Brain Injury Support Group
Traumatic brain injury occurs when a sudden trauma causes brain damage. TBI can result from a closed head injury or a penetrating head injury. Symptoms of a TBI can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the extent of the damage to the brain. Outcome can be anything from complete recovery to permanent disability or death. A coma can also affect a child's brain.
My son is 4 years post-injury. His executive dysfunction makes it difficult for him to access his remaining cognitive abilities. He exited himself from rehab after about 7 months then went into a downward spiral which he is now climbing out of. (He's been sober for 6 months - woohoo!)
I'd like to see if there is some kind of rehab that will help him improve his executive function and/or compensate for his dysfunction.
Does anyone have any recommendations of specific therapies that have worked for your loved ones?
Thanks in advance for your help.
HayMom
I'd like to see if there is some kind of rehab that will help him improve his executive function and/or compensate for his dysfunction.
Does anyone have any recommendations of specific therapies that have worked for your loved ones?
Thanks in advance for your help.
HayMom
The "Brain Doc" that oversaw the team that provided my rehab told me there is no actually therapy for executive function. She said, instead, she looks at other factors that help support the executive function part of our brain. Let me see if I can remember the things she said. They included:
-pain
-sleep
-hydration
-mood
All of those above tend to get intertwined. I.e. in my case, I deal with a lot of pain. And the particular pain I have is in the back of my head, so it gets worse when I lie down. Hence, trouble sleeping. And then of course my mood gets pretty bad.
So my Doctors look to provide pain relief for me and help with sleep. And I've been highly encouraged to continually hydrate (which helps reduce the headaches.)
So, my recommendations to you would be to observe if your son has any of these continuing issues and then help him address those problems. The less troublesome those things are, the easier it is for some of those executive function skills to come through.
I've definitely experienced it firsthand - even this week. My pain got really bad. And I notice (after the fact) when it gets really bad, my problem solving skills go out the window.
http://www.memoryaidmagazine.com/get-a-free-issue1.html
Thanks again!
HayMom