Grace's Dad

I sorry to hear your Grace is struggling so. Starting a new school can be tough without PCS.

I don't think an accurate diagnosis is the key. The more important issue is understanding the symptoms. The symptoms sound like classic PCS. If you will download Dr Johnson's TBI Survival Guide at http://www.drakecenter.com/file.axd?...vivalGuide.pdf, it will explain the symptoms best. Print it out and have a few copies for the whole family to read. You will have many 'ah ha' moments.

Each symptom needs to be looked at separately. Some are a able to be combined once you understand them. Grace is likely grossly overstimulated by school. This is a big stressor. Then she also has the normal stress of starting high school.

She likely has trouble with too much sound and too much visual stimulation. Walking down the hall with different voices everywhere is likely the biggest over-stimulation.

She will probably benefit from wearing foam ear plugs. This will cut down on the back ground sounds. The yellow foam ones work best for me. She can get custom ear plugs made at a hearing aid shop. They call them Musician's Ear Plugs. They look nicer. She can try the foam plugs to see if they help then get the Musician's Ear Plugs (about $175 a pair).

If the school allows her to, she can try a IPod with ear buds playing soothing sounds.

Sun glasses may also help.

The pediatric neurologist can also prescribe an IEP. Individual Education Plan. These can help her with school struggles.

Another struggle she may be having is wildly cycling hormones. A concussion can cause hormone struggles. And Grace is right in the middle of those years. You both can try to track her symptoms on a chart of her cycle. Finding a good doctor to help with hormone issues will be difficult.

It will also help to keep a journal of her symptoms. You both should keep one. Your observations will be different than hers. Include environmental and other conditions, i.e. noise, bright lights, exercise, reading, and any intense tasks. The journal entries will be valuable to a good concussion doctor.

It is likely that she will need to learn to live with these condition while she lets her brain heal. It will heal best when she minimizes stress loads and gets good rest and nutrition.

Be willing to slow everything down. Acknowledge her struggles. Don't try to fix her. Men tend to want to fix things. No, "All you need to do is..." comments. Be careful with the "You are doing so much better today" comments. You only see the tip of the iceberg. She lives with the whole iceberg. If you see a little struggle, she sees it at ten times worse.

Let us know how you all are doing. This is stressful on the whole family.

My best to you.