Head Injury and Later Reading Disability

Recovery in Memory Function, and its Relationship to Academic Success, at 24 Months Following Pediatric TBI*

“…While the mild TBI group achieved the highest scores, the severe TBI group performed more strongly than the moderate TBI group at all time points. These results do not support Schaffer et al (1980), where one third of the sample was reading at least 24 months behind their chronological age, with the suggestion that the effect of head injury on reading ability is mediated through a lowering of general intelligence. A possible explanation involves the preinjury level of these skills.…”

“…While a number of studies report impairments in cognitive skills, as measured by tests of intellectual functioning and academic achievement (Berger-Gross & Schackelford, 1985;Brink et al, 1970;Chadwick et al, 1981;Costeff, Groswasser, & Goldstein, 1990;Ewing-Cobbs et al, 1989;Ewing-Cobbs et al, 1997;Jaffe, Polissar, Fay, & Liao, 1995;Kinsella et al, 1997;Schaffer, Bijur, Chadwick, & Rutter, 1980), it may be that memory impairments underlie these depressed performances, as the ability to store, and later recall information, is crucial for future normal development, academic and social success, and independent functioning (Miller & Donders, 2003;Quemada et al, 2003). Furthermore, as depressed memory skills may lead to poor skill acquisition over time, cumulative deficits may be seen over time, further widening the gap between the injured child and same age peers (Dennis, 1989).…”

Early Brain Injury in Children: Development and Reorganization of Cognitive Function

“…Mild TBI in school-aged children and adolescents is generally regarded as leaving no permanent measurable neuropsychological sequelae (Asarnow et al, 1995;Bijur & Haslum, 1995;Fay et al, 1993). However, infants and preschool-aged children may be disproportionately affected by TBI ranging from mild to severe in the areas of intelligence (Anderson, Catroppa, Morse, Haritou, & Rosenfeld, 2000;Anderson et al, 1997;Ewing-Cobbs, Miner, Fletcher, & Levin, 1989), speeded perceptual motor tasks (Thompson et al, 1994), sustained and selective attention (Dennis, Wilkinson, Koski, & Humphreys, 1995;EwingCobbs, Prasad, et al, 1998), metacognition and executive functions (Dennis, Barnes, Donnelly, Wilkinson, & Humphreys, 1996;Levin et al, 1996;Levin, Song, Ewing-Cobbs, Chapman, & Mendelsohn, 2001), language and discourse (Brookshire, Chapman, Song, & Levin, 2000;Chapman et al, 1992;Chapman, Levin, Matejka, Harward, & Kufera, 1995;Ewing-Cobbs, Levin, Eisenberg, & Fletcher, 1987), and word decoding (Barnes, Dennis, & Wilkinson, 1999;EwingCobbs et al, in press;Shaffer, Bijur, & Rutter, 1980;Wrightson, McGinn, & Gronwall, 1995).…”

“…For example, focal left hemisphere injury may also impede the development of reading skills in people with TBI (Barnes et al, 1999;Shaffer et al, 1980). Diffuse brain injuries appear to independently affect the acquisition of word-decoding skills in young children and of reading comprehension skills in 688 EWING-COBBS, BARNES, FLETCHER older children and adolescents.…”

Academic Achievement and Academic Placement Following Traumatic Brain Injury in Children and Adolescents: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study

“…Because word decoding skills develop rapidly during early elementary years and reading comprehension has a more prolonged developmental trajectory, injury at different stages of development may differentially affect components of reading skills. Shaffer, Bijur, Chadwick, and Rutter (1980) identified a higher prevalence of reading disorder in children with longer duration of coma who sustained depressed skull fractures with cortical injury prior to 8 years of age than in older children. In contrast, no relationship was noted between injury severity and reading performance in children greater than 8 years of age Downloaded by [University of Connecticut] at 01:17 08 October 2014 at the time of injury.…”