capitol
On October 7, advocates gathered at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg for an inspiring day of brain injury advocacy. Thanks to everyone who joined us—we look forward to building on this momentum as we amplify our voices for this often invisible injury!
Our focus now is House Bill 1682 and Senate Bill 1094. This legislation aims to secure access to Post-Acute NeuroRehabilitation, including Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CRT) and other essential brain injury treatments, through commercial health insurance. We encourage you to contact your local state representative and urge them to support this critical bill as a co-sponsor. With the bill set to be reintroduced after the upcoming election, we’ll need advocates ready to push this work forward in the coming year.
The Pennsylvania Brain Injury Caucus The Pennsylvania Brain Injury Caucus, led by Senators Ryan Aument and Tim Kearney and Representatives Tim Briggs and Ann Flood, continues to pursue legislative initiatives to advance brain injury treatment and understanding.
Thank you to all involved, especially survivors Kevin McDonald and Melissa Carmen, for making this advocacy day such a success.
Four BrainSTEPS teams were awarded the inaugural "BrainSTEPS Team Exceptional Performance Award" for the 2023-2024 school year. These BrainSTEPS teams demonstrated an exceptional commitment to serving children in their local school districts who experienced an acquired brain injury.
Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22 (Bucks County)
Luzerne Intermediate Unit #18 (Luzerne County)
Tuscarora Intermediate Unit #11 (Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata and Mifflin Counties)
Midwestern Intermediate Unit #4 (Butler, Mercer, & Lawrence Counties)
These BrainSTEPS teams met rigorous time and effort requirements and provided outstanding brain injury-related support to students, parents, and educators in their regions, as they continuously strive to meet best practice standards.
The BrainSTEPS Brain Injury School Consulting Program was established in Pennsylvania (PA) by the PA Department of Health and is jointly funded by the PA Department of Health and Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education via the PaTTAN network. BrainSTEPS is implemented by the educational Intermediate Units across the Commonwealth and is overseen by the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania.
BIAPA in the Community
Representatives from BIAPA have enjoyed being out in our community this fall! We have staffed exhibitor tables at the Mind Your Brain Conference at Bryn Mawr, the ARN Conference at Gwenydd Mercy University, Brain Injury Awareness Day in Harrisburg and the Moss Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Conference at Jefferson.
Meeting with so many persons with brain injury, care partners, and professionals - and engaging in meaningful conversations - fills our hearts and gives us inspiration.
YOU are all the reason we do what we do!
Helmets for the Holidays: Give the Gift of Prevention
Your gift to Helmets for the Holidays will support BIAPA’s work to prevent brain injuries and to support individuals and families that have experienced brain injury.This includes:
-- Brain Safety Fairs with free bicycle helmet fittings
-- Education programs about the brain and the impact of brain injury
-- Brain Injury Resource Line, which offers information about resources that may be of help to people with brain injury or their family.
A Meaningful Holiday Gift If you’d like to make a gift in honor of a friend, family member or colleague, please note that information on our secure donation form, and we'll send our Helmets for the Holidays bicycling snowman card with a message about your gift to the person you've honored.
Business Gift Program If you’re a business and would like to make a gift in honor of clients or colleagues, please email us at admin@biapa.org or call 833-242-7248. We’ll make it easy for you to manage your holiday gift-giving and to support BIAPA. Send us a list of your honorees, and we’ll send our Helmets for the Holidays bicycling snowman card with a message that you’ve recognized them with a gift to BIAPA.
Best wishes for a safe and healthy holiday season!
Attention all persons with brain injury, care partners and professionals!
All are invited to complete an important survey!
The survey is part of a University of Washington project that aims to develop the National Brain Injury Network—a network connected by a website offering resources, research, and a platform for connection among those with lived experience, care partners, and healthcare providers. Please click here for more information about this project.
Your feedback will play a crucial role in shaping the site to ensure it meets the needs and priorities of the brain injury community. Participation is voluntary and anonymous.
BIAPA is once again partnering with Pittsburgh's renowned Sarris Candies to offer friends of BIAPA the opportunity to enjoy Sarris' legendary candy for the holidays and to benefit BIAPA!
Order candy through the BIAPA website, and Sarris will ship directly to you or another address for free, with a $7 packaging fee, and donate 25% of all sales to BIAPA!
ReDiscover U classes are held on Monday nights at 6 PM ET via Zoom. Use this link to join any of the classes at 6 PM on Mondays.
11/4/24 – SHARE NIGHT
11/11/24 - Veterans Day Trivia and Storytelling - test your knowledge to celebrate those who served and share stories of personal experience or family members who are celebrated on this day
11/18/24- The Science of Happiness
For more information about ReDiscover U, including a description of the classes, CLICK HERE.
Support Group Corner
The BIAPA statewide virtual support group will meet Thursday, November 21 at 5 PM. This tight-knit community consists of survivors, caregivers, family and professionals from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania! Please use thisZoom Link to access the meeting.
Previously the Coping with COVID Support Group, the Health Matters Support Group covers information of concern regarding a variety of health matters that often co-occur with COVID, as well as brain injury. The group meets on the secondand fourth Thursday of each month from 5:00 to 6:30 PM. Zoom Link Here
BIAPA's next Caregiver Support Group will be held on Wednesday November 13 at 6 PM. This monthly, virtual meeting is open to all caregivers. The meetings are an excellent opportunity for caregivers to meet one another, share experiences and discuss topics of unique relevance to their roles. No pre-registration is required! To join this monthly meeting, use this Zoom Link.
To sign up for email alerts for one of BIAPA's virtual groups listed above, follow this link to complete a brief registration form.
A full list of all of Pennsylvania's Brain Injury Support Groups, along with contact information for each, is on the BIAPA website's Support Group Listing Page. We are currently updating this information, and while we have done so for most groups, there are still some that we're trying to reach. If you're aware of groups that are meeting either virtually or in-person and are not on our listing, or if you have any updated details about a group on the list, please contact Melanie Morrison morrison@biapa.org so that we can let others know about them.
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