I am raising my granddaughter who in now almost 18. At 6 months old, she fell from a countertop onto a concrete floor and suffered a skull fracture. At the age of 17, after a myriad of problems and her not taking ADHD meds, we finally had a therapist come into our home to help us. After doing the intake paperwork and learning of her history, it was finally determined that she is suffering from the results of the brain injury she received as an infant. She is currently in residential treatment at NeuroRestorative. She is due to come home July 1st. I am not sure that she will be ready.

I was wondering if anyone here has a child who suffered TBI and how you cope with it.

Morningstar,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry for your grand daughter's injury. I can't imagine what you have been through.

I don't think you should be too worried about her coming home in July. If you have already experienced her without the benefit of therapy and help, things can only be looking up.

Do you know what kind of therapies she has been receiving? Has she had much interaction with family during her in-patient rehab.

Have they identified her disabilities?

Has she graduated from high school?

I can understand her rejection of ADHD meds. I grew up with many ADHD characteristics after my brain injury. I am glad stimulants like those used for ADD/ADHD were not available back then. The drugs that did the most for me were Dilantin and Phenobarbital.

If you are still trying to understand her symptoms and behaviors, post your questions and we will help you out with our experience and knowledge.

So, relax and spend the next two months learning about TBI issues. Knowledge is powerful.

btw, 30 years ago, my son took a header off the couch at about 10 months old and hit his head on the bottom shelf of a coffee table. It left him with a shelf shaped indent on the back of his head that is still visible today. The x-rays did not show any fractures and he did not exhibit any symptoms. It sure was a scare for first time young parents.



My best to you.

Hi,
Though I don't have a child who suffered a TBI, I myself suffered a TBI at 3 months old, and am around your granddaughter's age as well (I'm 19), if that matters much.

As far as coping with it I don't know what to tell you...what I tend to do is find new ways of doing things that I have problems with, basically like I'm functioning around the issues. This wasn't really something I intentionally starting doing, obviously I was unaware of my head injury for a great portion of my life so this is just how I learned to live. Some things I figured out, some things I still have problems with...will I ever get around those problems, I don't know.

I honestly don't know if I had anything useful to say here, and I don't know if the little bit I did say was helpful at all...but I almost never hear from others who have experience with TBI in infancy, and I really just wanted to offer my support to you, your granddaughter, and everyone else going through this tough situation.