Children and Neurology
Posted by Juanita Merriman
19th May 2014
When a parent has a brain injury or a neurological condition it can impact on their physical, emotional and cognitive functioning and can cause extensive implications across every area of family life. This is difficult for the children who may not really understand why their parent has changed and may have to cope with a lot of changes to their family life.
Child and Neurology (CAN) was set up to help support children who have a parent with a neurological injury or diagnosis. CAN had its launch event this year at Fishers Farm which was a huge success. We hope to be able to run more days like this and to set up a support network for children in the local area. Josie (age 11) and Sienna (age 11) have kindly written a review of the day below:
The Brainouting: A review of the day
Written by Josie (11)
I really enjoyed my day at Fishers farm. I got to spend some time with my family and make some new friends in the same situation. I also learnt more about the brain.
First we got to know each other and played some games. This was very fun. After the games we had some bacon rolls provided by the café, these were delicious.
After that we all went off to enjoy the farm as a family. We could all relax and have fun, which is important for a family like ours. Everything was a lot of fun, even for eleven year olds! My younger sister particularly enjoyed it and would quite happily stay there forever! Going around the park we came across some of the people we met at the beginning, this gave yet another chance to make new friends.
At 3:00 we went back to the original room and learnt a bit more about brain injuries. I now have a much better understanding of how the brain works and how damaging it can affect people. Again the café provided us with some food, this time cakes. We were all given a book on brains and some other things like a notebook to write down our feelings and a stress ball.
I loved this outing and I would love another. I’m sure all the other children would like to be able to do this again too.
The Launch Event of CAN
Written by Sienna (11)
Families gathered together that have one parent with a brain injury or a neurological condition. It was a chance for children and adults to play some games and get to know each other. The purpose on this day out (at Fishers farm) was to reassure children and their families that there are other families out there that have difficulties too and to learn how to cope with that.
It was a fun day out and lots of children enjoyed it very much! After arriving, the group was introduced to each other and started to play some games. Everybody joined in including the less abled ones. While they were all playing games, tea and juice was available as well! When the games had finished everyone was allowed to go round the farm.
The farm was a good place to meet because it had something for everyone. In the farm was tree top adventures, a climbing wall, horse rides, big slides, doughnut/tobogganing and lots more exciting things to try out! Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves and there were plenty of places to shelter out of the rain!
At the end of the afternoon, more games started and at the very end all the children were given gift bags containing a variety of different things. Additionally, children were taught how to cope with their breathing when they were angry or upset to help them calm down!
Over all the day was fantastic to me and I learnt how to cope with my breathing! I can’t wait until the next one so I can make some new friends again! Joining in with all the activities at Fishers Farm was good fun too, but not when it was raining!
