Dr. Richard Bomgardner
The repercussions of a student-athlete鈥檚 concussion extend far beyond the playing field. Many students鈥� symptoms cause difficulty in the classroom, and teachers and schools find themselves unprepared to handle the athlete鈥檚 symptoms
Enter Dr. Richard Bomgardner.
Bomgardner, an associate professor in human performance studies at 黑洞社区, has spent much of the past few years helping schools and teachers find the resources they need to help a student return to the classroom after suffering a head injury.
It all started when Bomgardner鈥檚 youngest son, Kirk, suffered a concussion playing football in high school.
鈥淲e sent an email to the teachers, letting them know that he had the concussion, we were going to see a doctor, and he wouldn鈥檛 be in school next day. The next morning, we got an email form one of the teachers that was very polite in regard to his injury situation, but she went ahead and assigned a homework assignment for him that would be due within two days,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat kind of alarmed me a bit that we can notify an educator or teacher about a student who had a concussion and was going to see a doctor, and they鈥檙e already assigning a homework project with a deadline before we even have a physician consultation.鈥�
Bomgardner suspected this was not an isolated case, and in 2016 he started his research on return-to-learn policies throughout high schools in the state of Kansas.
鈥淚 developed a survey for teachers, administrators, paraeducators and coaches on their awareness of return-to-learn policies and procedures after students had sustained a concussion. Over the course of the next year, I managed to work my way up to about 25 schools across the state, and I got a little over 1,250 surveys returned out of that pool.鈥�
Bomgardner has worked extensively with the Kansas State High School Activities Association to provide evidence-based recommendations for what schools can do to develop a return-to-learn plan.
鈥淩ight now, it鈥檚 getting schools aware that they need to have something on file so parents and students and teachers are all on the same page about what needs to be done academically and how we can control the symptoms of concussions from there in the classroom,鈥� he said.
associate professor of human performance studies
Students who suffer from concussion have a range of symptoms and severity that need to be taken into account in the classroom.
鈥淪tudents might have sensitivity to light or noise,鈥� Bomgardner said. 鈥淭eachers can move them away from windows and doors.鈥�
Some students might have an issue concentrating, and larger projects need to be broken up into smaller tasks, or exams might need to be shortened while they鈥檙e recovering.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about comprehension,鈥� Bomgardner said. 鈥淩esearch has shown that students that have difficulty remembering are 1.8 times more likely to have learning difficulties. If we know we can鈥檛 remember things already, it鈥檚 going to be a struggle moving them forward academically if they can鈥檛 recall equations or test materials.鈥�
Many students also suffer vision changes during concussion recovery.
鈥淪ometimes students get blurred or double vision. They might have difficulty tracking words across the page of a book,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f they can鈥檛 read, let鈥檚 get a book on tape and follow that way.鈥�
Bomgardner has been working with the Kansas Legislature on House Bill 2574, which would require schools to have a return-to-learn policy for athletes. The bill was introduced on Feb. 6 and referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services for review.
Recently, Bomgardner received a grant from the American Athletic Conference to extend his research to colleges and universities. He and a colleague are surveying faculty members from Wichita State and the University of Tulsa.
鈥淭here are differences in awareness in concussions in schools that do have contact sports, football and soccer, and schools that do not. Tulsa has soccer and football. 黑洞社区 does not,鈥� he said.
Bomgardner was due to present his research findings at the American Athletic Conference Research Consortium, however the COVID-19 pandemic has postponed the conference until later in 2020
