Blog

Brain or Spinal Cord Injury

• Student Athlete Appeals to Committee About Concussion Caused Problems: What That Means for Athletic Youth in KS and MO

View All

Brain Injuries In Children: Changes in Communication Difficulties Over Time

Brain Injury In Children: Changes in Communication Difficulties Over Time

Communication includes speaking, listening, reading, writing and gesturing. Cognitive communication is a term that means the combination of thinking and language skills. In other words, it is the ability to use language and all of it underlying skills necessary for effective communication. Accordingly, cognitive communication includes:

attention
memory
self-awareness
organization
problem solving
reasoning

Thinking and language sills combine to result in cognitive. A brain injured child often faces new challenges in school, with reading, writing and thinking. In later grades, new demands are placed on various parts of the brain. Numerous classes and teachers bring many different types of teaching styles and types of homework assignments If the child has trouble with these new developments, the child's cognitive communication skills should be reevaluated.

Brain injury symptoms can be subtle and difficult to detect and yet cause major difficulties. For example, the ability to speak and converse can be misleading because language abilities can return following a brain injury and yet communication is still significantly affected. Conversation may be relatively normal until a brain injured child is under stress for fatigued. This can manifest itself in school when a child is being timed, graded, completing an assignment, or attempting to keep up with other children in his or her class.

It is advisable to have a speech and language pathologist evaluate progress and identify problems on an ongoing basis and assist the child in developing strategies to compensate for these these difficulties and deficits. This includes recognizing and responding to cognitive communication changes as part of the child's education team.

One key to success when assisting a child with a brain injury is to be proactive. Parents and teachers often do not become concerned with a child's performance until the child is failing or has lowered grades and then it becomes much more difficult to develop and catch up with compensatory strategies. There are certain early warning signs to watch for that indicate that a speech and language pathologist evaluation is necessary:

disorganized speaking or writing
concentration and attention difficulties
confusion with the introduction of new ideas
delayed processing of information
problems learning new vocabulary and understanding new ideas

Problems can be identified early and assistance can be provided before the child falls seriously behind if these areas are evaluated every 3 months, particularly during the first two years after a brain injury. Choosing an appropriate individual for your child should involve making inquiries to ensure that a particular professional is right for your particular child and his or her family. A speech and language pathologist who has unique experience with brain injured children and particularly children of similar age to your child is desirable. A professional who works with schools and has familiarity is helpful if your child is in school.

At Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys, we have been representing brain injury victims for more than 15 years. We have a special interest in helping children who have suffered a brain injury. Articles and videos and other resources are available on our site to help those struggling with the often devastating impact of a traumatic brain injury. If you or a loved one has suffered a head injury due to the negligence of another, call the experienced brain injury attorneys at Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys for a free consultation with no obligation at 816-471-5111 or the toll free number above.

Just Ask

Free Consumer Guides

Testimonials

• I’m highly satisfied, I would call Victor again. I needed his help, and he has been a great attorney. I’m very comfortable recommending victor to other clients. Now that I’m happy with how much he’s helped me, I’m definitely recommending him to anyone that needed his help.
• Heather was very nice and polite and very informative. Heather was very responsive when I asked her questions and very informative. Yes, she was very aggressive with the insurance company. She was very aggressive trying to get a higher amount. Yes she was very nice. She is very informative and knows what she is doing.
• It was great to work with Heather, she kept me informed about everything, the dos and the don’ts and what everything was and kept me on track. she was very professional she told you what was going on, she kept you a breast of everything that was going on, she was an excellent lawyer. Ms Heather and the whole staff at the Accident Injury firm, I would recommend them to anybody across the world, that they are excellent, honest attorneys.

View All

Latest News

• Posted on 12/26/2011Student Athletes Discussing How Concussions Affect Them Can Help Student Athletes in Kansas and Missouri
• Posted on 11/16/2011NCAA Faces Lawsuit Alleging Lack of Protection for Athletes from Head Injury

View All

FAQs

Brain or Spinal Cord Injury

• A severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in permanent and total inability to function. Can a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) also have serious consequences?
  

View All

Web Resources

• Brain or Spinal Cord Injury

more