May Mailbag

As the sports season winds down at the high school I am finally getting to the various emails I have received. I do truly enjoy the many stories and questions I get here, often times they are very learned for me; which translates to more information for you the reader.

I picked out one such email and gained permission to reprint it here. The sole purpose of this email is to get feedback about the return to learn aspect of concussions. Tom would like you to give it a read and make comments below.

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Return To Learn in the High School

I am an athletic trainer in a high school in the north suburbs of Chicago. We have a concussion program in place and see about 80 concussion a year in our athletics. I am fortunate to have some control over the return to learn side of concussions in my school. I have found that this is essential in order to properly manage a concussion. I find when physicians only see an athlete once and set accommodations for a determined amount of time, it does a disservice. The same is true if the time between physician evaluations is too long, especially when kids are kept out of school for long periods of time. I find many concussion students don’t need to be out of school, and those that do usually have their symptoms decrease significantly within 1-3 days.  Many times concussions progress rapidly and Continue reading

Academic Accommodations

In the most recent Journal of Athletic Training, Neal McGrath was published about the accommodations that may need to be made for concussed students.  This topic is one that is commonly overlooked by those that care for the student-athlete that has a concussion.  The every day tasks of walking in a hallway at a high school can be very difficult.

Below are the accommodations that were suggested, if you jump to the article you will see the rationale for each.

  • Excused Absence
  • Rest Periods During Day
  • Extension of Assignments
  • Postponement or Staggering of Tests
  • Excuse from Specific Tests
  • Extended Testing Time
  • Accommodations to Sensitivity to Noise/Light
  • Excuse from PE/Sports
  • Avoid other Physical Exertion
  • Use of Reader for Tests/Assignments
  • Use of Note Taker/Scribe
  • Use of Smaller/Quieter Testing Room
  • Preferential Classroom Seating
  • Use of Tutor