After someone suffers a brain injury, they often have trouble communicating, and may lose touch with friends and family. But now, a locally developed e-mail program is helping rebuild that social connection.

After a car accident injured Evette Patt's brain, she moved into assisted living, and away from family. "Its one of the biggest problems people have after a brain injury after he brain injury they lose their social support systems."

But now Evette is just a click and some key strokes away from connecting with the people she cares about. Evette says, "E-mail is neat" Evette uses a special email program called Coglink. She adds, "Its fun too" University of Oregon researchers teamed up with ShelterCare to create and test the program over the last five years.

McKay Sohlberg, a University of Oregon Associate Professor of Communication Disorders and Sciences says, "So we worked from a set of design principals that allow it to be accessible even if you can't hold onto information from moment to moment."

The simple program doesn't rely on windows. It uses pictures and easy to understand words and concepts. And so you can see everything you need to see to do that activity on the screen.

And thanks to a jump drive, the client can use it both at home or at any other computer including a free one at the library and be ready to email in a matter of seconds.

Evette can write her aunt, or catch up with friends, anywhere, and review every word.

Evette says, "It can really help me wit the kind of brain injury I have, I might ask or repeat a question, some question over and over, now I've got the email I can communicate with them are a long way from me."

Cognet has helped clients reduce their phone bills, schedule appointments, and improve their writing, but for Evette, it's improve what matters to her most.

She says "My family relationships are better."

Cognet costs $10 a month, is now commercially available, and being used by more than 50 clients.

For more information visit www.coglink.com.