There are many implications that could affect language and learning in the classroom of children who have hydrocephalus. Many of the problems with hydrocephalus will cause the child to miss school. This is a direct learning implication because the child will be missing school, and missing the materials that are being presented. They could be missing school because of headaches, dizziness, and vomiting. Additionally, children who have hydrocephalus tend to have balance issues; therefore, it may be difficult for a child to learn if they are off balance. These children may also have double vision, which make it difficult to focus in the classroom. Children with hydrocephalus most likely need to get a shunt, which requires surgery. This again will cause them to miss school. Shunts need to be replaced usually every ten years, but they can malfunction at any time. If this were to happen, children would need immediate medical to fix the shunt (http://nhfonline.org/communication). All of these reasons are mostly medical reasons, but they will all directly affect the child’s learning experience.
Many times people with hydrocephalus can have brain damage from the pressure the CSF causes on their brain. However, each person will be affected differently. Even though each person is affected differently, language is usually impaired in some way. Therefore, these children may not be able to learn at a rate that the other children in the same class are learning. These children may need extra help and guidance depending on the degree of brain damage, if any. Other symptoms of hydrocephalus are that they could have memory loss or executive functioning delay or a loss of what they previously had. So it may be hard for these children to retain new information and for them to plan and organize this new information that they are learning (http://www.faces-cranio.org).
Many times people with hydrocephalus can have brain damage from the pressure the CSF causes on their brain. However, each person will be affected differently. Even though each person is affected differently, language is usually impaired in some way. Therefore, these children may not be able to learn at a rate that the other children in the same class are learning. These children may need extra help and guidance depending on the degree of brain damage, if any. Other symptoms of hydrocephalus are that they could have memory loss or executive functioning delay or a loss of what they previously had. So it may be hard for these children to retain new information and for them to plan and organize this new information that they are learning (http://www.faces-cranio.org).