GUEST POST- 'The Children's Trust': A child living with a ‘hidden disability’

A child living with a ‘hidden disability’

Did you know, according to draft NHS figures around 40,000 children suffer an acquired brain injury (ABI) every year as a result of an accident or illness?

Just as each child is unique, so is the way they respond to a brain injury. There are two main types of brain injury: ‘traumatic’ caused by a blow to the head such as a road traffic accident or fall, and ‘non traumatic’ caused by illness such as meningitis, a brain tumour or stroke. But there is an enormous range of difficulties a child might face – from subtle problems with memory, or speech to serious, long-term, physical and learning disabilities.

The majority of children and young people with an ABI developed normally until having a serious accident or sudden illness. Sometimes the physical, cognitive and behavioural changes are very noticeable.

But other children who appear to have made a good physical recovery may have no visible signs of a brain injury, and the expectation is that they will settle back quickly into family and school life.

It is this latter group that may start to have problems particularly at points of transition e.g. starting senior school. They may have problems with their behaviour, attention, memory, organisation or planning skills, and could get tired more easily. They may struggle to keep up in school and social relationships can suffer. Ongoing specialist support might be needed to help them adapt to academic life and reach their full potential.

The Children's Trust is the UK’s leading charity for children with acquired brain injury, multiple disabilities and complex health needs. Our services include brain injury rehabilitation and community-based support, working with hundreds of children and young people from across the UK.

We developed our Brain Injury Community Team to help these children and young people, support the network around them (their family, siblings and school) and aid them in understanding their needs and how to manage them.

The Children’s Trust also runs the Brain Injury Hub, an online information resource to share its brain injury expertise, which includes an interactive forum.

If you would like to find out more about The Children’s Trust visit www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk If you’d like to know more about brain injury please visit the

Brain Injury Hub, The Children’s Trust’s information website www.braininjuryhub.co.uk.

Thank you to Michelle from The Children's Trust as my first guest blogger! If anyone else would like to write a post please contact me on twitter @LaurenpreSLT or by email llongh@essex.ac.uk