After a
concussion, parents and coaches often ask when their child can
return to their sport or to recreational activities. However, it is also important to remember that children are "students" first and "athletes" second.
Before a child can even consider returning to high-risk (contact) athletic activities, they need to readjust to the social and academic demands of school. While recovering, they can participate in low-risk, non-contact light aerobic activity as tolerated. This has been shown to promote faster recovery from concussion.
AAP policy explained
Learn more about American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
guidance on returning to school after a concussion.How concussions affect learning
A concussion is an injury that temporarily disrupts normal function of the brain. A concussion will usually affect a child's ability to:
When can a child with a concussion return to school?
The first few days following a concussion, when the brain is healing, a child's symptoms may make it hard to attend school. Brain cells will recover gradually over time. Effects of the concussion should ease as symptoms become more tolerable and manageable. Most children will recover fully from a concussion within 4 weeks of their injury.
It is not necessary for a child to be 100% symptom-free before returning to school. Research has shown that returning to school with academic support 48 hours after the injury—when symptoms have begun to ease—results in the quickest recovery.
Once concussion symptoms have decreased and light thinking and physical activities are tolerable for up to 30 to 45 minutes, a child should return to school with supports like academic adjustments. This will usually happen within a 2-3 days after injury. Prolonged absences from school after a concussion is discouraged.
School concussion policies & procedures
Check with your child's school to see if your district or school has a policy/procedure in place to help students recovering from a concussion succeed when they return to school. If not, consider working with your child's school administration to develop such a policy/procedure.
School concussion policy/procedure statements can include:
The district's or school's commitment to safety
A brief description of concussion for teachers and suggestions for academic adjustments; teachers should temporarily reduce cognitive (thinking) demands because brain stamina is low after a concussion.
A plan to help students ease back into school life (learning, social activity, etc.)
Information on when students can safely return to physical activity following a concussion
Returning to school does
not mean returning to play!
To reduce the risk of another brain injury, a child with a concussion should temporarily not participate in high-risk activities. Examples of include:
However, research shows that participating in light aerobic physical activity that only mildly provokes symptoms; simply taking a break when symptoms do start actually helps promote recovery after a concussion.
Team efforts to help a child adjust & heal
After a concussion, children benefit from a collaborative, team approach to supporting them. This involves school staff, health care professionals, parents and other students to support their recovery.
A school may have two teams to help manage concussion:
Academic team (teacher, counselor, speech-language pathologist, school mental health, school nurse, administrator)
Physical team (certified athletic trainers, school nurse, coach, PE teacher, playground supervisor)
The family team (student, parents, guardians, grandparents, siblings, peers, family friends) can lead this process, getting feedback and information to, from, and between the school and the medical teams (pediatrician, concussion specialist, neurologist, psychologist, school/team physician).
More information