Cognitive outcomes and strategies after brain injury

Gadgets, Gizmos and Technology for People with Brain Injury

  Is it possible to have access to every available technique, gadget, app and technology for people with brain injury? I confess before we begin that I am being an opportunist here. I do love gadgets and technology. As part of the ever- increasing "Wow that's amazing" kind of stuff that is being developed I kept reading about different ways they were being used by, and for people with brain injury. So I have gathered links and resources rolled it up into this article. I do also have a strong view that we should be using all we have available to enable people to live a full meaningful life. For me, Wolf Wolfensberger says it all: Vastly more knowledge and technology exists about how to advance people toward their potential than is known by, or utilized in, any one service; therefore, no matter how good any service or agency is, there still may exist a better way (Wolf Wolfensberger quoted in Lemay…

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Read more about the article Stuck in a Thought Tunnel: Rigidity after Brain Injury
Flickr Image by David Rodriguez Martin

Stuck in a Thought Tunnel: Rigidity after Brain Injury

Imagine you can only ever think along one track. No changing tack, and no taking in new information. Rigidity after Brain Injury is like this. Others can think you are being deliberately obstructive, annoying or worse. Not understanding rigidity after brain injury can cause frustration and distress in relationships with family and friends. It can also lead supporters to misunderstand or misread behaviour, and to take things personally. It is helpful if each cognitive outcome, such as rigidity after Brain Injury, is carefully explained and understood by everyone involved. Seeking to understand as much as possible about rigidity is an important strategy for  supporters to help learn not to take things personally.   Flexibility vs Rigidity For most of us there is some aspect of change during our life we will find difficult. We might struggle to change familiar routines when events happen such as going to a new school, having a baby, moving to share a house with others. We might…

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The Brain at Work: Cognitive Function

Today a practical exercise to help understand more about what cognitive function means. Earlier we looked at a brief introduction, of what cognitive means today a more concrete way to understand what it is all about. To get your own cognitive cogs working do the exercises below before you read to the end. Then read on to the answers. Compare your list with those below and see how you go. You are also welcome to use this exercise to help others understand what cognitive means. It may be helpful to do it as a small group. Even simple sounding tasks may need complex thinking.  If you want some examples to get a better idea  of cognitive function and skills a number are listed here: [box style="rounded"]Examples of Cognitive Skills from Serendip Studio," a digital ecosystem for exploring"[/box]   Definition of Cognitive Function Before we launch into a big thinking exercise, here is a reminder of what “cognitive” means: The brief definition: “Cognition…

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Decision-making and Problem Solving After Brain Injury

This article has been updated please visit "Brain Injury - Strategies for Organisation, Planning and Problem Solving"  At times we all have trouble trying to work out how to solve a problem. Times when we can’t seem to make a decision. Or we make a decision and then think “Why did I ever do that”. Brain Injury particularly when it involves the frontal lobe, commonly results in similar difficulties with working through problems, and making good decisions. The difference is the difficulty problem solving after brain injury might not go away. A little disclaimer here. Talking separately about cognitive  (or executive) functions is not entirely sensible as everything the brain does is linked. I am going to go against my own good advice and do it anyway. Decision Making and Problem Solving after Brain Injury: What Can Happen? Problem solving and decision making difficulties after brain injury will be different in each person. One person might leap to a solution without considering…

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Lack of Insight after Brain Injury: A Term To Use With Care

  'Lack of insight' describes a common outcome of brain injury. I believe this term needs great care to understand properly and respond to appropriately. It takes a careful, thoughtful, approach to see it as a description; an outcome of brain injury; and not a criticism, or a negative comment. For people with brain injury this is a real outcome caused by damage to the brain. It is not deliberate. Maybe using the correct term ‘Anosognosia’ would help depersonalise the term. If you heard a person had ‘anasognosia’ would you think and respond differently, than hearing a person has a 'lack of insight after brain injury'? How Does Lack of Insight After Brain Injury Happen? Insight refers to a person’s ability to see their situation as it is. The skills needed to do this effectively are managed mainly by the frontal lobes. If damage occurs to the frontal lobe of the brain, there may be difficulties recognising and accepting changes. Difficulty seeing…

