Independent Speech, LLC

Safe Kids Week

taken from: www.safekids.org

The first week of May has been set aside as Safe Kids Week.  It was determined that summer is the most dangerous time of the year for kids.  This is probably due to the increase in the amount of outside activities children are able to engage in during the warm months and with no school they are able to be outside more often and often with less supervision.

Safe Kids week was started by SAFE KIDS USA an organization dedicated to preventing unintentional injury, death and disability in children primarily between the ages of 1 and 14.  You can visit their website to learn more about how you can keep your children safe at home, in the car and during a variety of activities both indoors and out.

Take this opportunity to think about how you can protect your children this summer months.   We hear about so many bicycle accidents, car accidents, swimming accidents, etc throughout the summer (and the whole year).  There are many simple ways to help keep your kids safe this summer such as making sure they wear helmets, are supervised when swimming (at all times) and are aware of what activities are safe and unsafe.  For example, riding your skateboard down the street is safe but trying to jump your skateboard off a home-made ramp may not be so safe.  If your child is interested in things like this find safer ways for them to participate.  Continuing with this example, there are many indoor and outdoor skate parks where kids can learn how to jump and flip properly and if they do fall there are trained personnel there to provide immediate assistance.

Why be concerned/cautious?  One of the things to be aware of is a TBI.  TBI stands for Traumatic Brain Injury and happens more frequently than one would think.  A TBI is an injury to the brain caused by a blow to the head.  This could be caused by falling off a bike, skateboard, scooter, etc. or any number of other accidents.  Some are mild and may go undiagnosed for a period of time.  Some children may be afraid to tell their parents that they bumped their head or may downplay how serious it was so they don’t scare their parents or not be allowed to participate in the activity. Some don’t know how serious head injuries can be and concussions are often dismissed as “nothing serious”.  For more information about concussions please read our blog post titled “Concussions Need to be Taken Seriously!”

When looking at children between 0 and 14 years of age.  It is estimated that each year a TBI causes:

• 2,685 deaths;
• 37,000 hospitalizations; and
• 435,000 emergency department visits.
• About 75% of TBIs that occur each year are concussions or other forms of mild TBI (these are cases that might not be seen immediately because people don’t think they require medical attention).

Of course, these numbers do not take into account those people who do not seek medical attention for their concussion or blow to the head so they may be lower than the actual numbers across the country.

Numbers are one thing, but the reality of a TBI is the long-term effects of a brain injury.  These effects are life-long and can impact every part of a person’s daily life. A TBI can cause difficulties with:

• Thinking (i.e., memory and reasoning or problem solving);
• Sensation (i.e., touch, taste, and smell, hearing);
• Language (i.e., communication, expression, and understanding);
• Emotion (i.e., depression, anxiety, personality changes, aggression, acting out, and social inappropriateness).
• TBI’s can also cause epilepsy and can increase the risk for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other age related brain disorders.

Many people who have experienced a TBI find speech therapy helpful in learning how to compensate for deficiencies or difficulties in their language skills, thinking skills and social interaction (pragmatic language) skills.  Speech therapy can provide the person with much needed tools and strategies to help them function in everyday tasks and situations as well as in academic situations.

So, with this in mind take the time to think about what activities your children are going to engage in over the summer and how you can help to make them a little safer.  They may grumble now but when they grow up and have children of their own they will begin to understand that you only wanted them to be safe because you loved them!

If you (or a loved one) has experienced a TBI whether mild or severe and are experiencing any of the difficulties mentioned above or are wondering if you could benefit from speech therapy please contact one of our speech pathologists to discuss your concerns and to see if speech therapy may be beneficial for you.

Please feel free to contact us anytime.  You can reach us by:

Phone at 1-877-480-7913

E-mail to: info@independentspeech.com

or through our website at: www.independentspeech.com