Riding the bus: teaching an adult with a brain injury to use a transit system to travel independently to and from work

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Abstract
A man, 8 years post-injury, who was still experiencing poor impulse control and poor directional orientation, was taught to follow directions and to take city buses to and from his vocational placement. This was a new skill for the subject as he was from a rural area and thus had no premorbid experience using a transit system. In-vivo functional training was conducted, similar to the method used by Sowers et al. [1] to train a severely retarded adult to ride buses to and from work. In-vivo training was supplemented by daily planning sessions in which the subject would review the route and instructions prior to each ride. The subject was able to learn the bus route from the treatment centre to the job site in 1 week. Upon discharge to a transitional living centre in the same city the subject was able, again in 1 week, to learn new bus routes, and to take the buses back and forth between his new residence and his vocational placement.