October is National Learning Disabilities Month. Learning disabilities affect millions of people across the globe, and these are often overlooked or misdiagnosed. They can affect both children and adults and can be detrimental to education, work and overall quality of life if left untreated. The following from the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada discusses learning disabilities and provides an understanding of how certain disabilities can be treated and helped.
Learning Disabilities Association of Canada: Understanding Learning Disabilities
Feed Your Brain
We eat for many reasons: hunger, boredom and nourishment, to name a few. The choices of WHAT we eat are becoming increasingly important as research is finding more and more connections between certain foods and their effect on our bodies. Everyone, especially children, should be trying to fuel our brains to assist with concentration and memory. The following article by Web MD discusses how we can use food to balance that training and keep our minds in tip top shape. Remember, you are what you eat.
I Always Called it Dumb-Ball
Football lovers beware, this post will offend you.
I have never liked football, in fact I have always called it dumb-ball. Why? Because I could not, and do not, understand the appeal of watching big dudes, many of them grossly out of shape, run into each other with their heads. I never saw this as sport, and recognize that in a three hour game, each player actually moves for about 6 minutes. How athletic (I mean pathetic).
Okay, okay, simmer down. I can see that some of them are sweating under those helmets, and to be honest I don’t even understand the game. I should not knock something I have not tried, take no interest in, and don’t get, but alas I will continue.I think the recent NFL player award of $765 million for those with brain injury resulting from football proves my point. According to one article, “under the settlement, individual awards would be capped at $5 million for men with Alzheimer’s disease; $4 million for those diagnosed after their deaths with a brain condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy; and $3 million for players with dementia”. They indicate that there are 18,000 players affected (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000235494/article/nfl-explayers-agree-to-765m-settlement-in-concussions-suit).
Other articles talk about this as a “drop in the bucket” and an award very unlikely to have any impact on the NFL at all. I know that the economy lives on supply and demand, and it somewhat saddens me that there remains a “demand” for this type of sport via spectators that pay big bucks and derive pleasure from watching this idiocy.
I love this article from Grantland: What Would the End of Football Look Like? (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7559458/cte-concussion-crisis-economic-look-end-football). In this, they speak of pending football lawsuits and that the end result is that “more and more modern parents will keep their kids out of playing football, and there tends to be a “contagion effect” with such decisions; once some parents have second thoughts, many others follow suit.”
I can tell you that I work with people with brain injury, Alzheimer’s Disease, concussions and post-concussion syndrome. These are not easy injuries to live with, or to treat. Dizziness, visual disturbance, excessive fatigue, cognitive difficultly, physical and emotional challenges…not fun. Why as a parent would I sign my kids up for that, or the likelihood of that, when there are other sports like tennis, volleyball, swimming, baseball and golf that are more classy, often more athletic, and clearly more safe?
What is interesting is that a few years back I was at a conference on Spinal Cord Injury. At my table, there was a researcher from the US. He was talking about impact data being collected from sensors inside football helmets. He said they were astonished at the high velocity of impacts being measured, and said the numbers were so severe they “could not even release the data as the outcome would result in public outcry and a drastic change to the sport”. Well, we wouldn’t want an outcry, would we?
The bottom line is that society’s values are changing. Parents are going to be less and less interested in exposing their children to sports that are more likely to cause injury, and to have long-term disabling effects. Sorry dumb-ball, I think your days are numbered. Golf anyone?
Alzheimer’s Disease
I learned early in life about the perils of impaired cognition. I worked for Scotiabank for many years as a customer service agent. In this role, I would assist many clients who I now assume had dementia with their finances. I remember having to call family when one elderly woman replaced her visa card six times in one month. The family found them all in the lettuce compartment. Or, the other lady that paid the same roofer three times. She was being taken advantage of. In school, I read the book “The Man That Mistook His Wife for a Hat”. What a great way to understand dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
It is national Alzheimer’s week so I thought I would take some time to talk about this very sad and difficult illness. Alzheimer’s disease, or related dementias, impact 1 in 11 Canadian’s over the age of 65, with three-quarters of these being females. It is expected that within a generation, this will double, to around 1.3 million people (http://www.alzheimertoronto.org/ad_Statistics.htm).
Signs of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia include:
- Judgment: such as forgetting how to use household appliances.
- Sense of time and place: getting lost on one’s own street; being unable to recognize or find familiar areas in the home.
- Behavior: becoming easily confused, suspicious or fearful.
- Physical ability: having trouble with balance; depending upon a walker or wheelchair to get around.
