Computer-Enhanced Rehabilitation for Children with Traumatic Brain Injury

When a child sustained a traumatic brain injury, there can be a life of medical and rehabilitation services required. Because brain injuries can run the spectrum of complications, it is important to have your child diagnosed early and to seek rehabilitative services early, when needed.

Rehabilitative services necessary to your child's well being may involve those that are associated with promoting an area of cognitive processing known as working memory and executive attention. Because these are the most common complications immediately after a traumatic brain injury, your child's rehabilitation team may begin to focus the rehabilitative services on these cognitive processes first.

Going hand in hand, when your child exhibits a complication with executive attention, there is most likely a complication associated with working memory and visa versa. For this reason, the rehabilitation program should address both aspects of this type of mental health complication. In many rehabilitation settings for children, the use of computerized equipment is now becoming more integrated into treating these specific complications of TBI.

For some children, however, the use of computerized rehabilitation equipment may not be effective until your child has reached chronic stage complications associated with the head injury. For this reason, ask the rehabilitation team when, or if, they plan to use computerized rehabilitation equipment but do not be alarmed if it is not considered until chronic stage of care. In some cases, the use of computerized rehabilitation services, for managing pediatric traumatic brain injury, may not begin for as many as three years post-injury.

The key to your child's optimal health outcome lies in the communication with the rehabilitation team. As a parent, if you simply leave your child's rehabilitation in the hands of the rehab team, your child may lose vital rehabilitation services that will improve long term health and promote independence later in life. Therefore, it is important to become educated and become involved after your child's traumatic brain injury.