Unfortunately, there are often societal and state circumstances that make it more difficult for such families to access healthcare opportunities and to enjoy a good life.

Advocacy for children that have sustained a brain injury may be necessary on several fronts.

Access to Medical Assistance

Some buzz has been generated about the ability of families whose kids have sustained a brain injury to access medical assistance. In July 2017, an injury sufferer urged Congress to safeguard Medicare for children with brain injuries.

Khalil Pereira experienced brain injuries during a car accident while still in college. He was 18 when he had to be accepted to a hospital for the treatment of a severe brain injury. Khalil spent several weeks in intensive care and six months in rehabilitation (inpatient). A lot of the medical assistance he had to receive was covered by Medicaid.

On July 13, Khalil and his mother met with members of Congress. Their primary goal was to safeguard Medicaid funding for kids with traumatic brain injuries.

This is just a small part of a nationwide attempt to address the healthcare needs of children. New bills in the field could make it impossible for many families to afford the care and the rehabilitation needed by children who have sustained these types of injuries either at birth or later on in life.

Statistics suggest that the American Health Care Act of 2017 would cut Medicaid financial resources available for the treatment of children. The main reason why such a reduction would occur is that American Health Care Act replaces the current payment system with a capped one that limits Medicaid funds to all states.

Employment Advocacy for People with Cognitive Disabilities

Some of the children that sustain serious brain injuries at birth could suffer from irreversible cognitive and developmental disabilities. Such people still have a very hard time when it comes to getting employment opportunities.

This is one of the reasons why employment advocacy is of paramount importance. Luckily, new initiatives are carried out all of the time. One of the newest examples is from July 2017.

The University of Cincinnati has developed an Advancement and Transition Services (ATS) program that will soon be presented in Ohio’s Americans with Disabilities Act conference. The aim of ATS is to equip people who have cognitive or developmental disabilities with the skills needed to hold a successful job.

Currently, ATS is serving 150 people with disabilities. This is one of the largest university-led initiatives aimed at giving people that have cognitive impairments a chance to acquire life, work, and independent living skills. In 2017, ATS has partnered up with other programs and institutions to offer people who have cognitive disabilities more than 50 internships and employment options.

Job coaching is one of the most prominent services that ATS offers. Evidence-based techniques are employed by highly experienced job coaches, giving people that have different kinds of disabilities a chance to find an employment opportunity and to hold the job in the long run.

Such initiatives are incredibly important in a world that deprives many people with disabilities from employment options. According to The Arc advocacy group, only 15 percent of the people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are employed (the study was conducted in 2010).