How Does Traumatic Brain Injury Affect Learning?

How a Traumatic Brain Injury Impacts Learning

About 5.3 million people are living with permanent brain injury (TBI) related disabilities in the United States currently. About 5% of the population will also experience a head injury and about 15% of those people will experience long-term symptoms.

Why TBI Makes School and Work Harder

Many people will see that their ability to learn or do school work is impacted greatly after a traumatic brain injury. The cognitive demands of reading, studying, and focusing in a classroom or office environment can become overwhelming.

Common Learning Difficulties After a Brain Injury

Some common symptoms post-TBI that affect learning are listed below:

Shorter attention span
Memory difficulties (short and long)
Difficulties looking at images or text near and far
Reading difficulties with eye-tracking
Personality changes
Migraines from concentrating
Difficulties making quick eye movements when looking down at your notes and up at the whiteboard
Light sensitivity
Sound sensitivity
Difficulties discerning voices in a group setting

The Impact on Daily Functioning

All of these concussion symptoms contribute to major learning difficulties while at school or at work and can be very debilitating.

Getting Help for TBI-Related Learning Problems

See a Concussion Specialist

Make sure you get evaluated by a concussion specialist if you are experiencing these symptoms. Treatments such as vision therapy and cognitive therapy can significantly improve reading ability, attention span, and overall learning capacity after a brain injury. Learn more about what constitutes a traumatic brain injury or schedule a consultation with our team.