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Cover of The VA TBI Claims Playbook by J. Erickson
Book by J. Erickson

The VA TBI Claims Playbook

Rating the Invisible Injury

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About this book

Traumatic brain injury is rated differently from most other conditions. The VA looks at residuals across ten areas of function under 38 CFR 4.124a, and some of the strongest evidence in a TBI claim is neuropsychological testing, not a scan. This guide explains how the TBI rating system works, how to build the evidence file, which later conditions the VA presumes are linked to a service-connected TBI under 38 CFR 3.310(d), what to expect at the TBI C&P exam, and how appeals and increases work.

Inside this book

  1. 1What TBI Is and Why VA Rates It Differently
  2. 2The Residuals Rating System: How Your Symptoms Become a Number
  3. 3Neuropsychological Evaluation: The Objective Proof
  4. 4Building Your Evidence Package
  5. 5TBI Secondaries, The Conditions That Follow the Injury
  6. 6The TBI C&P Exam, What to Expect and How to Prepare
  7. 7Filing the Claim and Building the Complete File
  8. 8Appeals, Rating Increases, and the Long-Term TBI Picture

The book points you to its free field guide, Filing a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Claim (a free download, no signup).

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Free guides and worksheets need no signup and no book. Books and workbooks are coming soon.

Workbook · Coming soonThe Condition Log PackFree guideFiling a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) ClaimFree worksheetBuddy Statement PackFree worksheetFive Ten TwentyFree worksheetProstratingFree worksheetThe Frozen RecordFree worksheetThe Reason UnderneathFree worksheetTwo Week RecordFree worksheetVA Math Worksheet
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J. Erickson's author image: Air Force uniform ribbons and rank insignia
About the author

J. Erickson

Author, educator, former veteran service officer.

J. Erickson is a service-disabled Air Force veteran. He served as a military firefighter and as a veteran service officer, where he spent years walking veterans through the same claims process he writes about now. He holds an MBA and writes plain-language guides for veterans who want to understand the system without a translator.

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