My brain on nature: How the natural world helped heal me after a devastating accident.
After I suffered a mild traumatic brain injury after a car knocked me off my bike, I discovered my path to recovery was through nature.
Loud cafes and bars were unbearable — even the noisy school grounds at drop-off were too much.
But I found the sounds of nature had the opposite effect and helped to alleviate my constant headaches.
Quita Docking (right) pictured with best friend Cody Hollingsworth before her accident. (Supplied: Gladys Docking)
It’s the silent, unspoken killer amongst us, striking from nowhere, changing everything in a single heartbeat.
The rugby tackle that was too high. A joyride gone awry. An accident on the farm. Simply running out of luck.
Acquired brain injury is the leading killer of people under 45 years in Australia. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
It has been almost ten years since traumatic brain injury (TBI) crashed into our lives, changing our family forever. People always ask, “How is your son Paul doing now? How are you, your husband, the other kids? How has your family survived?” I usually give my polite, standard answer: “Oh…thanks for asking, we’re all doing fine. And you?” But the reality is — unless you have experienced the loss, the heartache, and the ripple effects that brain injury can inflict — TO READ WHAT THE REALITY IS CLICK HERE
Paul-Coskie
Once we have successfully learned how to read, it continues to be easy for most of us. But for some people it can be an immense challenge. In developmental dyslexia, the process of learning to read is disrupted, while in alexia – or acquired dyslexia – brain damage can affect reading ability in previously literate adults.
Patients with pure alexia lose the ability to read fluently following injury to areas in the rear part of the left hemisphere of their brain. The curious thing is that they can still walk, talk, think, and even write like they did before their injury. They just can’t read. Not even what they have written themselves. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
I can learn how to talk, trust and feel through sharing my experience, strength and hope and by listening to other people share their experience, strength and hope. I have the power to choose in life. When I am being critical of other people, READ MORE
An advocacy group is calling for budget funding for early intervention services for acquired brain injury, a condition which can lead to domestic violence.
The frontal lobe, which can be affected by acquired brain injury, is involved in regulating how people react to their emotions.
The condition affects the frontal lobe and can cause limited patience as well as aggressive and violent behaviour. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Evaluation of conjugate eye movements has been a key component of the neurologic examination for at least 3500 years. Concussions are typically associated with post-traumatic vision problems, such as difficulty with reading, visual accommodation, and saccadic eye movements. Eye tracking dysfunction is one objective measure of concussion, but methods of tracking have not been well refined, and even so, require highly skilled examiners, and have never been translated into the ED environment.
The driving forces behind rehabilitation research at the Centre are researchers like Associate Professor Natasha Lannin, from La Trobe University and Alfred Health, and staff at the Centre such as Katrina Neave, Nurse Manager. Their desire to make interventions for people with Acquired Brain Injury even better, allowing many more people to resume the activities they did before they had the injury. This is inspirational research and both say their motivation comes from the patients who will benefit from the research. Patients like Diego Mercado.
We are now in the middle of the holiday season which can challenge those of us with an injured brain. It is a time when so much more is expected of us than most other times of the year. We along with our loved ones, friends and caregivers should all remember that it’s best to simplify so we can enjoy things more. It’s been nearly 9 years since my brain injury and I’m doing much better but I have to remind myself to keep things simple instead of doing all the things I “should” do, or the things I did before my injury.
One of the conversations we frequently have with leaders and team members relates to the number of meetings they “have to attend”, how time consuming these meetings are and, in many cases, how irrelevant much of the content is to what attendees see as the meeting’s goals. Continue reading
