The trauma of paediatric and adolescent brain injury: issues and implications for rehabilitation specialists

The purpose of this article is to define critical issues facing rehabilitation specialists providing services to children or adolescents with a brain injury and their families. These issues will be identified as they evolve temporally--from the period immediately after the injury to many years post-trauma. As the young person heals, the focus of the issues and the recommendations (based on both the clinical experience of the authors as well as the extensive body of literature already in existence) will change from those more appropriate to rehabilitation specialists working in the medical environment to those employed in education and the psychosocial realm. However, the boundaries between these realms, because of the all encompassing nature of the injury, are fluid. Finally, the purpose of this article is also to establish the need for rehabilitation specialists who are educated about traumatic brain injury; who are well versed in the physical, cognitive and emotional sequellae of the injury; who recognize the unique needs and expectations of this population and are willing to adjust; and who are willing to face the challenge that their clients face.