Sudden Change in behavior

[ambersmommy]

My daughter will be 8 in May. about two years ago, she suffered a concussion when she fell on a playground, which knocked her unconcscious. She hit the back of her head on concrete. We went through the scans, and the doctors cleared her, but I started noticing sudden drastic behavior changes. She could not concentrate, or control her impulses in class any more, her behavior reports from school included tales of her not staying in her seat, or leaving the group to go somewhere - as soon as she felt something was necessary, she acted upon it, without thought. She would tell me she TRIES, but it is really hard. Then she began regressing. As a toddler, she never had the "terrible twos", but at 7 years of age, she would have complete meltdowns over seemingly trivial things. Her ability to deal with emotions has become nonexistant, if she is angered, she screams and cries at the top of her lungs and throws things - if someone hurts her feelings at school or camp, she will still cry about it weeks later.

Another piece of the backstory - her father and I have been divorced since she was 4 months old, due to his drug/alcohol use and progression into physical abuse. Since that time, he is on his third marriage, the second ending in the same pattern as our own.

I took my daughter to see a therapist, hoping that maybe we needed some behavior modification, or maybe something she was witnessing at her fathers house could be discussed openly with a "safe" ear... since she won't tell me what is bothering her. The doctor suggested we see a nuerologist, to make sure we weren't dealing with lasting damage. Her memory has also been affected, by the time she gets to the top of the stairs, she forgets what she went upstairs to do. The nuerologist only did the squeeze my finger, follow my finger with your eyes exam, and sent us back out the door.

She has never shown signs of ADD/ADHD - and I do not want these symptoms to sound as if she simply needs ritalin. These behaviors happened in the matter of a month or two since her accident.

Am I missing something? What should I do to help my daughter through whatever it is? It is obviously hurting her, but I can't make it better if I don't know where to start!

[RockRose]

Just doing a quick google search,  I found this pretty comprehensive website on post concussion syndrome,  and therapies.

http://www.brain-injury-therapy.com/articles/brain_injury.htm

[RockRose]

It certainly sounds like a head injury to me.    The good side of this is,  she's young,  and minor head injuries in young people can heal better than in adults.

You need to have her see a head injury therapist.  There are cognitive things she can do to improve her behaviors and memory.

Best wishes.