Pediatric Brain Injuries
About one million children are injured annually from traumatic brain injury. About 200,000 require hospitalization and about 18–20,000 suffer severe injury.
About half of all traumatic brain injuries in children occur between ages 16 to 21
The age groups that are most at risk for a traumatic brain injury is between ages 0–4 and 16–21. Car accidents and truck crashes are among the common causes of serious brain injury in children and adolescents.
A Brain Injury Will Develop with the Child and Will Likely Become More Disabling Over Time
For children and adolescents whose brains are still developing, deficits unfold as the child gets older, especially children with serious brain injury who are injured under the age of five years. If traumatic brain injury occurs at five years of age or under there is a likelihood of significant deficits in cognition, attention and concentration, memory, problem solving, integrated thinking, and executive functioning that will continue to negatively impact learning and academic achievement throughout the child’s life.
A Child's Brain Injury Traps Them Emotionally and Intellectually at a Young Age
These deficits, altered academic abilities, and loss of several important brain functions will compromise ability to learn, socialize, work competitively and be as independent as peers. Additionally pediatric traumatic brain injury puts the child at greater risk for long term learning and developmental problems. As such, it will be more difficult to learn more complex information and to learn the skills needed to function as an independent adult.
Pediatric Brain Injuries are Different From Adult Brain Injury
Pediatric brain injuries are devastating not only for the child but also for the parent. The emotional, physical and financial demands on the parents of a brain injured child are crushing. Therefore, a lawyer handling this type of case must have the background and resources available to prove the nature and extent of the brain injury.
Proving the nature of this type of injury requires an understanding of specific brain anatomy, proving the extent requires an understanding of the long term prognosis for the child and parents.
The DiCello Law Firm will Dedicate the Resources Necessary to Help Children
These cases involve experts in various areas of psychology, psychiatry, neuropsychiatry as well as a variety of other disciplines. The DiCello Law Firm’s lawyers will evaluate your case thoroughly and explore all potential sources of recovery. We will help you decide your best course of action and we will develop the best legal strategy for handling you and your child’s claim.