What is the adjustment process for a child with a spinal cord injury? - Dawn Sheaffer, MSW

At every stage of development there are the developmental processes that are happening for the child, and then there’s how the injury and their medical needs kind of impact that. I guess my experience has been typically when the adjustment processes is with young children, it seems to move more smoothly, perhaps in part because of the iteration to the family and the family’s role. I think with adolescents, part of their job is to seek independence and that can be very challenging for a parent who has been with a child in the hospital with a child 24/7 for the last three months, and now thinking about allowing them to start to be independent and feeling safe and comfortable about that.