Children treated for brain tumors are often affected by brain fatigue, learning difficulties and impaired concentration due to the disease and subsequent treatment.
- Many children are getting slower. They need more time on the lessons and if they do not get the help they need, it can be worse in school, says Malin Lönnerblad, PhD student in special education and one of the students behind the study.
A quarter without high school qualifications
The study, published later this fall, shows that those treated for brain tumors as children get worse grades and only 77 percent become eligible for high school. Of those who have not been ill, 90 per cent receive upper secondary education.
- Of course, it is a disaster, says Thorbjörn Larsson at the Children's Cancer Foundation. Nearly a quarter lack high school eligibility and fall into the backwater right from the start.
"Nothing that goes over"
Each year, about 300 children are affected by cancer, and one third of them suffer from brain tumors. Thanks to advances in research, a large proportion of these children survive, up to 80 percent being declared healthy. Malin Lönnerblad believes that so many people do not get the help they need at school because there is a great ignorance that this group exists and what kind of help they need.
- It is a group that is not visible and heard so much. If it is a long time the child underwent a treatment, then you may think that this is something that goes over. But nothing goes over. It should be a warning bell if the school hears that a child has been treated for brain tumors.