time frame to provide testing???

I’m sure there are a lot of things that “just aren’t possible” for the counselor to arrange — but you can make them happen. Go to school and pick up the kiddo early so he can get the rest he needs. Consider this like staying home for being sick any given day — yea, after a bit you need a note from a doctor, but I bet the doc would write teh note.

Use your health insurance, or auto insurance to pursue follow-up testing after a head injury. The school will not be able to do the type of eval that you need. Call your neurologist and ask for referral for head injury evals.

You may also be able to get something from your doctor stating the nature of the injury, the possible/probably physical manifestations and suggestions from him to help in recovery (i.e., shorter school day, accomodations for testing, etc.) This is something official that you can take to the school to work out day to day for the rest of this year. Then at the beginning of next year if the problems persist, you can do more indepth testing. You will probably have more answers by then as to what damage is permanent, what is likely to improve with therapy.

My heart goes out to you. I agree. Do not wait for the school. Get a complete neuropsych. evaluation privately.

However, I’m really wondering if “serious concussion” translates into Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. You do not have to loose consciousness to have sustained an MTBI. This diagnosis must come from a doctor (we had a form to fill out). Then, the school diagnostician did do testing (WISC-III, WIAT II & WRAML.) THe speech person did the PVTR-R, the CELF & CASL.

Just today, I was reading that “if the child displays any learning, attention, behavioral or other cognitive difficulties, a neuropsychological evaluation should be undertaken. The school should pay for this but it may require assertiveness & persistence.” (from the Texas Department of Health)
This was specifically related to TBI.

The best book I read, “Coping with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury” by Diane Roberts SToler, Ed.D. She has a website. She suffered one herself. My son had a severe TBI but her book spoke to many of the issues (attention, memory, implusiveness, cognitive processing speed…and more)

I hope that he recovers quickly. I know it’s very, very hard to hang out in the unknown. It’s been a long, hard road for us but the brain can be very resillent and we continue to see positive changes two years post injury. Warm regards, Caran

I am so sorry to hear about your son’s accident. I agree with the others who suggest approaching this as a medical situation for now. Get the doctor to document the problem and you might could check into a 504 plan at school. But by all means, pursue the medical evaluations related to the injury and only after that is stable should you consider a neuro-psych eval. Oh, and maybe find another doctor…I think these symptoms are a valid concern.

Janis

I am a bit confused here. He had an accident and a serious concussion last WEEK? Did I read that right? And you/doctor let him go to baseball practice within a week? I’m really glad you pulled him out, but why did the doctor let him go in the first place? And why is he back in school already?

I am sure the doctor told you that the treatment for concussion, especially a serious concussion, is *rest* — if not get another doctor at light-speed because this one is committing malpractice — and rest means no active sports period, staying home and quiet for at least several days and if possible a couple of weeks, and getting lots of sleep, both at night and possibly daytime naps. The very active stressful day of the usual high-schooler does not fit that description. I also hope that the doctor explained the potential dangers of delayed concussion (ugly, I have had it), dizziness and falls, and the severe danger if he re-injures his head before this first injury is healed.

No, I am not a doctor, but I studied and worked on first aid for several years and this is one of the dangers that was drummed into us.

You need to talk with a doctor immediately about just how serious this concussion is and what activities exactly your son should be doing; and be careful with school advice — doctors are not teachers and they may know little of the modern high school, they may think that if they say “Tell the teacher he needs to keep quiet” that he will just sit at a desk in one room all day, they may not understand that he runs two blocks up several flights of stairs in a mob of two thousand. A good doctor will write a note excusing your son from school for legitimate health reasons for a reasonably long period of time.

Since the accident was only last week, I think it might be a bit early to look to the school for testing. Hopefully, these neuro effects that your son has are not permanent. Most certainly, you should seek follow-up with a neurologist who can do a neuro exam narrowing the field of possibilies, as well as a CT Scan of the Brain and possibly a MRI of the brian. These are needed to find if there is something physically wrong with the brain that may not have shown initially, which can be as simple as the brain swelling. Although simple, it can have tremendous impact on functioning and it can take months for the swelling to recede. Believe it or not, swelling does not usually show in the initial testing but can show days later with a follow-up. Have your doctor call a neurologist and set up an appointment for—you will get in faster with his/her referral; and get a note just stating that your son is under his care and that he will need shortened days for an undefined time period. At this point, he shouldn’t really have to explain to the school why. Seeing a neurologist and getting the CT Scan &/or MRI takes time. With the information from this you can move forward, but I don’t think you really have the time this year for testing at the school level nor do I feel that it is an appropriate move at this time. It has only been one week since the accident, logically there could be something physically there that is causeing problem. Pending what his neuro exam shows I am sure you will could accommodations. I wish you and your son the best of luck, and hope he has a full resolution.

Victoria’s right… we’re talking “head injury” here — you know, in every first aid class you’ve ever taken, the “if there’s a suspected head or spinal injury” with the drum roll. The “if you do the right things, you can get over it - but if you dismiss it too lightly you’ll regret it forever” kind of injury. The kind our neighbor on the swim team got… he didn’t get back in the pool for that season.