Returning to College after Injury with a Change in Mindset: How ICCR Helped Theo Visco

December 18, 2025

Overcoming Injury

Theo Visco was 20 years old and a sophomore in college when he experienced a helmeted ski accident on March 12th, 2025, that put him in a coma for five days. The accident had caused him to be unable to move the entire right side of his body and left him with an acquired brain injury (ABI) that was disrupting his memory and attention. Theo’s earliest memories following the accident are from early April, several weeks after the injury occurred.

Theo spent the rest of March and April in the inpatient hospital at Spaulding Rehabilitation. Throughout his hospital stay, he was working towards physical rehabilitation, regaining his ability to walk again, as well as language rehabilitation, working with a speech-language pathologist (SLP). It was at Spaulding that Theo’s SLP suggested he consider joining Boston University’s Intensive Cognitive and Communication Rehabilitation (ICCR) Program. She had known that Theo wanted to return to school again, and figured he would be a perfect fit for the program. 

Education as a Catalyst for Recovery

Although the thought of taking classes over the summer did not exactly interest Theo at first, his parents had encouraged him to join the program knowing that he could greatly benefit from it. So, Theo enrolled in the ICCR Program as a student for the 2025 summer session.

On the first day of classes, Theo was welcomed into a cohort of three other students and met his assigned graduate student clinician, Lauren Hodges. As that first day continued, Theo started warming up to the experience as he began to recognize that he was surrounded by students in a similar situation to him and clinicians who genuinely cared about helping him achieve his goal of returning to college. 

Throughout the summer session, Theo took a Geology course where he could practice listening to lectures, working on memory exercises, completing homework assignments, and preparing for test taking. 

From his time participating in the ICCR Program, Theo was able to identify two key challenges that had been affecting his academic success: pressure and procrastination. By working closely with the team of ICCR clinicians, he was able to address these patterns by learning effective strategies for managing academic stress and developing stronger time management skills. Now, he consistently finds himself starting on assignments earlier than before, ultimately reducing his stress levels and the amount of time it takes him to complete work. These improvements have helped him to have greater trust in his abilities, leading him to have more confidence going into tests and submitting assignments.

“[ICCR] has definitely been the most helpful thing in my recovery, I don’t know where I’d be without it. I attribute so much of my recovery to this program.”

— Theo Visco

For anyone considering the ICCR Program after an acquired brain injury, Theo’s advice would be that you get out what you put in. He believes that the effort he invested and the openness he showed throughout the process was what truly benefited him the most.

The Power of Embracing Positivity

Since completing one semester with the ICCR Program, Theo has returned to the University of Vermont full-time. Theo has been able to take with him the improved skillset he gained through ICCR and continue applying it to his coursework. As a result, he finds himself significantly less stressed and far more confident in his abilities, making a pivotal difference in his academic life.

Just nine months after his injury, he is wrapping up the first semester of his junior year and performing even better academically than he did before his ABI, achieving an A+ in all four of his fall 2025 classes. This accomplishment is exemplary of the hard work he has put in, the progress he has made, and his ability to maintain the helpful academic habits he developed in the ICCR Program.

Theo’s recovery journey has also sparked a significant mindset shift for him. He shared that at the beginning it was easy to fall into harmful thinking patterns, wondering “why did this happen to me?” or feeling like he was falling behind peers his age, but he realized that this mindset can be very detrimental to one’s mental health. Instead, he has found that embracing positive thinking has been a really powerful tool in his recovery, and he has incorporated this mindset into his education through the use of affirmations that remind him of how far he has come and that he can trust in himself.

From Patient to Advocate

Theo has always had a passion for helping people, but his injury and rehabilitation has deepened his appreciation for the support that healthcare professionals provide. Inspired by all of the support he received, Theo has joined his University’s chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, started training with the eventual goal of running the Boston Marathon for Spaulding Rehabilitation in support of people recovering from brain injuries, and registered to become a volunteer for Spaulding Runners In Training (SPRINT)— a program he previously participated in as a patient. 

As a volunteer for SPRINT, Theo will be able to assist patients like himself safely return to running after brain injury. This program is especially meaningful to him because physical activity has brought him so much joy in life and he has seen firsthand the benefits that the program has to offer.

“It means the world to me to be a part of another patient’s road to recovery and help them rediscover happiness again.”

— Theo Visco

For Theo, his recovery journey is not just about himself. It also includes giving back to the programs that benefited him and the future patients recovering from brain injury. His own experience has led him to become an advocate for others because he realized just how valuable having that support can be.

About the ICCR Program

The Boston University ICCR program is a remote (online) 12-week intensive therapy program for young adults with stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other acquired brain injuries (ABI). It is designed for young adults (up to age 36) who want to pursue college and are currently unable to meet that goal due to language and/or cognitive deficits associated with their brain injury.

If you or someone you know is looking to either enter or return to higher education after an acquired brain injury, consider joining the Boston University ICCR Program. 

To learn more about ICCR, visit www.bu.edu/cbr/iccr or reach out to the Program Director, Meredith MacEachern, by emailing mermac@bu.edu or calling 617-353-3170. 

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You can help the ICCR Program continue to support students like Theo Visco by making a gift to the Center for Brain Recovery. 

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