Traumatic Brain Injuries in Teens

Your child isn't a baby, but your child also isn't an adult yet. As the parent of a teen, you may be used to funny conversations, a child with a growing sense of independence, and, yes, even mood swings. Some days can be challenging, but if your child has suffered a brain injury, you would likely do anything to go back to the "old" challenges.

Now, you need to figure out how to help your teenager not only through adolescence but instead through adolescence with a brain injury.

What's Happening in the Teen Brain?

Teens' brains are still developing and will continue to do so until they become young adults in their mid to late 20s.

The prefrontal cortex is one area of the brain that continues to mature during the teen years. This part of the brain is responsible for things like planning and impulse control.

With a brain injury, normal brain development and brain activity may be impacted.

What Many Teens With Brain Injuries Experience

After a brain injury, teens may experience issues with:

  • Attention and concentration. They may have trouble staying alert and focusing on their work and activities. Taking notes, studying, taking tests, following directions at work or in extracurricular activities, and other skills that require attention and concentration may be challenging.
  • Information processing. Information processing involves interpreting information learned from the senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch and responding to it. If your teen takes longer to process sensory information than a typical teen, your child may have trouble keeping up in the classroom, activities, and social environments.
  • Memory. Taking in new information and remembering it later is a critical skill in many different areas of your teen's life. Without typical memory recall, your child may struggle.
  • Executive functioning. The brain's ability to reason, plan, organize, and solve problems may be impacted by your child's injury. Executive functioning issues may affect your teen's grades and your teen's social interactions and safety.
  • Fatigue. Your teen has demanding days. It can be hard to get through a school day, after school activities, work, and fun events if your child is consistently tired.
  • Emotional and behavior control. Brain injuries can make it hard for your child to control emotions and behaviors, which can cause problems with peers, employers, and teachers.

Your child's doctor and specialists will identify your child's particular needs and develop an appropriate treatment plan.

You Are Not Alone: What to Do If Your Teen Has a Brain Injury

Other teens and their parents are also struggling with brain injury recoveries. Brain injuries are common among children and adolescents. You may be able to find support from other families through local brain injury support groups.

If your teen suffered a brain injury in a car crash, motorcycle wreck, slip and fall, or other personal injury accident, then our Wisconsin personal injury lawyers are here to help. We want to help your child make a full financial recovery, including compensation for past and future:

  • Medical costs such as hospitalizations, surgeries, medications, doctors' appointments, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, psychological counseling, and any other medical or rehabilitation needs.
  • Lost income for the income your child can't earn in part-time jobs, but also for future lost income if your child suffered a long-term or lifelong brain injury.
  • Out-of-pocket expenses including any modifications you had to make to your home, extra tutoring your child needs, or any other accommodations made necessary by your child's injury.
  • Pain and suffering for the emotional suffering and physical pain your child must endure.

If your child is under the age of 18 or you have guardianship over your adult child, then you may bring a lawsuit on your child's behalf. Otherwise, your child may file a lawsuit and you may provide support and guidance.

Please contact us today for a free consultation to learn more about how a personal injury case may protect your child's future after a brain injury accident and about our Win or It's Free Guarantee.

 

Jason F. Abraham
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Helping car accident and personal injury victims throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa since 1993.