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Back to Basics: Potential Outcomes of Brain Injury

Back to basics with a look at the potential changes and outcomes of brain injury. In brief - if we think about the brain controlling everything we do: then damage to the brain can affect everything we do. Seven points to remember about the outcomes of brain injury Before talking more about specific outcomes here are seven points to remember: Brain injury is complex and difficult to fully understand. An organ that can boast 100 billion cells has got to hold a few surprises for us all. Mostly the part of the brain damaged will determine the physical and cognitive effects. All parts of the brain are closely linked and work together so predicting the exact outcome can be difficult. The combinations of cognitive and physical effects following brain injury are different for every person. The outcome is random. Many years ago Headway Victoria in Australia used the analogy of acquiring a brain injury being like dealing a deck of cards, you…

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Disinhibition after Brain Injury – Tips and Strategies

Last week I talked about about disinhibition after brain injury; possible causes, and what you might see. Today, still focussed on disinhibition, I have collected a list of strategies that might be helpful. The tips and strategies below are grouped under a set of principles. Having a set of principles is like the foundation, or the pillars, upon which you can build good support. Four reminders before you make any changes:[ordered_list style="decimal"] Discuss strategies and ideas with the person you are supporting, their family and treating team, to decide what suits best. Start with strategies and changes the person is interested in. Try not to change too much, all at once. [/ordered_list] Think B -E- C- A- U- S- E BECAUSE is a set of principles that can help you build a list of actions to ensure you work successfully; with humanity and respect. They are the pillars that support and guide what you do. Today I am applying these principles to…

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The Spotlight is Attention and Concentration the Focus to Get it Done

Attention and concentration are cognitive (thinking) tools that allow us to choose to focus on something, and stick at it to the end. While doing this, we can be taking notice of some things, and ignoring others. I might read a letter, while listening to music but ignore the noise of my children playing; I might be listening carefully to what someone is saying, while ignoring other conversations in a room. Attention means we choose what is important for us to focus on at any moment. Concentration is what enables us to focus our attention for long enough to complete the tasks we wish to. Last week I made a rather long attempt at 'summarising' the working of the brain. I hope this sets the scene for understanding more about how cognitive abilities, like attention and concentration, are used in the work of our brain. And what happens with cognitive changes, after brain injury. Attention, or attending to information, and concentrating on…

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Can we learn about Brain Injury in movies?

Some time ago I watched the movie 'The Vow'. It got me thinking about the portrayal of brain injury in movies; thinking about what movies have been made about brain injury; and whether we can learn about brain injury in movies that are primarily made to entertain. 'The Vow' Well, The Vow might be a bit schmaltzy, and it may gloss over the tough bits of living with a brain injury, but it does look at the impact on family and family relationships, it looks at the impact of memory loss, and it looks at developing strategies that work for the person. I discovered that the movie is based on the lives of a real couple Krickitt and Kim(called Paige and Leo in the movie) Carpenter, interviewed in the video clip here. There are moments that make you think about what it would be like. At one point Leo(Kim) (the husband) says “Life’s all about moments of impact and how they changes…

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Egocentricity: It’s not really “all about me”; it’s all about the brain injury

Damage to the brain, causes egocentricity. It is a common cognitive outcome after brain injury, and one that can be very difficult for family and others to cope with. If you are supporting people with brain injury it is more than likely you will come across egocentricity. In a Family Studies Project asking families about what kind of problems they had (conducted by the Research and Training Center on Brain Injury, at the State University of New York, Buffalo) , they found 61% of people with brain injury were reported as “... occasionally self centred”1 Egocentricity, is often described as “it’s all about me” because a person seems focussed on themselves when it's the brain injury talking. What does egocentricity look like? Egocentricity affects a person’s ability to notice things, to put themselves in another person’s position, which means they may not see the needs of others. This may cause a person to seem more self centred, selfish, not able to care…

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