WEBVTT 00:01.940 --> 00:02.360 mm . 00:05.540 --> 00:08.420 You know , some adults try to protect 00:08.420 --> 00:10.753 Children from the truth about T . B . I . 00:10.753 --> 00:12.920 And other serious medical problems for 00:12.920 --> 00:15.087 that matter because they think they're 00:15.087 --> 00:16.864 too young to understand . But I 00:16.864 --> 00:19.680 guarantee axel wants to know what's 00:19.680 --> 00:21.960 happening to his father . He wants to 00:21.960 --> 00:24.050 understand protecting him by 00:24.050 --> 00:26.106 withholding information can actually 00:26.106 --> 00:28.920 backfire . Children have really active 00:28.920 --> 00:31.280 imaginations . Axl might actually 00:31.280 --> 00:33.391 create a scenario that in his mind is 00:33.391 --> 00:36.670 worse than reality . So it's very 00:36.670 --> 00:38.892 important that you explain reads TB two 00:38.892 --> 00:41.170 axle in a way that he'll understand it . 00:41.340 --> 00:43.507 Sure . But how do we do that ? What do 00:43.507 --> 00:46.160 we say ? Analogies worked really well 00:46.160 --> 00:49.080 for kids explain to axel that the brain 00:49.080 --> 00:51.590 is like the command station of a 00:51.590 --> 00:54.180 spaceship . If a meteor hits the 00:54.180 --> 00:56.013 command station , the crew can't 00:56.013 --> 00:58.270 control what the spaceship does . The 00:58.270 --> 01:01.070 brain is the same way . Read may not be 01:01.070 --> 01:03.292 able to control his body like walking , 01:03.292 --> 01:06.150 talking , hearing or seeing because his 01:06.150 --> 01:08.940 command station has been damaged . He 01:08.940 --> 01:11.162 loves watching movies and playing games 01:11.162 --> 01:13.350 on his tablet . One time he dropped it 01:13.350 --> 01:15.450 in the bathtub and it didn't work so 01:15.450 --> 01:18.380 well until Read got it repaired . Maybe 01:18.380 --> 01:20.213 we could tell him it's like that 01:20.213 --> 01:22.440 daddy's injured . Brain is like the 01:22.440 --> 01:25.640 broken tablet . It runs slower . It 01:25.640 --> 01:27.650 doesn't have as much memory and 01:27.660 --> 01:29.660 sometimes it doesn't start up right 01:29.660 --> 01:32.390 away . Now that's a great analogy , but 01:32.390 --> 01:34.390 it's also important to explain that 01:34.390 --> 01:37.290 reads injury may never fully heal while 01:37.290 --> 01:39.401 the doctors and specialists will work 01:39.401 --> 01:41.623 very , very hard to help read recover . 01:41.840 --> 01:43.784 There may be some things that will 01:43.784 --> 01:45.896 never come back to normal meaning the 01:45.896 --> 01:48.520 way he was before the TB occurred . And 01:48.520 --> 01:50.576 even if he doesn't look injured from 01:50.576 --> 01:52.631 the outside , even if all those cuts 01:52.631 --> 01:54.550 and bruises heal , Axl needs to 01:54.550 --> 01:56.840 understand that doesn't mean his brain 01:56.840 --> 01:59.430 is healed . Read might have a hard time 01:59.430 --> 02:01.708 paying attention or remembering things . 02:01.708 --> 02:03.930 People say to him , he might get easily 02:03.930 --> 02:06.640 tired or need extra sleep . You might 02:06.640 --> 02:08.529 even say there do things that are 02:08.529 --> 02:10.807 strange and possibly even embarrassing . 02:11.340 --> 02:13.284 He might get angry for no apparent 02:13.284 --> 02:15.507 reason . Axle should be ready for these 02:15.507 --> 02:17.830 things . Just remind him that those 02:17.830 --> 02:19.750 changes , these behaviors they're 02:19.750 --> 02:21.960 caused by the brain injury and that 02:21.960 --> 02:23.980 they'll improve over time . Well , 02:24.170 --> 02:26.392 that's true for a lot of symptoms , but 02:26.392 --> 02:28.650 not always . So you want to be very 02:28.650 --> 02:30.750 careful not to talk to Axl about a 02:30.750 --> 02:32.806 specific time frame for his father's 02:32.806 --> 02:35.390 recovery . No one knows how long 02:35.390 --> 02:37.780 recovery will take or even if all the 02:37.780 --> 02:40.650 effects of the Tv will improve . Well 02:40.650 --> 02:43.130 then what do we tell him ? Well , it's 02:43.130 --> 02:45.186 good to encourage Axle to talk about 02:45.186 --> 02:47.380 familiar characteristics and behaviors 02:47.380 --> 02:49.600 that he sees as his dad progresses . 02:49.610 --> 02:52.300 Things like his sense of humor , how he 02:52.300 --> 02:54.411 remembers things they did together in 02:54.411 --> 02:56.522 the past and you should encourage him 02:56.522 --> 02:59.010 to talk about his worries , his fears , 02:59.020 --> 03:02.140 his hopes and don't feel like the two 03:02.140 --> 03:04.140 of you have to be his only sounding 03:04.140 --> 03:07.030 board . Feel free to ask family members 03:07.030 --> 03:09.252 and friends to spend time with the axle 03:09.252 --> 03:11.308 too . That shouldn't be too hard . I 03:11.308 --> 03:13.363 actually love spending time with his 03:13.363 --> 03:15.474 cousins . Okay , that's perfect . Now 03:15.474 --> 03:17.641 another great thing you can do for him 03:17.641 --> 03:19.586 is stick to a routine . I know his 03:19.586 --> 03:21.641 routine with you guys is going to be 03:21.641 --> 03:23.863 different than it was with reed but try 03:23.863 --> 03:26.086 as much as possible to show consistency 03:26.086 --> 03:28.141 and dinner times , bedtimes , things 03:28.141 --> 03:30.308 like that . That stability will really 03:30.308 --> 03:32.252 help him and encourage him to stay 03:32.252 --> 03:34.308 involved with his friends and school 03:34.308 --> 03:36.419 activities . Whatever he was involved 03:36.419 --> 03:38.641 in before the injury will again provide 03:38.641 --> 03:40.808 a sense of stability and consistency . 03:40.808 --> 03:42.880 Reid had him in so many activities , 03:42.890 --> 03:45.860 sports and music and art . It's gonna 03:45.860 --> 03:47.971 be really hard for us to find time to 03:47.971 --> 03:49.810 get him to those things that's 03:49.810 --> 03:52.750 understandable . But just remember it's 03:52.750 --> 03:54.960 okay to ask for help . You can ask 03:54.960 --> 03:56.930 friends , family and other kids , 03:56.930 --> 03:59.450 parents and when something important 03:59.450 --> 04:01.830 comes up , like when he has a game or a 04:01.830 --> 04:03.774 school program that you need to go 04:03.774 --> 04:05.730 watch , ask for friends or other 04:05.730 --> 04:07.786 relatives to take over caring Fareed 04:07.786 --> 04:10.000 for a couple of hours . It'll be good 04:10.000 --> 04:12.340 for axle to have you there and it will 04:12.340 --> 04:14.507 probably be good for you guys to get a 04:14.507 --> 04:16.780 little break yourself . Speaking of 04:16.780 --> 04:18.891 school programs , you'll also want to 04:18.891 --> 04:21.113 talk to axles teachers and explain what 04:21.113 --> 04:23.280 has happened . Makes sense . It does . 04:23.940 --> 04:24.150 Mhm .