I am almost 43 yo and have always had a shunt. I'm very fortunate not to have significant issues with it, so were it not for other health issues I have going on, and raising an autistic teenager, with some slight accommodations, I can do just about anything anyone else can do. I do have short-term memory, organizational, and some other executive function issues that I can work around (most of the time).
A lot will depend on the extent of injury, what type of effects it's had on the brain, how quickly he was treated, and how effectively the shunt has been working. The issues can run the gamut, but generally, they will include things like memory and organizational issues, problems following multi-step oral directions, and difficulty learning new tasks.
