Gretchen Schmelzer
 

Have only recently comes across her writings and very much enjoy them. Google or search her article 'Trauma makes you live in backwards world.'

Now I understand so much of why the little things can become major and big things don't always feature. . . . then there is paper work which I don't seem to do and can not understand why. . . at times I seem to 'float' my way through.

Also explains why my son with TBI bins paper work for the most part; doesn't feature too often in his world yet the most mundane of issues take prominence.

Uderstanding is the key yet all too often we are not given it, quite possibly/probably because many of the clowns we deal with haven't a clue themselves!

I've never heard of Gretchen. I'll check her out.

Paperwork has been a problem for me for 16 years. What I have discovered is that I get visually overwhelmed by the page. Fill in the blank forms are the worst. All of the blank spaces make it near impossible to focus on just one blank space.

I have learned to use a blank sheet of paper to cover the blank spaces below the line I am working on.

Now that I think back, I think this is why I was a horrible test taker in high school and college. At the time, all I knew was that my brain would freeze during tests that had blanks to fill in.

I have this same problem with forms at the doctor's office.

Try using a blank sheet below and even above the line you are working on. It could make a world of difference.

When I am filling forms on the computer, it the cursor is faint, I have more struggles. It it is bold, I do much better. My guess is the blinking cursor grabs my visual attention. In some applications, the cursor can be made bolder. Adobe Acrobat Reader tends to have faint cursors when filling out forms.

On a slightly different note, I used to create reams of pages using Microsoft Word. Then, MS changed the toolbar for MSWord 2007 with ribbons. All of the visual clutter has stopped me in my tracks. I use UBit to get the old toolbar when I must but it reverts back to ribbons once you finish editing and start typing again.

I've used WPS Office/Kingsoft, an affordable Chinese clone of MS Word. It has the old toolbar but is not quite the same.

Like the idea of paper to cover that which is above and below, especially below. Look forward to trying this. Cheers Mark.