tengboche,

I often close my eyes so I can listen. It can make a huge difference. I need to tell the other person what I am doing so they do not get confused.

When I watch TV, I use a head set that helps me ignore the background noise. I have a daughter who is very intelligent and knowledgeable. If she gets started talking about one of her adventures, like climbing Mt Baker glacier fields, etc. I have to leave the room. She puts too much information into each minute of talking. My brain overloads. My wife can sit and listen to her for hours. I overload in just a few minutes.

I have used a term that I think fits better than modifications. Accommodations. We have work-arounds ( a different way of getting a task done ) and accommodations, a different way of dealing with a stressor or other challenge. Foam ear plugs are an accommodation.

We need to recognize our limits for the present and use work-arounds or accommodations to continue with our life. The limits are there and they are real. They can change from day to day. Getting past the reality of recognizing limits as not being a self put-down allows us to go on. Then we celebrate the success of our work-arounds and accommodations.

But then, am I just splitting hairs?

Visit a TBI support group. It will put a new perspective on your limitations. There is the old saying, "I used to complain because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet."

I help a man who spent 3 months in a coma and then two years learning to walk and talk. His 20 year anniversary of his new life is Oct 16th. His email to me today included this line <Also, as of the 16th of October, that will be my 20th year from being 'transported' to a different time & place than what I previously desired to be at. Recall during the ~middle of the Sound of Music movie where the chief nun told Maria "...when the Lord closes a door, he opens a window." Hence (& w/o the commercials), I should glance this episode in this manner, so sayeth the soothsayer if I may say so. :-D >

He has spent 40% of his life recovering from being hit by a teen driver as he walked in a crosswalk.

My best to you all.