Most kids recover from a concussion in a few weeks. This page is for the family of the kid who isn't — the one still symptomatic while the school year and the season move on without them. MindForge provides active, measured concussion rehabilitation for children and teens in Dallas, coordinated with your physician, your school, and your athletic trainer. Parent conversation first: a free 15-minute call or (214) 730-6463.
MindForge doesn't bill insurance — by design. Direct-pay is what makes an individualized, intensive program possible rather than care shaped by billing codes. HSA/FSA and financing options exist, and a written Good Faith Estimate precedes any commitment.
*Two minutes, right on this page: jump to the symptom check.*
First, the boundaries — because they matter
We do not clear athletes for return to play. Under Texas law, that decision belongs to the treating physician — Natasha's Law and the UIL framework put clearance in physicians' hands, on a graduated protocol, in writing [1]. What we provide is the rehabilitation and the objective tracking that make that clearance decision well-informed: exertion testing, vestibular-oculomotor measurement, symptom trajectories, and documentation that plugs into the physician-and-athletic-trainer protocol rather than around it. If anyone offers to "get your kid cleared," walk away — including from us, because that's not what this is.
Also: if the injury was within the last couple of weeks, standard care and watchful waiting with good guidance is usually right — call us and we'll say exactly that. And emergency signs — worsening headache, repeated vomiting, seizures, weakness, unequal pupils, declining alertness — mean the emergency department, now.
When "give it time" stops being a plan
Pediatric concussion is common — an estimated 1.1 to 1.9 million sports- and recreation-related concussions in U.S. children yearly, many never medically seen [2] — and most resolve. But a substantial minority don't: roughly 15–30% of children remain symptomatic a month after injury [3]. Those families get stuck in a specific loop: the athletic trainer is scope-limited, the pediatrician visit ends in "more rest," the school's patience for accommodations wears thin, and the kid falls behind in class while deconditioning out of their sport. Meanwhile the guidance changed years ago: prolonged strict rest — "cocoon therapy" — is contradicted by current consensus, which endorses early, active, individualized rehabilitation after the acute window [4,5].
What's actually wrong — and measurable
Persistent pediatric concussion symptoms usually have findable drivers: exertional intolerance (the crash after PE class — measurable with graded treadmill testing, which also sets the exact safe training intensity [5]); vestibular-oculomotor dysfunction (screens, reading, busy hallways — measurable with structured vestibular-oculomotor screening and instrumented testing); cervical contribution (the neck took the hit too); sleep and mood disruption (real, common, and addressable — never dismissed as "just anxiety"). Which combination is driving your child's symptoms is what evaluation determines.
How we evaluate: the Discovery Day
The MindForge Discovery Day — a comprehensive neurological evaluation + report of findings + care plan. Pediatric version: age-appropriate symptom instruments (child self-report plus parent report), structured concussion office exam, vestibular-oculomotor screening, balance and dual-task testing, graded exertion testing to establish your child's individualized sub-symptom training threshold [5], oculomotor instrumentation as age-appropriate, and cognitive testing with age-normed tasks. Parents are in the room for the report of findings — always. You leave with the findings explained, a written Good Faith Estimate if a program is indicated, and the documentation your physician and school can actually use.
Treatment: active recovery, built for a kid's life
The failed generic advice is rest without end. The counter-thesis is dose without harm: sub-symptom-threshold aerobic training at the intensity your child's own testing prescribes — the approach shown in randomized trials to speed adolescent concussion recovery [5] — plus vestibular and oculomotor retraining where measured deficits exist [4], cervical care where the neck contributes, sleep and metabolic support (FM at MindForge), and the piece families tell us matters most:
Return-to-learn coordination. School is a kid's job, and recovery has to work there first. We generate the documentation for graduated return-to-learn — accommodations grounded in measured findings, not notes-from-mom — and coordinate with the school and, for athletes, the athletic trainer within the physician-led protocol [1]. Return-to-play support runs the same way: our data feeds the physician's clearance decision; it never substitutes for it.
Programs are individualized and typically shorter and lighter-dosed than adult intensives — concentrated blocks with school built around them; pricing is shared plainly on your free 15-minute call, and your exact quote comes with the Discovery Day results — and a Good Faith Estimate.
What treatment looks like: Discovery Day with parents at the findings table → concentrated sessions scheduled around school (what to expect) → re-testing that shows recovery in your child's own numbers → documentation to physician, school, and AT at every step.
What it costs
- Discovery Day — one fixed fee, the same for everyone, shared on your first call
- Programs — individualized (pediatric graded-recovery typically lighter); pricing shared on your free 15-minute call; exact quote + GFE at the wrap
- Superbills, HSA/FSA, financing — ways to pay
How to start
- A parent conversation — free 15-minute call or (214) 730-6463. When did the injury happen, what's stuck, what does the school situation look like.
- Records first where they exist — imaging reports, physician notes, AT documentation (secure channel).
- Discovery Day → program where indicated — scheduling built around the school week.
Prefer to start without a call? Send your records — a clinician reviews what you already have and tells you what they see, for a fixed review fee shared up front.
Frequently asked questions
Educational content, not a diagnosis. Emergency symptoms belong in the emergency department.
Sources
[1] Texas return-to-play law: Natasha's Law (HB 2038) + UIL Concussion Oversight Team framework — graduated ≥7-day protocol, written physician clearance (statute/UIL materials, P9 bibliography).
[2] Pediatric sports/recreation concussion incidence 1.1–1.9M/yr, many unseen medically (Bryan et al., Pediatrics, 2016).
[3] Persistent symptoms ≥4 weeks in ~15–30% of pediatric concussion (Frontiers, 2022; consistent with Zemek et al., JAMA 2016: ~30% of pediatric ED presentations symptomatic at 28 days).
[4] CDC Pediatric mTBI Guideline (Lumba-Brown et al., JAMA Pediatrics, 2018); Amsterdam international consensus (Pediatrics, 2024) — early active rehabilitation, vestibular/cervical lanes.
[5] Sub-symptom-threshold aerobic exercise in adolescent sport-related concussion: Leddy et al., JAMA Pediatrics (2019) RCT + replication (Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2021); graded treadmill testing sets the individualized prescription.