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Lisa Schoenbrodt, EdD, Woodbine House Page 7 of 7
- Communicate! (with your child, family members, neighbors, friends, professionals, and the school).
- Help your child understand her injury and recovery. (Let her know that the brain needs time to heal like other body parts.)
- Instill confidence in creative ways--draw on previous skills and interests, applied in new ways.
- Create a Memory Book. (Memory difficulties are often frustrating. This will also help to document events and reinforce progress.)
- Encourage a normal lifestyle, predictability, and routine as much as possible.
Above all, remember that this is challenging and a lifelong process!
Parent Statements
I prayed to the good Lord to bring her back to me. He didn’t say how she would be. Now I’ve got to deal with what I’ve got.
We’ve got this huge modified, accessible bathroom and a tiny laundry room. The bathroom is like the part of my life devoted to my child’s needs and the rest of my life is like the laundry room — squeezed into a very small space.
Joe has done some things that have my heart floating — like walking to our neighbor’s house independently!
Tommy’s friends were really supportive when he went back to school after his bicycle accident, but now they seem to have moved on. He can’t understand why they don’t want to spend time with him anymore.
Sometimes I wish she could just see her problems so she would accept the fact that she needs help, but most of the time I’m glad she doesn’t see.
The social worker has been the constant, predictable factor in a situation where nothing is predictable. When I’m in her office, I can pause and think and be myself.
He is doing really well now. When other kids ask him why he walks that way or why he can’t use his right arm, he tells them “Somebody very bad hurt me once, but he is in jail now.” Then he says, ”Let’s play.” Because he handles it so calmly, other kids handle it well too. Sometimes he still is upset or confused about it, so we talk and practice ways he can respond to other kids’ questions. He really is a terrific kid and everybody loves him.
From Children with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Parents' Guide edited by Lisa Schoenbrodt, EdD, published by Woodbine House. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Third-party usage restricted. www.woodbinehouse.com/main.asp_Q_product_id_E_0-933149-99-9_A_.asp.
Comments [4]
Yes you are right about parents being all alone after a child is injured. It is a very daunting road we travel. Though I do wish that I had something to go on when my son was injured in 2004 at the age of 16.Getting the right education after his TBI was a struggle in itself.
I agree with your comment. I have worked in the healthcare field as a nurse and now have two daughters that have been affected by TBI (Acquired)- The first was through meningitis and the second as the result of fluid on the brain secondary to a motor vehicle accident. Even though we are in the early stages of this with our second daughter the MVA I know that the frustrations will be huge and really what happens is up to her and there isn\'t anything I can do about the outcome. Its very frustrating and heart breaking to watch a child go through.
My son had his brain injury in 2004. He was 12 years old; now he's 18, this artical was "nothing" compared to our experience. I wish it was that simple. Guidelines and howto's...but; when it all hits the fan, a parent is all alone and just trying to piece together what's left of their mangled life. A "new start"....the old person is gone, and a parent has to learn how to relate and help the new person who came out of the ruins of "BRAIN DAMAGE"! It's trully a difficult and you never know from 1 second to the next what will happen! Help from others~not always available!! People; even family and so~called friends tend to drift out of your life. Where once you'd go to the neighborhood Wal~mart and everyone would ask "how is your son doing"?! Now; people you know avoids you and hopes you don't see them. Anyway; it's not this simple! I wish so much it was. And "yes"; I am aware every brain injury is different. The one thing that is the same in every brain injured person is "change"...life will never be the same for the brain injured or the ones who care so much for the person!
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This article, which may apply to some does not begin to address the issues of some who are affected by a TBI. Nor does it address the ripple effect that the rest of the family must now endure. Perhaps this was written for a minor TBI (if there is such a thing)
Jan 23rd, 2012 8:06pm