- Senses: experiencing changes in vision, hearing, sensitivity to temperatures or depth perception.
Assessment of this is often done medically by eliminating other factors that could explain these problems (such as poor sleep, medication use, other conditions, stress, etc). Also, an Occupational Therapy Assessment in the home is very helpful at determining how the noted problems are impacting function, how these can be addressed or treated, if the person is safe to be at home (with or without supports), and what care is required. Following the assessment, the Occupational Therapist can make recommendations regarding devices, strategies, and supports that can help to reduce the impacts of the disability, improve safely, promote independence, and ensure the caregiver is trained to provide the necessary support. Such suggestions could include ways to:
- Remove hazards at home.
- Prevent unwanted wandering.
- Safeguard medications.
- Reduce physical barriers that impact mobility.
- Improve visual perception through aids, devices and care techniques.
- Reduce against risks of unsafe food and beverage preparation or consumption.
As with most things, early diagnosis and intervention is key. Seek medical attention and ask for an OT in-home assessment to gather information about how to improve function, and to safely prevent premature losses that can result from lack of information about the condition and its management.
Working Up a Cognitive Sweat
My grandmother is legally blind and deaf, but my dad made a great comment to me the other day: “she is blind in one eye and sharp as a tack in the other”. Now 85, for the last 15 years she has had to adjust to her hearing and vision loss through cognitive flexibility and acutely tuning her other senses. The result? An elderly woman who does not appear to be experiencing any element of cognitive decline. In fact, she knows more about adaptive computers, closed circuit reading machines, hearing aids and compensatory tools than I do. The old cliché is true when we talk of cognition – “use it or lose it”.
Our brains are made of billions of neurons, which interact with each other to complete specific tasks. Signals are sent from one neuron to another along neural pathways, and these determine our thoughts, emotions, insights, and so much more. Each task relies on a different neural pathway, so the pathway for reading a book is different than the pathway for putting on our shirt. The more we use a pathway, the stronger the connection becomes.
These neurons have the ability to physically change themselves when faced with new and difficult experiences. This ability is called neuroplasticity. As we are exposed to new areas, tasks, information or experiences, neural pathways are formed and existing ones are reshaped. This will continue throughout our entire lives as we learn. As we have experienced through practicing a musical instrument, memorizing our shopping list or recalling a friend’s phone number, if we consciously focus and train our brains in a certain area, they will become faster and more efficient at performing those tasks.
Just as we need to exercise the muscles in our body, we also need to exercise our brain. One form of brain exercise is called cognitive training. Online training programs have been developed to allow anyone with an Internet connection to have a daily cognitive workout by completing exercises which strengthen our neural pathways. This could include memory, concentration problem solving, visual perception – you name it!
Here is a list of some of the readily available online cognitive training programs:
- · Lumosity(www.lumosity.com): Brain training exercises that focus on memory, attention, flexibility, speed of processing and problem solving. Specific areas to work on are selected as your create a personal profile. Lumosity will automatically create a set of five exercises to complete daily, and keep track of your progress. Membership can be purchased on a monthly ($15) or yearly ($80) basis. It can be trialed for free, but the trial has limited games available.
- · Mind Games (www.mindgames.com): Brain games selected to focus on memory, attention, spatial reasoning, problem solving, focus speed, fluid intelligence, stress, reaction time and visual perception. All games on the website can be played for free.
- · Actibrain(www.actibrain.com): Brain exercises to train in verbal, numerical, logical, memory and spatial areas. An online profile can be created for free and workout games played as frequently as you want. Progress charts keep track of your daily results.
- · The Brain Wizard (www.thebrainwizard.com): Brain training exercises focusing on attention, thinking, recall, concentration and memory. A trial version is available for three days and a full membership can be purchased for $0.25/day.
- · Brain Metrix (www.brainmetrix.com): Brain games focusing on reflection, creativity, memory, spatial intelligence, numbers and concentration. All games on the website can be played for free.
So, go bench press some cognition, increase your reps, and work up a cognitive sweat!
Summer Sports Safety
Do you or your kids participate in summer activities or sports? Swimming, playing soccer, golf, tennis and other summer sports can be fabulous for your health, however, you need to ensure you are playing safely. Whether you play organized summer sports or simply enjoy a nature walk, the following article from Better Home and Gardens discusses how to ensure you and your family play it safe this summer.
