Hi, some of you may be interested in an item in this broadcast.
Spoiler alert, 'you got to work at it like an Olympic athlete for years'.
What the program does not say is how to plan it, or how to do it. Then you'll have to persuade the DWP to give you the space and time to do it.
Food for thought though.
Link sent me to a talk about vagrant birds ?
As for rewiring your brain , I went through this or something simular after my tbi.
The pathways between areas of my brain were damaged which meant I had to relearn/ build new pathways.
This involved my ability to talk and walk along with my general thought processes.
It all came under the cbt umbrella. It was over 20 years ago so it's a very vague time for me.
I know it involved lots of different repeated brain exercises and took just over 3 years to see permanent improvements.
The walking and talking was in conjunction with physio/ ot. The hardest part I found was learning to rethink how processed things.
Not a great lot of insight I know but I feel it was a worthwhile battle.
Pax
The stroke bit is a little further along after the vagrant bird piece.
I think the insight you share is 'repetition' and that's how I recovered by selecting what I could not do and repetitively try to do it until I could do it.
Yes a lit was repetition, but also I had different worksheets and even hypnosis. The hypnosis didn't work and nearly caused more problems.
Like most things it is repetition that is the bases for most recovery.
Did you ever get the sense that somehow you knew something but when it came to doing that something you could not remember how to do it. It's like a weird paradox, I know it but I can't do it.
An example I can give is that I knew the alphabet but when it came to saying it I could not remember the letters.
I remember making it a task that whenever I walked across the fields behind my house I would practice saying the alphabet over and over and over until I could remember it all. It took about 4 weeks.
Then I did the same for numbers.
Still happens now. The big one for me is shoe laces. I'm fine for ages then suddenly one day I am staring at the laces knowing I know how to do them but for the life of me I have no idea how to tie them.
Words can be elusive as well. Or I say a completely wrong word.
yep it's classic isn't it. it may sound weird but I found it really funny when it happened and would laugh about it rather than worry.
The vagrant birds preceeded the rewiring the brain bit.
Sadly this typifies how those outside fail to understand or prioritise the issues of brain injury. The latter can happen to anyone and the horrific numbers worldwide are referenced in PV’s Masters Thesis that he provided for us and others to read.
So yes, rewiring or diversionary ways around the damage are fundamental to recovery and indeed it is a marathon journey to relearn things.
The BBC Sounds Podcast concentrates on how an amputee still has the brain connecting with the missing limb which is quite an extreme example of how the brain retains a memory.
For a lot of us, I analysed the situation and determined that we could with persistence learn again what food tasted like, what smells are notable and such like and just as it is to other people, every day is a new experience and one to add to your memory….so yes the recovery continues in the way a small child learns what is hot, cold or tepid, what tastes sweet or sour and importantly if you do read up the science, what minerals and vitamins assist us in our everyday lives.
Potassium, sodium, etc etc. Small miniscule quaunitites in everyday healthy foods, but it is well known that cyclists will often carry a banana for energy (potassium I believe) and that milk (as long as you are not lactose intolerant) will be a great thirst quencher and energy provider.
Thanks for the link anyway. The more we can get maintream media to talk about such things the better.
suffered horrendous injury to frontal lobe in 2000. Five years to recognise my impairment. Another 10 to develope the need to adjust/accept it. 20 + and still trying to build a more acceptable personality?!! Unable to feel many emotions, luckily. Just numb to new life, occasionally want to find friends, share coffee with new friends. Lost all social life as they couldn’t accept the new me, family, husband too. Just rise to the challenge & SMILE to spite it!! Good luck & welcome
Stroke that caused brain hemorrhage, 22 days & still not fully conscious. 
