Most students who get a concussion or a head injury will recover fully and quickly. But there’s a window when their symptoms are prohibitive to their learning.
In many cases, injured students “were essentially on their own, and struggled in silence,” said David Kracke, a lawyer who serves as Oregon’s brain injury advocate coordinator for the Center on Brain Injury Research and Training at the University of Oregon.
More than 50,000 children are hospitalized each year nationwide with an acquired brain injury, according to research. Teachers can expect to have at least one student with history of a concussion or head injury in their class each year.
A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is caused by a blow, bump, or jolt to the head or body and can cause physical, cognitive, and perception symptoms—things like headaches, nausea, confusion or disorientation, changes in sleep patterns, frustration and irritability, sensitivity to light and sound, or fatigue. A concussion is a mild form of a TBI.
For youths who were injured playing a sport, all 50 states have approved legislation focused on return to play: protecting students from jumping back into the game too early and therefore increasing their risk for compounding concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
But return-to-school protocols are harder to come by. The Society of Health and Physical Educators, or SHAPE America, has reported that at least a dozen states have concussion laws on the books with language about injured students resuming normal academic activities.
Even in states without such a law, advocates and researchers say schools can take key steps to keep injured students from falling through the cracks.
Below, a downloadable tip sheet spells out advice for educators to consider when they have a student in their class who suffers from a concussion or TBI.
