Supporting Students: A National Commitment

For any program to be successful, there needs to be a good answer to the question of why the program is being developed. In the case of advocating for the development of the Immediate Temporary Accommodation Plan (ITAP) for students returning to school after a concussion, the answer to “Why are we doing this” is easy: brain injuries are extremely serious, and if we don’t provide appropriate academic, social, and behavioral accommodations, that brain injury can have detrimental long-term effects for the student.

As a society, we prioritize helping our children above almost everything else. We feel a responsibility to our kids that requires us, as adults, to make sure we do what’s right for them, what will help ensure that they grow up healthy, well-educated, compassionate, and tolerant. While these feelings are especially true for our own children, it is also understood that we also need to help all children everywhere.

The evolution of the development of brain injury policy started slowly. In the 1990’s, and in some cases, before that, we passed bicycle helmet laws for children. Why did we do this? Because we knew that protecting a child’s brain health far outweighed any perceived intrusion into the child’s life. Now helmets are ubiquitous in almost all sports and recreational activities where there is a serious risk of concussion.

In 2009, we passed the first Return to Play laws for young athletes. Why did we do this? Because we again prioritized a child’s cognitive health over any perceived injustice relating to requiring that child to heal from their concussion before returning to play.

Now, we are advocating for nationwide adoption of post-concussion Return to School laws. Why? Because we know that without robust Return to School policies, students risk falling behind in their academic progress, emotional development, and social connections with other students.

We also operate with the truth that all students returning to school after a brain injury deserve to have accommodations in place regardless of where they go to school. We live in a vast country that stretches for three thousand miles from coast to coast, and from Alaska to Hawaii, and within that vast area there are distinct cultural differences. However, no matter where we live one priority remains constant: We want what’s best for our children.

In other words, what’s good for our students in Alaska is good for our students in Maine, what’s good for our students in Florida is good for our students in California and what’s good for our students in Oregon is good for our students in Texas.

Despite our differences in other areas, when it comes to protecting our children, we, as one nation, stand united.