Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy

As patients progress through stages of recovery it is important to increase the demands of tasks. Work on continuum moving from simple and concrete to more complex and abstract activities. Below are variables to consider in cognitive rehabilitation therapy.

Cognitive Variables - limit the focus of the activity to one or two skills

Attention span and endurance

Familiarity of the activity

Sequential organization

Organizing and planning

Language comprehension

Memory

Response to time stress

Cognitive flexibility

Initiation

Self-evaluation

Decision making and problem solving

Safety judgment

Perceptual Variables - be aware of the processing requirements needed for an activity

Sensory-integrative requirements

Environmental distractions

Visual complexity

Psychosocial Variables - choose activities that are appropriate to patients' age, level of development, interests, and cultural and community background, and consider interaction abilities

Success

Interpersonal relations

 

 

Source: Yvislaker, M. Head Injury Rehabilitation: Children and Adolescents. San Diego, CA: College-Hill Press, 1985.