The Mom Kind Are you wondering how to help your kids if they have been in a car accident? Keep reading to find out what to do!
Being in a car accident will shake even adults to their core. No matter how well you walk away from an accident, there was still that potential danger. That initial thought before impact that you may not make it out of this, that this will hurt or that you are helpless. Combine this fear with actual injury, and you have a traumatic experience on your hands.
How to Help Your Kids if They Have Been in a Car Accident
This is certainly true for adults, but it is worse for children. However, children can be very resilient so long as you, as the parent, take charge and show them that everything will be alright. You cannot give in to their fears and instead work with them to help them get back on their feet.
Let Legal Professionals Handle the Legal Matters
With the cost of health care, psychiatry, and even medical aids so high, it is irresponsible not to push for full compensation from your insurance provider or the at-fault driver.
To get this total compensation, however, you cannot just rely on your insurance provider. You need legal representation. It is number one on the list of things to do after an accident and you have received medical attention. If your kids got into an accident due to a drunk driver’s recklessness, better yet, call a DUI attorney Oklahoma City to help you.
Learn How Children React to Trauma
Some kids will be able to bounce back fairly quickly without any additional help. Others will internalize their trauma. Knowing how children react can help you understand them and even counteract what they feel to heal and recover both physically and emotionally. Some of the common ways in which children may react to trauma are as follows:
- Trouble sleeping
- Guilt
- Emotional age regression
- Fear
If you need help spotting these reactions or appropriately dealing with them, either look online for guides or even seek out support groups and professional guidance to help you use the right tools.
Help Them Heal
Getting your child to respect their injuries is hard enough. If your child has a disability because of the accident, then you need all hands on deck. It isn’t just an injury that will go away. You need to provide emotional support and guidance and connect your child with specialists who will help them adapt as best as they can to their new circumstances.
Anger, fear, tantrums, and even depression are all understandable and common, depending on the disability, so remember to fight for your child to help them build a new sense of routine that they can be happy.
Get Them Back in the Car
Cars are such a ubiquitous feature in our lives, and allowing fear of driving or being in a vehicle to fester will only hinder your child throughout their lives. It would be best if you addressed this fear early on.
Don’t immediately dismiss how they feel, either. Instead, start small. Drive up and down the street to start, then further, then to school, until finally, they get used to the drive again.
How to Help Your Kids if They Have Been in a Car Accident
It can also help teach them about all the safety features in cars to help keep us all safe. There are many documentaries and videos online that get into this in detail, which will help your kids feel safer in cars.
The Mom Kind
Alicia Trautwein is an Autism advocate, writer, motivational speaker, and dedicated mom of four. Alicia’s desire to advocate for Autism comes from her own autism diagnosis and that of her three children, niece, and brother. Her life’s mission is to educate on autism acceptance and change the world for future generations of autistic individuals.
