Monthly Archives: December 2013

Head Injury: A Practical Guide: You are an Expert Already…

HEAD INJURY: YOU ARE AN EXPERT ALREADY…

Part of the text is reproduced by kind permission of Trevor Powell from his book Head Injury: A Practical Guide.

The cognitive effects of a brain injury affect the way a person thinks, learns and remembers. Different mental abilities are located in different parts of the brain, so a head injury can damage some, but not necessarily all, skills such as speed of thought, memory, understanding, concentration, solving problems and using language.

The cognitive system can be divided up into six separate areas:

Memory

Memory is not one thing or one skill on its own. It is easily damaged by brain injury because there are several structures within the brain which are involved in processing information, storing it and retrieving it. Damage to those parts of the brain on which these abilities depend can lead to poor memory. Problems with memory is a complex subject and is covered in more depth in a separate section.

Headway has produced a publication Memory Problems After Brain Injury that provides further information.

Attention and Concentration

A reduced concentration span is very common after head injury, as is a reduced ability to pay attention to more than one task at the same time. These problems are usually caused by damage to the frontal lobe. Attentional problems tend to get worse when the person is tired, stressed or worried. When there are problems with concentration, other skill areas can be affected. It is difficult to follow instructions, plan ahead, be organised and so on, when there is a problem concentrating. Working in a place with as few distractions as possible can help and, as concentration improves, distractions can be increased. In this way, someone can slowly learn to concentrate better in a world which is crowded with distracting sights and sounds.

Speed of Information Processing Continue reading

Posted in brain injury, Headway, living with head injury, medical, medical information | Tagged , , , | 987 Comments

“Only when we’ve been in the deepest valley can one ever know what it’s like to stand on the highest peak.”

Picture from http://deepandwonderfulthoughts.wordpress.com “Only when we’ve been in the deepest valley can one ever know what it’s like to stand on the highest peak.” – I love those inspiring and empowering words from former US President, Richard Nixon Keep fighting … Continue reading

Posted in inspirational quotes, inspirational thoughts, words of encouragement and upliftment | Tagged , | 42 Comments

“Every adversity brings with it the seeds of an equivalent or greater benefit…in due course . You’ll see…someday!”

Originally posted on Craig's Quotes:
picture from deepandwonderfulthoughts.com “Every adversity brings with it the seeds of an equivalent or greater benefit…in due course . You’ll see…someday!” – craig (as inspired by the words of Napoleon Hill, author of the…

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Live Your Dream through overcoming Obstacles and Never Ever Quit (from “Inspirational Books”)

Live Your Dream through overcoming Obstacles and Never Ever Quit (from “Inspirational Books”) LIVE YOUR DREAM THROUGH OVERCOMING OBSTACLES AND NEVER EVER QUIT (FROM “INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS”) Pascal once said: “Our achievements of today are but the sum total of our … Continue reading

Posted in determination, human potential, inspirational quotes, inspirational thoughts, perseverance, persistence, resilience, words of encouragement and empowerment, words of encouragement and upliftment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

THOUGHTS ON NELSON MANDELA (PART TWO): What Each ONE of Us Can Learn from Madiba

THOUGHTS ON NELSON MANDELA (PART TWO): What Each ONE of Us Can Learn from Madiba from http://www.mandelamadiba.wordpress.com “Together, one mind, one soul at a time, let’s see how many people we can impact, empower, encourage and perhaps even inspire to … Continue reading

Posted in determination, dreams, hope, human potential, inspirational thoughts, perseverance, persistence, resilience | Tagged , | 16 Comments

You’ll Never Walk Alone

Originally posted on Inside the Mind of a Grand Prix champion:
You’ll Never Walk Alone You’ll Never Walk Alone by Barbara Streisand  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtluX7XxGrU Other  versions of the song that you may like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RYUp7gYHwg (Streisand) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV5_LQArLa0 (Gerry and the Pacemakers)…

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

THOUGHTS ON NELSON MANDELA: WHAT EACH ONE OF US CAN LEARN FROM THE GREAT MAN

THOUGHTS ON NELSON MANDELA: WHAT EACH ONE OF US CAN LEARN FROM THE GREAT MAN THOUGHTS ON NELSON MANDELA WHAT EACH ONE OF US CAN LEARN FROM THE GREAT MAN Submitter’s Note: I’ve quickly jotted down these thoughts early this … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Stirling: A Story of Hope and a Boy’s Dream

It was one day in the year 1961, whilst driving on the long journey home to Cape Town after the South African Grand Prix in East London (a city that lies on South Africa’s East Coast), that the young boy told his father that Jim Clark would one day be the champion driver of the world. The young boy was in a bad mood, because the young Clark had beaten his hero, Stirling Moss. And for the next few years the young South African boy followed the rising Scot star ’s ascending career with great interest and pride. So that the new “shooting star” eventually usurped the place of the now retired old hero, Moss after his near fatal accident at Goodwood, UK…until it too was tragically extinguished in a minor race at Hockenheim, Germany in 1968. And that night the young boy lay on his bed and read the race program over again and again… then he fell asleep and dreamt in peace. One day…

#
HE WOULD NOT WAKE UP PROPERLY FOR 38 DAYS!

From: STIRLING MOSS: The Authorised Biography by Robert Edwards (Published by Cassell & Co, UK)

Stirling Moss was in a coma for 38 days in Atkinson Morley Hospital, London

And many people throughout the world prayed for the star driver’s healing… a collective appeal to Christ. Perhaps one of them was even a concerned young boy in Clovelly, Cape Town, South Africa.

Moss’s inability to speak was confusing, although the physical injuries were more familiar.

He did not immediately notice that he was effectively paralysed. The physical damage to the left side of his body was made worse by the fact he could not move it, the massive bruising his brain had received had to heal first. This would be frustrating to say the least, particularly since the extent of his injuries were not initially revealed to him. The patient assumed that he could not move because he was injured, rather than because his brain would simply not allow it. His friend, David Haynes finally revealed the truth; although it depressed Stirling, it also caused him to fight his condition harder, initially to no avail. Continue reading

Posted in authors and head injury, autobiography, books by craig lock, Golden Dawn, Head (brain injury), Stirling | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

“Here was a light behind the despair, beyond the darkness. At first a flicker of an ember, just a tiny pin-prick of dawning possibilities. Then burning slowly, brightly and bigger, a glimmer, a candle in the blackness of despair, which gave off just enough of a glow (luminescence?) to light a path. And so show the rest of us the way ahead… a path to endless possibilities…from the darkness into the eternal light.”

from http://www.craigsbooks.wordpress.com

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Golden Dawn: A Story of Hope, Dreams and Peace (inner)

                                    Golden Dawn: A Story of Hope, Dreams and Peace (inner) GOLDEN DAWN: A New Book Being Written, as Life Unfolds“Life is God’s novel; so let Ultimate Source write it, as it unfolds…” – me (as inspired by the words … Continue reading

Posted in dreams, hope, inspirational stories | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments