Brain trauma pioneer W ORKING WITH CHILDREN WHO HAVE SUSTAINED NEURODAMAGE Kevan Craig, MD, instructor, physical medicine/rehabilitation, School of Medicine, poses with Devin Holiday. Devin is the victim of a hit-and-run accident and was in a coma for a period of time. Dr. Ashwal regularly refers patients like Devin to Dr. Craig for rehabilitation. When children do not act like childrenwhen they don't run around playing with a sense of reckless abandon, their faces full of mischief and lifesomething is obviously wrong. But what of the children who have had their childlike characteristics taken from them as the result of a traumatic brain injury, or a developmental problem? Their cases are no less disheartening to witness. Stephen Ashwal, MD, professor of pediatrics, School of Medicine, specializes in dealing with children who suffer from traumatic brain injury and other forms of neurodamage. The term "brain injury" refers to any injury of the brain. It can be caused by fracture or penetration of the skull (such as in the case of a vehicle accident, fall, or gunshot wound), a disease process (neurotoxins, infections, tumors, metabolic abnormalities, etc.), or a closed head injury such as in the case of Shaken Baby Syndrome, or rapid acceleration or deceleration of the head. These injuries can have devastating lifelong effects on the physical and mental functioning of the survivor. | |
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