Stop Child Abuse
http://www.efn.org/~scan

  June 18-22, 2000. Week of protests  to advocate for a change in a "broken" long term care system. 800 members of ADAPT, a national grassroots disability rights group, and numerous other groups representing people with disabilities will send a message to the Clinton Administration to implement the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Olmstead, which was issued last June.

  A rally in Upper Senate Park will kick off ADAPT's series of protests to demand more and better home and community based services. They will send a message to Congress to pass MiCASSA, the Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act, S. 1935, introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and co-sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). 

    This bipartisan bill allows people to choose to live and receive services in the community rather than being forced into a nursing home or other institution.

    Several thousand people are expected at the "Faces and Voices" rally, which begins at 2 pm on Sunday, June 18, in Upper Senate Park on the Capitol Grounds. A march will follow the rally, and kick off the protests planned 
for the week.

   ADAPT also charges both presidential candidates with ignoring the issue of Medicaid long term care reform in their campaigns, angering the disability community. "We are the faces and voices of a failed public policy," said Bob Kafka, national organizer for ADAPT. 

    "It's criminal that in the year 2000 
people are still being forced into nursing homes. We are fed up with the rhetoric. It is time for Congress, the Clinton Administration, and the presidential candidates to take a position on MiCASSA."   http://www.adapt.org

Journal of Neuroscience, August 1, 1998

EUGENE -- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has named Susan Sygall, Executive Director of Mobility International USA, as one of this year's 25 MacArthur Fellows.  She will receive $500,000 over five years . Sygall is perhaps the first woman with a
disability to receive this recognition.

     According to a report from Brown University School of Medicine, Physicians overlook head injuries, caused by abuse about one third of the time. 

     Researchers, who studied 173 children under age 3 found that 54 of the 173 children with head trauma caused by abuse -- such as hemorrhaging, fractures and bruises on the brain -- were not properly diagnosed. 

     "In some cases, the parents knew that someone had hurt the baby and they didn't  tell the doctors," says study leader Dr. Carole Jenny.  "in other cases, parents didn't have a clue.  Abuse may have come at the hands of a baby sitter, grandparent or boyfriend." 

     Fifteen percent of the 54 children were reinjured after the missed diagnosis, and  22 percent of the group experienced medical problems related to a missed diagnosis.

Source:  Journal of the American Medical Association, February 1999
 

    NY Times: Children commonly suffer great falls.  They fall off of beds, they tumble off changing tables, and they fall down stairs.  Older children fall on their heads on playing fields, fall off bicycles, and in-line skates to name a few.  Most end up with nothing more serious than bad headache, but sometimes complications require emergency treatment. 

      That leaves parents with this often perplexing question:  When is a head Injury minor and when should it involve a trip to the emergency room?

     The first thing that a parent should do after a fall is to find out what happened, said Dr. Mary E. Aitken, the lead author in a survey of what physicians do when a head injury involves little or no loss of consciousness, nor behavioral changes.  This may include minor concussions. 

     For anything other than the most minor blow, at least call the doctor and observe the child carefully," she said.  Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache, loss of consciousness, seizures, lethargy, irritability, swelling, bruising, bleeding and memory loss may be signs of a serious problem.  Most symptoms, she said, surface within 36 hours. 

Source:  Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, December 1998
 

    SeaTimes: "We're putting out a word of caution," said Dr. Bernard Griesemer, who is the author of the statement for the sports medicine committee of the American Academy Of Pediatrics.  The statement sounds the alarm "On repetitive heading of soccer balls in young athletes, the bottom line is probably 'less is better.' " 

     Griesemer stressed that heading drills, in which a child's head is knocked repeatedly, are of greater concern to the pediatricians' group than is the occasional head-punt in the course of play.

     During the three to four minutes of "heading drills" each week a child will probably be bopped on the head 10 to 15 times by a ball tossed from about 10 feet away.   While coaches and trainers might not see the harm; the nation's leading group of pediatricians are concerned that the practice of repeated "heading"  a soccer ball could result in lasting brain injury. 

