[Su seb]

I am noticing that some skills are improving and others are not. Some of the the things that I struggle with the most were weaknesses before the injury but now they are much worse. Is this common.

Writing, including spelling and organizing of sentences and paragraphs is very difficult. Words just tumble out of my head at random. Numbers are difficult. Lots of thing.

Do these things improve on their own?
Can I do things to help improve my cognitive skills? Games? Puzzles?

I still have vision problems. Convergence insufficiency. So it's not easy to read.
I'm 7 months pcs.

I read other people's posts and I can't believe how well they can write with tbi. Why is it so hard for me?
Su seb

[DFayesMom]

I know you must feel frustrated. I remember feeling that way myself. I have ADHD, so a lot of my symptoms did seem like a worsening of what I already had (which is part of why it took so long for me to get diagnosed) but then there were others that were totally new. I read more slowly, couldn't process more than one thing at a time, and couldn't concentrate with any amount of background noise. Before PCS, I was a really fast and avid reader, and I couldn't concentrate without background noise! In grad school, I used to go to bars or loud coffee shops to study, and I got straight As. When my cognitive function was restored, that was how I knew for sure that I was back to my normal. I found myself on Lumosity.com playing memory games with the tv on and did just as well as with the tv off!

That brings me to how I feel I recovered. I think Lumosity was key. I was able to track my progress and see myself getting better, which was really encouraging. I cant say whether or not the games themselves caused my improvement. It feels like it did, but i dont know that there are scientific studies to back this up yet. That said, you have to be very careful with how much time you spend on the computer. I overdid it and set myself back to worse than right after my August 28th car accident. If you're doing any vision therapy, I would talk to them about it before doing any of the games. Some of the games might be too much to handle while doing vision therapy. I know I couldn't do them right now!

Journal writing also helped me monitor my progress. I know you say writing is hard for you, but I can't tell that from your posts. As my own harshest critic, I know it's easy to see the worst in yourself sometimes, but honestly, you are being too hard on yourself!

I also think rest was essential to my recovery, but you probably know that! Any way you can lower your stress level, do it! I found i would get super anxious if i tried to meditate, but found an hour and a half of tv in the afternoon to be very relaxing. I know others will think this counterproductive, but it wasn't for me, at least at that time.

I also think that the headaches I endured exaggerated my cognitive symptoms, and once I got those under control, my cognitive symptoms started to improve rapidly!

Good luck to you!

[Lightrail11]

Originally Posted by Su seb

Do these things improve on their own?
Can I do things to help improve my cognitive skills? Games? Puzzles?

I still have vision problems. Convergence insufficiency. So it's not easy to read.
I'm 7 months pcs.

I read other people's posts and I can't believe how well they can write with tbi. Why is it so hard for me?
Su seb

I don't remember from your prior posts, but have you had a neuropsychological assessment? These can help identify specific deficit areas, and then the neuropsychologist can prescribe specific therapies. These can be expensive but some insurance plans cover this (mine did).

I had speech and occupational therapies that were helpful. At home, I also practiced with multiplication flash cards, which helped with memory and processing speed. I’ve not used Luminosity as DFayesMom mentions but I’ve had PhD level neuropsychologists suggest that those types of memory games my be helpful.

Hang in there. I know 7 months seems like a long time, but brain injuries heal on their own time schedule. Best to you.

[Mark in Idaho]

Su Seb,

Have you tried reading and typing with one eye closed or covered? Maybe alternate eyes to give both exercise.

I have to use the computer screen for my immediate memory. It allows me to quickly look back to see what my thought is. I also type with lots of red squiggly lines that I need to edit. I usually have added extra letters or typed letters out of order (nad for and, docotor for doctor)

I consider my posting to be therapy. The brain training exercises are probably too much until you get your vision issues resolved. I have very slight convergence issues but have had them for decades so I just keep going.

In the early stages, I just typed as the thought came out then reread and organized the sentences. It worked very well. It helped by me not feeling a need to stop and correct as the thoughts flowed. I did reams of typing for my WC claim. Drag and drop, cut and paste, all of the computer functions can be helpful.

Are you proficient at Drag and drop and cut and paste ? I do a lot of highlighting a sentence or phrase then dragging it to where it makes more sense. Left click to highlight, then release then left click to drag to a new location. Release the left click when the cursor is where you want it to be.

I also do a lot of Ctrl X (cut) Ctrl C (copy) and Ctrl V (paste), especially when my hand is shaky.

Research shows that using electronics to communicate can be very beneficial to people struggling with MCI (mild cognitive impairment). It sure helps me. My wife is amazed at how fast I can type with just my index fingers.

Hang in there. These skills will improve with time, either organically (natural healing) or by work-arounds (new skills). Either way, you have a lot to look forward to if you just keep plugging along without any stressful time limits or agenda.

My best to you.

["Starr"]

I use many of the skills Mark describes in his post. With the computer, I am quite proficient and just work on getting my thoughts out, then I clean them up to try to make them make sense to others.

If I have to use pen and paper, everything is a mess. I find the actual skill of using a pen and paper difficult, handwriting or printing is hard and taxing on my brain, especially when combined with figuring out what I want to say and getting it in the right order before I try to write it. Then, most of the time I forget before I get the first word down correctly. That's a real exercise in frustration and generally ends in tears.

But typing, editing, correcting, its all very forgiving, especially if you can take your time.

At Mark's suggestion, I've started taking all phone msg's and notes down on my laptop also. That's made my life quite a bit better and the information more accurate.

I'm a gmail user, so I just type into a blank email, then if the info is at all important, I send it to myself and I have a permanent copy in my email records (you never have to delete anything from gmail!) and I can access it from my laptop or iPhone.

Its saved me a couple times now when I've left the house without the address or directions to appointments because of my poor memory. The only thing I have to remember is to check and see if the missing info is in my email. (And just hope that I did indeed put it there originally!!)

I understand your struggles... especially with numbers... they mess me up every time I have to interact with them... so frustrating and often embarrassing.

Hang in there.
Starr

[MsRriO]

The tips in this thread are very helpful so thanks for posting! It's interesting how many of us benefit from just the right question posed.

One thing I would say is try not to compare progress between PCS'ers because we don't see some of the struggles others are having... Though I write decently enough I regularly mess up other things. I fail to sequence steps in any logical order. For example I can end up putting away breakfast in this way: milk in cupboard, peanut butter in fridge, dirty knife in drawer instead of sink. Then once it's wrong, something clicks and I sigh a heavy sigh, and undo all my mistakes. The key is, though, something clicks! That means the retrieval is the problem, so I know I'm not stupid. The goods are in my brain but it takes a while to locate them.

I share that because writing fairly well sure doesn't help me put breakfast away but it does relay a good story! Hang in there, your writing skills are not gone forever, I believe we just have a longer route to access our skills for a while!