A new study suggests that students who had suffered from concussion may have difficulty learning and retaining knowledge at school. Researchers recommend that parents should enroll them under personalized reintroduction programs until they are fully recovered before sending them back to school.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a concussion is a head trauma resulting from a bump, blow, or jolt to the head. It usually happens when someone falls or by shaking the head rapidly. Some of the common effects of concussions are difficulty in remembering things, headaches, irritability, and sleep disturbances. Recovery time varies for days, weeks, and even longer with older adults and children taking the longest time to fully recover.
Doctors recommend that patients take a break for the brain to heal and before returning to normal activities like going back to school for students. Not giving the brain a break may push it too hard and make the healing process longer, worsening the effects of the concussion.
Many parents often send their children back to school after the standard recovery period which is usually between two to four weeks. However, a study led by Dr. Mark Halstead from the Division of Orthopedic Surgery in Non-operative Sports Medicine of Washington University suggests that parents should not opt to send their children back to school immediately as it may worsen the effects of the concussion and result to poor academic performance.
Researchers suggest that teachers and parents reconsider the process of transitioning the children who had concussion back to school. They recommend schools to create a personalized reintroduction program that will fit short-term learning difficulties of these children. The program should be a collaboration of the pediatrician, teachers, and family to create a personal recovery profile as each concussion is unique.
“The goal is to minimize disruptions to the student's life and return the student to school as soon as possible, and as symptoms improve, to increase the student's social, mental and physical activities," Halstead said.
The study was published in the online journal Pediatrics.
