Cognitive rehabilitation is an intervention that focuses on the improvement of the impaired cognitive function, or at bypassing as much as possible the disorders’ impairments by compensation and recovery of previous capacities (Ylvisaker, 1998; Wilson, 1997; Wilson, 2002; Tsaousides & Gordon, 2009). In other words, cognitive rehabilitation focuses on improving patient’s daily competence through recovery and compensation. In the last ten years, a couple of reviews have been published describing the effects of cognitive rehabilitation in children and adolescents (e.g. Carney, Chesnut, Maynard, Mann, Patterson & Helfand, 1999; Cicerone et al., 2005; Laatsch, Harrington, Hotz, Marcantuono, Mozzoni, Walsh & Herse, 2007; Rohling, Faust, Beverly & Demakis, 2009; Slomine & Locascio, 2009; Ross et al., 2011). Results indicated improvements in different cognitive domains such as working memory, attention and executive functioning in pediatric ABI after using cognitive rehabilitation. However, the results from the reviews are far from definitive because the findings cannot be regarded as robust or reliable supported by the overall very low quality of the evidence. In short, a great need remains to develop well-designed studies to study the efficiency of cognitive rehabilitation for children and adolescents with …show more content…
Early studies of CBCR were not that promising. Batchelor et al. (1988) have showed that CBCR training had not a significant higher effect than non-computerized techniques. CBCR offered many clinical advantages but however, these were not significant. Another early study has also found negative results. CBCR did not significantly improve attentional skills in schizophrenia patients (Field, Galletly, Anderson & Walker, 1997). Nevertheless, more recent studies revealed significant positive effects of CBCR programs on individuals presenting with cognitive deficits after different brain related diseases or injuries. A study by Bellucci, Glaberman and Haslam (2003) have found significant improvements in schizophrenia patients on various cognitive domains, such as working memory and attention. Cha and Kim (2013) have conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses about the effects of CBCR on restoring cognitive functions for stroke patients. They have identified that CBCR has a significant effect on improving cognitive functions in patients suffering from a stroke. In addition, a recent study conducted by Park and Park (2015) have also indicated significant improvements in cognitive functions of acute stroke patients. In case of cancer, CBCR has also proved its worth (Kesler, Lacayo & Jo, 2011; Hardy, Willard, Allen & Bonner, 2013). According to Kesler et al. (2011) can CBCR be realistic for improving executive functions in