Always Forgetting Where You Put Your Keys? Tips To Improve Your Memory
Do you have trouble remembering where you left your keys? Is it hard for you to remember the name of the person you were just introduced to? We live in an age of information overload and it is becoming increasingly difficult for many to keep their memory sharp. This article by Good Housekeeping discusses excellent tips to keep your mind sharp and improve your memory.
Memory Mantras
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
Being an Occupational Therapist can also be a curse when it comes to parenting. As an OT, the goals are always functional independence. As a parent, I am no different. I remember a video I watched in OT school. This was of a boy (young adult) with cerebral palsy and he was putting his coat on. The video was probably 20 minutes (or it felt that long). As I watched this boy struggle with his coat for what seemed liked eternity, I wanted to jump through the TV to help him. Clearly with some help this could be done faster and easier. But in the end, it was not about that. It was about independence.
As parents, it is often faster and easier to do things for our kids. Or, we feel the need to continuously protect our kids from failure by ensuring that we are their second brain. But is this the right choice when the goal is to create people that can manage on their own?
I have created two memory mantras that are used in our house to ensure my kids are seeing the big picture and are developing some executive functioning (note I also use these mantras with my clients who suffer from memory impairment):
When leaving the house our mantra is: WHERE AM I GOING AND WHAT DO I NEED? When my children ask themselves this question, they need to stop and think “I am going to X and thus need Y (water, shoes, birthday present, tennis racquet, money)”. This prevents them from showing up at X unprepared.
When leaving a place in the community our mantra is: WHAT DID I COME WITH AND WHAT DO I HAVE? By asking themselves this question, they quickly realize that they came with X and thus need to bring X home (coat, shoes, water, bag, lunch). This prevents them from leaving things behind.
The success is in hearing my children repeat this to themselves when on their way out the door. Recently, at a sporting event, we heard a teenage boy blame his mother for forgetting his water. She was profusely apologetic and rushed out to find him a drink. My children (younger) turned to me and said “shouldn’t he remember his own water”? My thoughts exactly.
So I Guess Your Kid Doesn’t Wear A Seat Belt Either?
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
I get very confused when I see children riding bikes without helmets. Over the last many years the safety benefits of a helmet for biking, skiing, skateboarding, ice skating (and many other sports) has been well studied. Research shows that helmets can be extremely effective in preventing head injuries and ¾ of all cycling fatalities are the result of head trauma. You don’t even have to hit a car or tree to sustain a head injury – the ground or even your handlebars are often enough.
The laws in Ontario are clear: since October 1, 1995 anyone under the age of 18 is required to ride a helmet on a road or sidewalk (http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/safety/helmet/helmet_law.htm). Based on an increasing number of adult cycling deaths by head injury, it is likely that this law will soon be extended to adults as it is in other provinces.
So, considering the laws and the well-publicised risks, why are children (including young children) still seen riding bikes without helmets?
As adults, I recognize that we were not raised to wear helmets. Adopting this practice has been difficult as we find it unnatural, maybe uncomfortable, and probably uncool. However, most of us likely wear seatbelts when in a vehicle. Why? BECAUSE WE WERE RAISED THAT WAY. Seatbelt laws in Ontario were passed in 1976 and so many of us were raised in the era of this as mandatory. Many of us probably don’t even have to think about our seatbelt anymore as it is part of our regular “get-in-the-car” routine and we feel naked and exposed without it. We need to apply the same concept of “normal” to our children regarding helmets.
There are two main reasons why children need to wear helmets. 1. They are safe and have been shown to save lives and reduce disability. 2. IT IS THE LAW. As a parent, by not requiring that your child wear a helmet on their bike you are not only putting them at risk, but are also teaching them that laws don’t matter. And I am not talking about the diligent parents whose children leave the house with a helmet on, to later have this on their handlebars or undone on their head. I am mostly talking about the young kids in my neighbourhood who are out on their bikes without helmets, often under the supervision of their parents, and are thus not being taught that helmets are law, mandatory, and safe.
I am going to hazard a guess that no parent would put their child in a car without a seat-belt. Heck, child seats are also law and until a certain age these are five point and offer more protection than the adult restraint. So, for the same reasons you put your child in a seatbelt (protection and law) you need to ensure they are wearing a helmet for biking (skating, skiing, skateboarding). And lead by example – get a helmet for yourself and model the appropriate behavior. And be firm: no helmet should equal no bike. No discussion.
What’s Going on Inside your Head?
Do you ever wonder how your brain works? The human brain is very complex and difficult for the untrained individual to understand. This interesting interactive Brain Map by CBC Health takes you inside the human brain allowing you to explore up close.