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Behaviour changes / Brain Injury Outcomes

Think ONE. Behaviour After Brain Injury.

  Understanding and managing changes to behaviour after brain injury is the most frequently requested topic I can recall. It contributes significantly to lifestyles being restricted. Today a simple start by thinking about changes to behaviour after brain injury by ONEs!   There is no ONE solution for changed behaviour after Brain Injury Many, many, many supporters and family members over the years have asked for the magic potion, the one solution that will fix all, the magic wand that will make an unwanted behaviour disappear. Unfortunately we have not found it yet. Mostly, it is less stressful to forget magic solutions and begin the longer, but potentially more productive, path of planning and developing tailor made strategies for each behaviour.   ONE strategy does not fit all Not only is there is no one solution for changing behaviour after brain injury, there is no one strategy to fit all situations and all people. The complexity and differences between people with brain…

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November 26, 2013
Brain Injury Outcomes / Life Changes After Brain Injury / Strategies Approaches and Support

In So Many Ways Life Changes after Brain Injury.

  You will likely hear how life changes after brain injury in many, many, ways. Both big and small changes. Changes such as no longer being able to work, not being able to get to the corner shop to buy a snack, relationship changes, or finding that watching a movie is no longer enjoyable, as it's too hard to follow. Today the discussion focuses on the changes and losses that can come with life changes after brain injury, along with some ideas for strategies to support a person live life after brain injury. This article, and the introduction last week focus on the life changes after brain injury. You can read the full article Brain Injury Life Changes or below are some key points to remember: The losses associated with life after brain injury are often underestimated by everyone involved. While the physical and cognitive affects of brain injury are different for each person, the impact on their lives can have similar…

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November 19, 2013
Read more about the article Brain Injury Changes Lives
Brain Injury Outcomes / Life Changes After Brain Injury

Brain Injury Changes Lives

Have you noticed there is a lot of focus on strategies for the physical and cognitive effects of brain injury, and not so much on how brain injury changes people’s lives? Yet it is the changes to your way of life that can have the most impact. Imagine your life changing; maybe in an instant, maybe slowly over time. It might be you are no longer able to drive, you lose your job, friends are no longer around. Big things in life to deal with at any time, but imagine how it would be when you are already trying to manage the effects of brain damage. These changes to life are often the most significant changes for the person living with brain injury. Hopefully, by gaining an understanding of the changes that might occur, and developing strategies to build on, you will be better able to support a person's adjustment to life after brain injury. Today a look at how brain injury…

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November 12, 2013
Brain and Function / Brain Injury Outcomes / Children and Brain Injury

Nine Things Educators Need to Know About the Brain

This article by Louis Cozolino originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. While I was on the trail, searching for information on a topic (I can no longer remember what in particular), I found the Greater Good Science Centre site. On this site I found all sorts of interesting and fascinating stuff about the brain, social and emotional wellbeing, compassion, empathy and so much more. One article captured my attention and with permission from Lou Cozolino and Greater Good, I reprint it here, along with other links Greater Good have provided. As I read this article, primarily about children and education, it seemed there was information that was useful for children living with brain injury, and also for adults. I have not read the book yet but would welcome comments from anyone who has. Nine Things Educators Need to Know About the Brain By Louis Cozolino | March 19, 2013 | In an excerpt from…

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November 6, 2013
Brain and Function / Brain Injury Outcomes

Do I Know You? Face Blindness after Brain Injury

  Face Blindness,(Prosopagnosia) is the lack of ability to recognise faces. Including people who are very familiar; sometimes even your own face. Today the focus is on Prosopagnosia, more commonly known as 'Face Blindness' after brain injury, other causes are also mentioned below. While the cause may be different, the outcome is similar.  About Prosopagnosia or Face Blindness Over the past two weeks we talked about left brain right brain along with  left and right brain function. Prosopagnosia, or face blindness as I will call it from here on in, was an example of what can happen when damage occurs. Reading about Prosopagnosia got me thinking. While I have met people who have face blindness after brain injury, I knew very little about it. Today I share what I have learned on my week of exploration. Some early learnings, I believe key points, that came to me while exploring face blindness were: [ordered_list style="lower-alpha"] a) This is not a person being rude…

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October 29, 2013
Brain Injury Outcomes

Left Brain Right Brain Function: Same, Same or Different.