     The warning addresses youth soccer safety issues.  It outlines existing research and, said Griesemer, pending further studies restraint is warranted.  Now, as coaches roll their eyes and parents hold their breath, doctors are focusing on soccer -- the sport embraced for their children by many young parents as a safe alternative to football. 

     Pushed by enthusiastic Coaches and often prodded by gung-ho parents, more and more children are hurling themselves into competitive sports - and getting hurt doing it. 

    Loud groaning, and moaning can be heard across the nation's playing fields as coaches and parents brace for this latest assault on youth sports.  In the last two decades, doctors' warnings have sunk youth boxing, brought compulsory batting helmets to little league baseball, and outfitted pee-wee hockey players with mouth guards and eye protection. 

      Concerns over heading drills have been prompted largely by a pair of studies that compared the mental functioning of large groups of adult soccer players to adults of similar age and circumstances who did not play soccer.  One was conducted in Norway, the other in the United States, and all involved soccer players who had begun playing - and practicing heading drills - at a very early age. 

     In the Norwegian study of 106 former and still active professional soccer players, 81 percent were found to have impairment of their attention, concentration, memory and judgment that ranged from mild to severe.  The more recent U.S. study compared 60 young adult soccer players with a smaller group of non players found that attention and concentration deficits were significantly more common among those who "headed" the ball most often. 

    The studies do not prove that the practice of heading is to blame, and they don't establish how much drilling might be dangerous to the developing brains of children.  But they have appeared at a time when neuroscientists are demonstrating that lasting brain injury can happen even when a victim does not lose consciousness or suffer a concussion, and that the brain - like many delicate tissue - can be harmed over time by small repeated stresses. 

     Another recent study reported that amateur soccer players scored lower on tests of memory and planning than other amateur athletes did, and that repeated blows to the head may be the reason. 

     While some research has implicated "heading" the ball, other experts believe the more likely explanation is the frequent collisions between players and players' heads hitting the ground or a goal post.

     It has long been known that multiple mild concussions are more likely than a single episode to lead to long-term problems. 

     Those who have suffered at least two were significantly more likely to report continuing problems with headaches, sleep and concentration, and they scored significantly worse on tests of the ability to learn words, to think quickly and to handle complex tasks. 

Animal research suggests that the youthful brain remains vulnerable after a first concussion for a longer time than a mature brain does, so a high school athlete may need a much longer recovery time from a concussion before returning to play than a college player or a pro.

Also see our Concussion In Sports & our Head Gear pages.

 Source:  American Academy of Pediatrics, December 1998

     The law firm of Nelson Tyler Langer obtained a landmark settlement on behalf of the distraught family of a young athlete who suffered a catastrophic brain injury.

     The tragedy of this unfortunate situation  is that the child's injuries and the resultant law suit could have been avoided if the athletic officials had simply availed themselves to readily available training concerning concussion in sports

     Among children younger than 4 years old, African Americans had the highest death rate per 100,000  persons.  Hispanics had the next highest rate according to a recent study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

     According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Young African Americans are 50 percent less likely to use seat belts than whites and hispanics, with the problem especially acute for men between 18 and 29.

     "The fact remains that low seat belt use among African Americans is a public health issue of enormous impact that must be addressed now" said John Maupin, President of Meharry Medical College.

      If all African Americans used seat belts, it would save 1,300 lives a year, prevent 26,000 injuries and reduce societal costs by $2.6 billion Maupin said.

Source:  Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, December 1998

Manjit Basuta, 47, a British nanny convicted of causing the death of a San Diego toddler by shaking him, was sentenced to a mandatory 25 years to life in prison on October 1, 1999

TV Reporter Badly Burned in Explosion
By JONATHAN E. BRIGGS, Times Staff Writer

     A veteran television news reporter assigned to cover a news conference in Hollywood was seriously burned Monday when the microwave transmitter extending from a KABC van came too close to a 34,500-volt power line and caused an explosion. 

