Reteaching

• 1). Don't assume. Traumatic brain injuries can have a "Swiss cheese" effect on the brain---some areas are affected and some aren't. Don't assume you will have to start over with very basic activities such as reteaching your child to get dressed independently. And don't assume that simply because your child has been pointing at whatever he wants for so long that he will continue to do it.
  
  
• 2). Be patient. With most brain injuries in children, short-term memory loss occurs. Often, this loss is concentrated on new learning, so tasks will have to be practiced over and over again. Information will have to be repeated over and over again.
  
  
• 3). Set up a consistent routine with consistent behavioral expectations. While this is important for all children and especially all toddlers, it is doubly true for children with special needs. Familiarity and practice will help them remember what they may have forgotten as well as help them learn new things.
  
  
• 4). Develop a consistent vocabulary. While in the future, you may want to worry about using synonyms and expanding vocabulary, right now, it is important that your toddler focuses on linking actions and things with words. If you call her cup her sippy today, call it sippy again tomorrow. If you asked for a hug today, don't ask for a cuddle tomorrow. Make sure all of your child's caregivers use the same words for the same things.
  
  
• 5). Begin slowly. When it's time to start reteaching your child, take it slowly. While he may have healed on the outside, he may still have fatigue and/or depression. Also, everything will be that much harder to learn now. Break each new thing into the smallest steps possible and practice each step over and over before moving on. Teach one new thing at a time and talk about the experience as much as possible.