Virginia Child Injury Lawyer » hearing loss http://virginiachildinjurylawyer.com Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:37:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 What If Your Child Hurts Her Head? How Do You Know If It’s Serious? http://virginiachildinjurylawyer.com/my-child-hurt-her-head-does-she-have-a-brain-injury-how-do-i-know-if-its-serious http://virginiachildinjurylawyer.com/my-child-hurt-her-head-does-she-have-a-brain-injury-how-do-i-know-if-its-serious#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:36:41 +0000 srohrstaff http://virginiachildinjurylawyer.com/?p=477 Most of the time, when a child hurts her head, she gets well and has no ongoing problems. However, with brain injuries, some children may have problems that are hard to notice right away. One by one, the problems may not seem so unusual. But, in the case of a brain injury, the problems don’t go away. Here are things to look out for — especially if they don’t go away.

HEADACHES that keep coming back or other pain in and around the head (e.g., the eyes or jaw)

BALANCE or dizziness problems

SENSORY problems -bothered by smells or light or sounds or has blurry or double vision; changes in taste or appetite; feels too hot or too cold; hearing loss or ringing in ears

Changes in SLEEP patterns – doesn’t sleep through the night, sleeps too much, gets days and nights mixed up

PAIN problems – especially frequent pain in neck and shoulders or other places on the body that are unexplained

BEHAVIOR changes – in personality or mood; irritable, restless, upset, frustrated easily; overreacts, cries or laughs too easily; mood swings, wants to be alone or away from people, is afraid or others, blames others; wants to be taken care of, doesn’t know how to act with people, takes risks without thinking; is sad, depressed, can’t “get started” doing anything, is tired, drowsy or slow to respond; trips, falls, drops things, is awkward; eats too little, eats all the time, or eats thing that aren’t food; takes off clothes in public; for older children: has different sexual behavior, starts using or has a different reaction to alcohol or drugs

THINKING Problems – can’t remember things, has trouble paying attention, reacts slowly, thinks slowly, takes things too literally, doesn’t get jokes; understands words but not their meaning; thinks about the same thing over and over; has trouble learning new things, putting things in order (desk, room, papers), making decisions; planning, starting, doing and finishing a task and emembering to do things on time; makes poor choices (loss of common sense)

COMMUNICATING- changes the subject, has trouble staying on topic; has trouble reading, listening, thinking of the right word, paying attention and having long conversations; doesn’t say things clearly, talks too much

If your child exhibits any of these problems AND THEY DO NOT GO AWAY, call your doctor.

The Washington State Traumatic Brain Injury Council has more information on what to look out for and what to do if your child has suffered a brain injury.

If your child has hurt her head and has any of these problems that do not go away, you should speak to a lawyer experienced in representing children with traumatic brain injuries. Your child needs a strong advocate, and you need the best information you can get. I will be glad to answer your questions about rights your child may have to recover for her losses from her brain injury caused by someone else. Call me at 703-260-6070, send me an email at Sandra@RohrstaffLaw.com or contact me through our website, www.RohrstaffLaw.com.

]]> http://virginiachildinjurylawyer.com/my-child-hurt-her-head-does-she-have-a-brain-injury-how-do-i-know-if-its-serious/feed 0 Does Your Child Hear You? http://virginiachildinjurylawyer.com/does-your-child-hear-you http://virginiachildinjurylawyer.com/does-your-child-hear-you#comments Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:06:55 +0000 srohrstaff http://virginiachildinjurylawyer.com/?p=56 My daughter-in-law is an early childhood educator and a doctoral candidate  in Reading at the University of Virginia.  She sent me this link to the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association, an organization that educates about and advocates for early detection and access to resources for young chidren with hearing disabilities. 

Hearing loss can have a profound effect on your child’s ability to communicate.  My daughter-in-law says that “hearing impairments impact critical language development from birth.  Infants who suffer with undetected hearing loss will undoubtedly have their path to success with literacy negatively and permanent impacted by delayed language development.” 

A child’s hearing loss can be caused by injury during childbirth, a traumatic injury or an undetected infection, among other causes.  If you suspect your child has a hearing loss, do not delay in getting help.

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