Mike Palm, from Athletico, spoke to the AP Psychology class about concussions and new technology that they have been using to help athletes, coaches and athletic trainers.
Palm talked about how concussions can affect someone’s personality and how long it would take for people with different types of concussions. He also talked about how coaches and trainers can tell how long it will take for a player to recover and play once again by using special technology.
“[He talked about] BNA technology and how it can be used to ‘watch’ the brain heal from a concussion-which gives doctors and coaches the information they need to make informed decisions about when athletes are ready to play sports again,” said AP Psychology teacher Catherine Dodd.
He spoke to the class and answered questions that the students had. He currently works at Athletico, a company that helps rehabilitate people after serious injuries. The company helps those with many different injuries. They help athletes everywhere to recoup and get back to full strength. Palm is currently the manager of concussion services.
This was the first time that Mike Palm came to speak to the class. He kept the students interested by relating things back to them in their own lives.
“He kept us involved and interested by talking about sports and famous athletes that we were able to relate to,” said senior Jack Donnellan.
Palm talked about hockey and football relating it to concussions during and after athlete’s careers. It gave the students a topic to relate to and understand. He talked about how they are very violent sports, but other sports can have just as bad of concussions as well.
“It was very interesting learning more about concussions seeing it is such a large topic in today’s sports world,” said senior Dustin Stephans.