Neurologists admit youth concussions a scary part of contact sports

“There is no substitute for a parent’s judgment, or anyone’s judgment, that a child should come out of a game,” she says. “The KD test is helpful when there’s ambiguity. But there is no be-all and end-all test for concussion.”

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UP Trainer testing for concussions on the sideline

“They’re willing to accept a more quantitative test, as opposed to me just saying their balance is off, their speech is off—all the things I could say,” Dorothy Jamison, Athletic Trainer, explained. “This is a nice thing that’s quantitative enough for them to see that, ‘Yes, my child has a concussion’, and the next step is to take them to the doctor.”

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Promising news on the concussion front

In another development, one that is especially encouraging for youth sports leagues that can’t afford to have medical personnel on the sidelines for every game, the Mayo Clinic has endorsed the King-Devick sideline concussion test and will help promote it to youth coaches, parents and athletes.

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Kids and concussions: UM, Miami-Dade pioneer study of young athletes

Concussions, News, Press, Youth Athletes

“After the series, I got out, looked at the scoreboard and it was kind of blurry,” Decius said. “I started to feel a headache.” Student athletic trainers noticed Decius acting confused as he took a breather. They told trainer Rheisa Burke, who gave Decius a quick head trauma evaluation on her iPad called the King-Devick test.

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Expert on Cognitive Aspects of Concussion Proposes Compromise on Testing of All Athletes

Concussions, Press, Youth Athletes

Recent research suggests that for every sports concussion we know about, five more go undetected, raising the horrifying specter of our young athletes continuing to play with brain injury. Using simple reading tests such as King-Devick, and other cheap instruments we can detect the majority of these potentially horrendous injuries. The key is baseline testing of not just those who receive injuries, but all athletes before, and then during the season, with traditional follow-up when indicated.

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How a Boy's Concussion Death Changed British Sports

Concussions, Press, Rugby, Youth Athletes

There, the Howe of Fife Rugby Club has gone further than what the Scotland protocols call for. It has introduced the King-Devick test, an exam given to players to help trainers determine with more specificity whether an athlete is impaired and should be evaluated further by a neuro specialist.

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Sideline test takes guesswork out of concussion diagnosis

“For us, the test is quick and objective, and players who might otherwise hide symptoms cannot hide a failed King-Devick test score,” says Kaki Schmidt, hockey parent and Safety/Concussion Program director for the Reston Raiders Hockey club. “It is administered rinkside by one of the team’s parent safety volunteers, allowing coaches to continue running the bench.”

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Youth football works to prevent, diagnose concussions

The King-Devick test was developed by an optometrist in the Chicago area in the 1970'S and was originally designed to diagnose reading problems with students. But in recent years it has been adopted to diagnose concussions in sports and has received backing of the Mayo Clinic.

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Ayes pretty much have it when it comes to eyes concussion test

Concussions, News, Press, Youth Athletes

"When I was in high school, a running back ran a 4.9 40 and I thought he was the fastest guy around but last year at the NFL combine, a 340-pounder ran a 4.9,'' Devick said, shaking his head. "Football's the only sport that the 6-year-olds play on the same size as the pros. The field's the same size and everybody's bigger, faster, stronger. I tell my friends with kids in contact sports, I would do the test on them every night. … And I think we've made a lot of progress.''

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New Tools in Place to Guard Against Football Concussions

“You're not going to put a kid on the field with a sprained ankle when you know that ankle was still sprained and can't move well. Putting them back into an athletic setting when the brain is not ready to go is not going to promote healing whatsoever."

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