Question:
i have just learned about the field of cognitive rehab from some posts on this list. my daughter had a head injury 8 years ago and has multiple mild cognitive deficits. can someone tell me what can be done to address these deficits...what type of professional is best to handle them ?

Answer: Your school people seem to suffer from the same tunnel vision as many other professionals who deal with a broad range of developmental disabilities. They seem to believe that if there are no global deficits then there are no real problems. They need to understand that an acquired or traumatic brain injury can be very tricky. There can be problems with focusing and maintaining attention, becoming exhausted with mental and/or physical tasks, and initiating tasks, without much global impairment in IQ testing. However, all of the above, along with numerous other consequences of head injury can and do significantly affect head injury. Insist that the school have your daughter tested by a competent neuropsychologist with a great deal of experience in the field. Contact you local head injury association. The national office's telephone number is 1-800-444-6443. They should be able to help you locate a local affiliate. They should also be able to provide you with materials you can share with you child's school. There are cognitive retraining and compensatory strategies that can be used to help overcome the consequences of head injury, but first everyone must agree that there is a problem. Others on this list should be able to direct you to past issues of the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation which dealt with educational issues, along with some other materials. Good luck, and never let someone try to tell you that they know all about head injury because they have 15 years experience dealing with mental retardation,