Stimulation Tools for Brain-Damaged Kids

A child with a traumatic brain injury can present serious challenges to parents trying to cope with their child's special needs and treatment. Tools are available to assist parents and medical professionals with treating children with brain injuries. These tools consist of methods, objects and medications designed to stimulate the child's brain while not overloading it.

Physical Stimulation

• Light physical activities with a child with a cerebral injury increases their blood flow and elevates their senses. Exercise stimulates the brain by activating the brain's messenger chemicals and helps to stimulate the link between the muscles and the nervous system. The nature of what exercises children can do depends on how they are physically affected by their brain injury. Light activities like stretching, yoga, or swimming can be accomplished with or without the participation of adult supervision.

Sense Stimulation

• Taking a child with brain trauma to a natural environment, like a forest or a park, can be a highly physically and sensory-stimulating event. Natural environments contain shifting sense information such as breezes, patterns of sunlight and shade, scents, and a variety of textures. Toys designed to help with sense stimulation are made with children living with brain injuries. These toys are brightly colored and incorporate simple tasks such as stacking, fitting objects together and re-learning language.

Mental Stimulation

• Mental stimulation activities help children with language and learning, and can stimulate their minds to assist in gaining mental strength, focus and agility. Flash cards of shapes, numbers and objects have long been used to re-train children with traumatic brain injuries. Computer programs have been developed by mental health specialists to help stimulate a child's brain in order to reform the neural networks it requires to learn and function optimally.