In October 1974, Dr. Mary Ellen Hayden was studying for her doctoral oral exams in neuropsychology when she received fateful news: Her 12 year-old-son, Ben, had been hit by a car and was being rushed to the emergency room with head trauma. In spite of doctors' best efforts to stabilize him, Ben's injury was too severe and he died several hours later.
At that time, medical professionals considered brain injuries difficult to treat. With the passing of her son, however, Dr. Hayden committed herself to help improve the success of brain injury rehabilitation. She completed her doctoral training in neuropsychology and began conducting research in that field. In 1980, during a conversation with Dr. Dan Morrison, a physician specializing in rehabilitation, Dr. Hayden learned that new technological advancements were allowing neuropsychologists to analyze the brain in ways never before possible.
The two specialists collaborated to learn how to use the upcoming knowledge of brain functions in order to increase outcomes in many ways. They were aided by research from Dr. Roger Sperry, the 1981 Noble Prize winner in medicine for split brain research. Dr. Sperry, a neuropsychologist, provided greater insight into how people think, reason, remember and make decisions1. Armed with this newfound information, Drs. Hayden and Morrison launched an inpatient brain injury rehabilitation program at Del Oro hospital in Houston. The program adopted a team-centered approach with professionals from traditional medical disciplines including physical medicine and rehabilitation; nursing; social work; and physical, occupational and speech and language therapies. But while they were realizing successful outcomes, Dr. Hayden felt there was a void in outpatient therapy. She helped launch an outpatient program that mirrored the Del Oro inpatient model in which all disciplines were represented, but soon noticed something was still lacking: although patients did improve further in the clinic setting, they seemed to struggle in other environments.
After trial and error, the clinic adjusted its outpatient activities, honing it to the proven approach still utilized today. Its hallmark is creating an environment unique to each individual's tolerance of distractions and ability level. As patients progress, therapists introduce greater complexity into the treatments while reducing structure, a model that helps assimilate individuals to the outside world.
Over the past 30 years, Pate Rehabilitation has been dedicated to continually improving brain injury rehabilitation to enable patients to thrive in the real world. With an emotional tie and deep interest, it is Pate's mission to ensure the best treatment and most successful outcomes possible for persons with acquired brain injuries.
1Sperry R.“Some Effects of Disconnecting the Cerebral Hemispheres,” Nobel Lecture, Karolinska Institutet, Dec. 8 1981; “Roger W. Sperry – Autobiography," Nobelprize.org, Oct. 17, 2011, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1981/sperry.html.