     The reporter, Adrienne Alpert, 48, was airlifted to Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, where doctors performed emergency surgery to restore blood flow to burn areas over 25% of her body. 

     Heather MacKenzie, Alpert's photographer, and a Los Angeles police officer suffered minor injuries and were treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and released. 

     The accident occurred about 9:45 a.m. as Alpert and MacKenzie were setting up for a live broadcast from the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Gordon Street, near the Hollywood  Forever Cemetery. 
                                                                According to witnesses, Alpert was inside the van as the transmitter was being raised several feet. MacKenzie was helping position the transmitter when it touched or came near a high-voltage wire. That created a power arc that triggered an explosion, authorities said.

     "The arcing looked like a miniature lightning bolt," said Los Angeles Police Officer Patrick Beighley, who was injured. 
Beighley said he saw Alpert in the front seat, just about to get out of the van, when "there was an illumination and then a concussive explosion."  -more- Link to full text in  LA Times.com

Electric Shock & Lightning Strike
http://www.headinjury.com/linkelect.htm

   The Senate is at a critical juncture in its
consideration of Senator Schumer's clinic violence amendment.  Senators must hear from voters that violent criminals should not be able to avoid paying court-assessed penalties by declaring bankruptcy.  Please keep the calls and e-mails coming until you hear from us that a vote has taken place!  Forward this message to pro-choice
friends and co-workers.

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Ask them to transfer you to your Senator and urge him or her to support the Schumer Bankruptcy Amendment. Click here to send an instant email message. .
6/20/00

    Head and neck injuries, account for
nearly 70 percent of the infant trauma
cases that hospitals see says a new 
study reported on by Dr. Mary Bailey, at the Pediatric Academic Societies
and the American Academy of Pediatrics 
Joint Meeting in Boston last month.

   Those disturbing numbers may only point
to a bigger problem. "Head injuries that
are severe enough to get someone admitted to the hospital really represent only the tip of the iceberg, compared to what we see in the emergency room," says Dr. Mary Hegenbarth, who specializes in pediatric emergencies at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. "In fact, we'll see tons of head injuries that don't get someone admitted." 

Statistics for this study came from the National Pediatric Trauma Registry.
http://www.nptr.org/

  Q.  I am a high school student and I was knocked out in a car wreck almost 1 year ago.  I thought things would be back to normal by now, but I'm still having  balance, memory and concentration problems.

    I went to my family doctor and he says he doesn't know why I still have problems, but he says they should clear up soon. 

    Now, I have to have a MRI scan the week before school starts. Then, for the rest of the term, I will miss lots of days of school because of ongoing doctor appointments. 

    I know MRI's don't hurt but I can't help but worry if something is wrong. 

    I was an honors student, now I struggle to make B's. My classmates have noticed and tease me for it.

   I didn't want my teachers to know about any of this, and now they will find out because I'll miss so much school. How should I handle this?

   Sorry for the sob story. - SZE

    Hang in there, this too will pass. 

    If memory, mood and concentration problems don't clear up in the next few months you should see a adolescent neuropsychologist. That's a specialist in brain injuries in youngsters.

  I had a balance problem and suffered terrible dizziness for the first few years following my head injury, but gradually it  resolved completely. However, you might want to check out the Vestibular Disorders Associations for information on inner ear disorders.

   Keep track of your symptoms  in a journal, and discuss them with your doctors so that  you will have an objective record of your medical recovery.

   Concerning your teachers, clearly, they will need to be informed of your injuries, but I think that if you're honest with them and put forth a good effort, you'll find that they will work with you on this. See our Little Red Schoolhouse page for info on educational rights for students with disabilities

Try not to  worry   brain  injuries tend to heal slowly. There are effective work-arounds that will help you get though the rough spots. 

You'll find information and resources on the Head Injury Hotline web site http://www.headinjury.com.

The site integrates resources from diverse organizations including support groups, rehabilitation and research sites as well as lay and professional journals and more.   You can get information, join a support group, or a discussion group  -- Brain