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Unique brain injury treatment program returns to UW-Eau Claire

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Unique brain injury treatment program returns to UW-Eau Claire
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When Reginald Jones of Milwaukee suffered a head injury on board a freight vessel in June 2025, he says he did not really understand the extent of his injuries.

“I walked around concussed for months before a physician explained to me that the block of steel that knocked me down had caused serious issues, including speech and vision problems, and I’ve since been working to heal my brain. That’s why I’m here — to gain tools to handle the lingering effects of a significant concussion.”

Sections

Jones is one of a dozen individuals attending the second annual Brain Injury Intensive Comprehensive Treatment Program, or Brain In-Com, at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He says he hopes to acquire knowledge and tools to continue recovering from and dealing with lingering effects of a late-treated concussion.

Reginald Jones at Brain In-Com
Mindfulness and movement breaks are part of the daily schedule at the Brain In-Com program, and Reginald Jones says the recumbent bikes have been a fun and useful exercise for him to explore lower campus with groups of other attendees.

Co-sponsored by the speech, language, and hearing sciences department and the Brain Injury Association of Wisconsin (BIAW), the five-day intensive program is designed to provide recovery strategies, resources and connection for individuals impacted by brain injury, as well as caregivers.

Dr. Jerry Hoepner, professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences, is the faculty lead for the program. He says he is grateful for colleagues assisting in this program, Dr. Warren Brown from Jackson State University and Dr. Louise Keegan from Moravian University, along with five undergraduate and four graduate student volunteers to facilitate a week of sharing experiences, recovery tips and community.

Dr. Jerry Hoepner_2022
Dr. Jerry Hoepner, professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences

“The second year of Brain In-Com has been fantastic,” Hoepner says. “We filled all our spots and have three caregivers attending as well. We also expanded our reach throughout the state, welcoming attendees from Milwaukee, Wisconsin Rapids, Wausau, Gillett, Eau Claire and Eleva.”

Hoepner is also pleased that a legislative guest attended a listening session to learn more on the topic.

“Sen. Jeff Smith and his team joined us Wednesday to learn about the needs of people with brain injury in Wisconsin and consider legislation to meet those needs. Sen. Smith has been a regular advocate of our programming, as have other local politicians like Jesse James,” Hoepner says.

Students make it work

As with many similar community outreach offerings through UW-Eau Claire, students are at the core of the success of programs like Brain In-Com. The team of students includes:

  • Ella Halverson, senior speech, language, and hearing sciences (SLHS) major 
  • Sophia Heller, graduate student in speech-language pathology
  • Maddie Nystel, incoming graduate student in SLHS
  • Abigail Schissler, graduate student in speech-language pathology
  • Haylie Schmidt, senior SLHS major
  • Amanda Stehly, graduate student in speech-language pathology
  • Brynna Streifel, May graduate in SLHS
  • Nina Telander, May graduate in neuroscience 
  • Angel Woodford, graduate student in speech-language pathology

For Schmidt, the June program offers an exciting opportunity to grow her clinical resume as an aspiring practitioner, and learn from faculty, graduate students and participants

group discussion in HHS
Senior Haylie Schmidt, left, says that while she was a little nervous to work with this demographic for the first time, she has already learned a great deal about helping individuals with brain injury express their stories and build community.

“I’ve been looking forward to anything and everything that I am going to be experiencing this week,” Schmidt says. “I’m most excited about hearing personal experiences from caregivers and participants, as well as how the challenges of brain injury have shaped their lives.”

For master’s student Angel Woodford, this unique program will help broaden her range of clinical experience and better prepare her for a career as a speech-language pathologist.

Angel Woodford
Graduate student Angel Woodford plans to apply her master's degree in a career working with children in the field of communication sciences, but is grateful for the opportunity to strengthen clinical and interpersonal skills that apply throughout speech-language pathology.

“My program so far has given me great clinical opportunities with various neurological communication disorders, from aphasia, primary progressive aphasia and Parkinson’s disease,” Woodford says. “I am excited to learn more from these participants about how brain injuries can affect communication, cognition, relationships and participation in everyday life.”

From program participant to facilitator

In 2025, Katie Paulson was a participant in the first Brain In-Com program, though she was working at the time for the BIAW. She is now excited to take both her experience working in this field and her past participation in the program to help a new cohort of attendees, those with brain injury and their caregivers alike.

“I got involved on campus in the Blugold Brain Injury Group after a fall on the ice in 2016,” Paulson says. “That support group led to working with BIAW, and last year was a real growth moment attending the first intensive therapy program.”

Paulson, a creative consultant for the BIAW, says the tools she acquired from the program last year have been very useful in guiding current participants through exercises like story mapping, which encourages attendees to tell their personal story arc from injury to the present.

“I was a stubborn person about my injury,” Paulson says. “I had to work at accepting things and taking the slow-moving progress toward recovery. This year, it’s very meaningful to be someone helping others in the spot I was once in to move forward in positive ways. It’s making a real difference in how I see what I only used to see as a tragic personal thing. It now lets me help people, which I love.”

Hoepner emphasizes the crucial role students play in this program and expresses his pride in their level of growth in the process.

“I need to commend our students,” Hoepner says. “They gain crucial, real-life experience, not to mention a grueling 40 hours of direct care. It is amazing to watch them grow in confidence and skills every day. All the students continue to gain exposure, make meaningful relationships and learn about authentic care. We could not do this without them.”

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