Intensive Cognitive and Communication Rehabilitation (ICCR)

The Boston University ICCR program is a 12-week intensive therapy program for young adults with stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other acquired brain injuries (ABI) that operates via the Center for Brain Recovery at Boston University.

It is designed for young adults (ranging approximately from 18-36 years of age) 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.

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About the Program

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain caused by external forces, such as a car accident or fall, that may impair the cognitive domains of attention, memory, and/or reasoning. Aphasia is a language disorder caused by a stroke or other injury to the brain’s communication networks that results in speaking, listening, reading, and/or writing impairments.

ICCR program is a remote (online) 12-week intensive therapy program for young adults with TBI or aphasia, who are interested in continuing or pursuing higher education. ICCR integrates classroom-style lectures with individual and group therapy to capitalize on the following principles of neural plasticity: intensity, specificity, repetition, and salience.

A program like ICCR is sorely needed for the young Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI) population. These individuals want to return to school but need to strengthen their cognitive-linguistic skills in a structured and encouraging environment before they can succeed in a typical classroom. ICCR takes a functional approach, allowing students to get much-needed practice implementing strategies that will be relevant in a university setting, and to do so in a supportive, slower-paced environment. Simultaneously, ICCR utilizes impairment-based treatment, providing students with direct therapy for specific cognitive-linguistic goal areas. Both impairment-based and functionally based treatment paradigms have been shown to improve communication skills after brain injury in an intensive environment; ICCR unifies the two. In addition, we are hopeful that our therapy’s online format will make this needed program more accessible to individuals in various geographic locations.

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Graduate Student Opportunities and Higher Education

The ICCR program measures the functional goal of return or entry to higher education through close transitional coaching and support to participants upon their discharge from the program. In the first six months in particular, the ICCR team offers coaching to program graduates through videoconference, phone, and email, as well as provides written and verbal documentation to institutions to support the establishment of academic accommodations.

Program alumni are also contacted intermittently to assess status of college enrollment, solve problems related to access, and make recommendations for additional therapeutic and/or community resources.

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Interested in enrolling?

Fall 2024 semester enrollment is open! Please reach out to us today if you have any questions or are interested in participating in our program. Term starts Wednesday, September 4th. Please contact Meredith MacEachern at mermac@bu.edu or call ICCR at 617-353-3170 for more information!

Payment for Fall enrollment are due Tuesday, September 3rd (one day for classes start).

Payment Instructions

Visit the following webpage for further information on payment.

For checks please use the following:

Payable to Trustees of Boston University
Center for Brain Recovery
111 Cummington Mall
Suite 280
Boston, MA 02215
ATTN: ICCR

Resources

Our Latest Research

The Intensive Cognitive-Communication Rehabilitation Program for Young Adults With Acquired Brain Injury

This study investigated the effects of an ICCR program for young individuals with chronic acquired brain injury.

After ICCR, participants showed gains in their cognitive–linguistic functioning, classroom participation, and individual therapy. They also demonstrated improvements outside the classroom and in their overall well-being.

Past Articles in the Press

Federal and State Resources

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