Key points about brain injury and planning, problem-solving and adapting to change
- tamariki who have had a brain injury or illness that affects the brain, can have difficulties
- they may it hard to achieve goals on their own and adjust their approach to tasks
- they can have difficulties coping with unexpected changes
- there are several ways you can help
- set up regular routines, help with planning and organising, and prepare for changes in advance
This page is part of a whole section on brain injury. You might also find some of the other content helpful.
Skills that young people need to set and achieve goals
As tamariki get older and become teenagers, they develop higher-level thinking skills. This allows them to set and achieve goals independently. They can also be flexible and adjust their approach to tasks when needed. Their capacity to cope with unexpected changes in situations increases.
These higher-level thinking skills are often affected in tamariki after a brain injury. Tamariki with an illness that affects the brain (such as epilepsy) may also be affected.
Signs and symptoms of difficulty setting and achieving goals
After a brain injury you may notice that your child has difficulties with:
- planning
- organisation
- problem-solving
- self-monitoring
- thinking flexibly
The kind of difficulties your child experiences will depend on:
- the type of injury or illness
- how serious it is
You may only notice these difficulties when your child reaches their teenage years. At this point, you would usually expect rangatahi (young people) to be more independent. They need less structure and guidance from parents and teachers.
Difficulties with planning and organisation
You may notice that your child:
- starts tasks impulsively rather than planning the steps needed before starting
- becomes overwhelmed with complex, multistep tasks and can't work out where to begin
- struggles to prioritise tasks
- struggles to organise schoolwork or activities, especially when there are many demands
- is unable to manage time effectively - such leaving things to the last minute or underestimating the time needed to finish a task
- appears disorganised and careless with their stuff - like forgetting to bring what they need for a certain task
Difficulties with problem-solving and self-monitoring
You may notice that your child:
- has difficulty monitoring or evaluating their performance
- makes a lot of careless errors and is unaware of them
- is unable to work out why something has gone wrong or to think ahead to see upcoming problems
- has trouble thinking of another way of doing something when things are not working
Difficulties with flexible thinking and coping with change
You may notice that your child:
- has trouble changing their approach to a task
- has trouble trying something new when their first attempts aren't working
- has difficulty changing from one activity to another - such as moving on to a new task in the classroom
- struggles to cope with new situations or changes in their usual routine
How to help your child with goal setting difficulties after brain injury
Establish regular routines for everyday activities. Provide your child with more support with structuring their time. This means they have to do less independent planning and organisation.
Try to avoid sudden, unexpected changes in their usual routine where possible. Prepare them in advance for changes when needed. For example, discuss and provide lots of reminders of an out of routine activity or outing.
You may need to move your child off an activity, task or topic of conversation they are stuck on. Use distraction rather than confrontation.
Reduce your child's overall thinking and organisation load. Do this by cutting down the amount of activities they need to do, particularly on school days.
Encourage and support your child to use a diary, calendar or organiser. This will help with time management and organisation. They may need prompting to enter information and check their organiser. Your child's school can also use this organiser when arranging tasks and activities.
Support your child to prioritise tasks or activities. This is particularly helpful when they are overwhelmed with multiple demands or commitments.
Support your child with making decisions. Help them come up with solutions to problems, like picking subjects for next year.
How school can help your child with goal setting difficulties
You can talk with your child's teacher about your child's difficulties. Show them this website with things they can do to help.
Teachers can establish regular routines for the school day. They can provide more support with structuring your child's day and week. This means your child can do less independent planning and organisation.
Teachers can prepare your child in advance for changes in their usual school routine. This includes discussing and providing plenty of reminders for things like school outings. You can also ask teachers to let you know about changes in advance so you can remind your child.
When teaching a new concept or skill, teachers can help by giving direct instructions. This is more helpful than expecting your child to work out what to do on their own. Teachers can also give your child time to practice the task with supervision and prompts. Then they can leave them to complete it by themselves.
Teachers can help your child to break down complex task or projects into smaller parts or steps. They can help your child to organise their approach to tasks. This includes helping them figure out where to begin or making a step-by-step plan.
Teachers should allow time to consider a change in approach after making suggestions. Provide clear, calm feedback and praise. Reinforce any attempts at trying a new way of doing things.
Teachers may need to move your child off an activity, task or topic of conversation they are stuck on. They should distraction rather than confrontation.
Teachers can help reduce your child's overall thinking and organisation load. They can do this by cutting down the amount of schoolwork your child has to complete.
If your child is in primary or intermediate school, this might mean focusing on core subjects. This could also mean cutting back on homework.
If your child is at high school, this can mean removing a subject or subjects from their timetable. They can then use free periods for extra planning and organisation.
Teachers can help your child in using a diary, planner or organiser to help with organisation. They can help create timelines for longer-term projects (particularly for teens). Teachers may need to prompt your child to use and check their organiser.
Teachers can also provide support with prioritising tasks. This helps when your child is overwhelmed with multiple schoolwork demands or commitments. This could mean helping them choose the key school tasks and deciding which ones to skip.
More information
The Ministry Of Education's Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI) site has a range of practical resources for teachers to help students returning to learning following a concussion or other acquired brain injury (ABI).
Topics include:
Changes to physical wellbeing
Changes to cognition and thinking processes
Effects of ABI on stages of development
Changes to emotions, social skills, behaviour, and wairua
Acknowledgements
The content on this page has been developed and approved by the Clinical Neuropsychology Team, Consult Liaison, Starship Child Health.