Left Brain Right Brain Function Understanding Left brain Right brain function can help you understand how the damage after brain injury might affect a person’s ability to carry out tasks; and what support might be needed, particularly to encourage development of new pathways. This video “The Divided Brain” is a wonderful, though challenging, introduction to understanding the separate and combined left brain right brain function. Today follows on from last week’s introduction to left brain right brain function with more about the specific functions of each hemisphere.   The Workings of Left Brain Right Brain Functions The following table lists a range of left brain right brain functions. A simple start to what each hemisphere does: The left brain generally works on detail and specifics, the right brain takes a more global approach, both work together for optimal efficiency. Left brain logical, Right brain creative. Again a 'brain disclaimer' needs to be remembered. Most of the time the functions are on the…

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October 23, 2013
Brain and Function

Left Brain Right Brain; Fact & Fiction

There is something about the Left Brain Right Brain discussion that seems to capture the attention of more than just brain anatomy enthusiasts and ‘necessicists’. Yes I made that word up – it means someone who has to do something out of necessity. In this instance study brain anatomy. This week a bit about left brain and right brain. Next week the functions and what happens when one hemisphere is damaged. Why is understanding Left Brain Right Brain Relevant or Important to Brain Injury? [unordered_list style="green-dot"] It can help you understand the outcomes and behaviours you might see whatever the cause of brain injury. Understanding what areas of the brain might be damaged. Working out the difficulties a person might have following damage to specific areas. It can assist develop specific strategies to help work around the damage. Finally, as always, I am a pretty strong advocate for everyone becoming fascinated by the brain and what it can do.   [/unordered_list]  Why the…

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October 16, 2013
Strategies Approaches and Support / Strengths based

50 First Strength Based Questions

You want to use a strengths based approach, but where do you start? What does it mean in real life? How do you ask strengths based questions to identify and understand your own, or another person’s strengths? Do you find you a strengths approach comes naturally to you? Or have you found it difficult? We are often more used to looking for problems, rather than looking at what is working. Looking at what is going wrong, rather than what’s going right. Giving solutions instead of looking at what can be built on; finding out what solutions and resources a person, or group already has. It seems even our brain may be programmed to catastrophise as a first response. Looking at the worst case, imagining what might go wrong. I am definitely a “catastrophiser” (I made that up so don’t worry about looking for a definition). A strengths approach and strength based questions still do not come naturally. It is still practice, practice,…

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October 8, 2013
Behaviour changes / Brain Injury Outcomes / Strategies Approaches and Support

WHY KING HENRY VIII BRAIN INJURY AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE?

  If you are wondering what King Henry VIII brain injury and behaviour change have in common. A clue - It is part of fascinating research into the life and health of King Henry. Read on for more:   KING HENRY VIII AND THE JOUSTING INCIDENT In 1536, King Henry was taking part in a jousting match, a sport where opponents on horseback joust (or fight) armed with long heavy spears, wearing a full suit of armour. During this match King Henry fell from his horse. The horse then fell on top of him. He was unconscious for a time and it was thought he would not survive. His queen at the time, Anne Boleyn, was distraught. It was following this incident, his behaviour and personality apparently changed considerably. It is thought this resulted from frontal lobe damage. If you are interested in more about King Henry, brain injury and behaviour change, you can read more in this article “The Jousting Accident…

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October 1, 2013
Brain Injury Outcomes / Strategies Approaches and Support

Building an Ethical Framework for Brain Injury

Having a strong ethical framework for brain injury supporters to work from, can help you manage ethical dilemmas as they arise – and they do. Often dilemmas happen with little or no time to sit and think about it, or time to call in the experts. It is rarely as easy as ‘Right or Wrong’ and each dilemma is likely to be different. How do you develop your own process for making ethical decisions and choices?  Today a look at developing an ethical framework for brain injury support. ETHICAL DILEMMA AND ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR BRAIN INJURY Mostly we don’t think about any of this. Well, not until we are slap bang up against an ethical dilemma. So today it’s not so much a ‘how to’. It’s more a start here, and keep working on it. Here is a couple of examples to get you thinking: Joe is not able to move about without help. He has cognitive difficulties, as a result of…

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September 24, 2013