When the effects of a brain injury persist for years or for the rest of a child’s life, they are considered long term. While long-term effects of brain injury are generally associated with severe brain injury, in some situations even mild and moderate brain injury can result in long-term effects. Long-term effects may include the following:

• Cognitive issues, such as trouble concentrating, trouble learning new information, trouble organizing thoughts, and trouble solving problems or making decisions.
• Trouble with speech and language, including slurring words, inability to form sentences or articulate words, and difficulty reading and writing.
• Difficulty controlling emotions, and behavior disorders, such as impulsivity and poor judgment.
• Seizures, especially if the temporal lobe of the brain was injured.
• Issues concerning movement, if the centers of the brain that control movement were injured.

It’s important for parents to remember that the brains of children are much more flexible than the brains of adults, and therefore can compensate for injuries fairly effectively. Because of this it’s very difficult during the time immediately following the injury for even the most knowledgeable of doctors to accurately predict the long-term effects that may result from your child’s brain injury. While a loose prognosis may be made depending upon whether your child’s injury was mild, moderate, or severe, it’s important to maintain hope, and to give your child the best chance of long-term recovery by ensuring that she gets the treatments and therapies that she needs.