[Karen]

Last year I realized that I was taking written notes for my medical appointments but nothing to my dentist. It is in my medical history that I had a brain injury but not what problems it has caused in my life. My attention span means that I do not know if 30 seconds has passed or it has been 30 minutes. After discussing things with my dentist we came up with a plan to switch to an electric toothbrush. It does a special vibration at 2 minutes. My last cleaning showed that this has greatly improved my dental health.

I told the dentist that I now realize that I was not brushing my teeth for probably even 1 minute when I was using my old toothbrush.

people do not realize that even getting our hair cut causes major problems. How many questions do they ask about how you want your hair cut and styled. I have come up with a script if I am not able to see my regular person. I have been lucky that I have found good hair stylist that I can trust after a few cuts and just sit in the chair. This has helped my migraines when getting my hair cut. I still get a migraine but it is not as bad and I do not have the long recovery and fatigue from the simple hair cut.

[Karen]

What is your organization project – Organize my Office and Exercise Room

SR – Plan

· What’s my purpose? (Can I be more specific?) I changed rooms with my mom after she got sick last year. She needed a bedroom on the first floor so I moved upstairs to her old bedroom. The move happened in 36 hours because of her illness so her things got organized and I dumped most of my stuff in my office.

· What do I already know? I have organized some things. Some things I have not used in the year since moving upstairs and are still in boxes or tubs. Do I really need these things or is it something I did not use because I forgot that I had it or could not find it.

OFIO – Analyze

· What do you want to get organized? Organize the shelves the printer is on and the boxes and tubs of things.

· What’s working? When organizing I have a bag for donation, a bag for garbage at the beginning. If I want to keep something I have been trying to put in correct spot instead of another box, tub or on shelf.

I have organized my vision therapy and exercise areas. I have started organizing my walk in closet in the office/ exercise room .

· What’s not working? I have old school books and notes that I am not sure if I will need in the future as I am waiting on decision from workers compensation to decide if I can go back to work. Social Security has already decided and I am on disability. I have been waiting for over a year for workers compensation decision. If I can get rid of these items and other items that I do not need if I am not going back to work, then I have more room for other things that I want to keep. Fatigue and migraines have limited my time to work on this room.

Would like to get a small desk in this room but I am not able to until I finish going thru the boxes and tubs. I got rid of a big desk so I could have more room for exercise equipment.

· What items are most essential? my shelf unit for my printer, storage system for misc things, file cabinet, exercise equipment, vision therapy equipment

· What’s cause the problems? Fatigue, migraines, getting rid of something that I may need in the future.

[Karen]

1. Doing any activity causes eye pain and migraines and at this time I am limited to 9 Imitrex tablets a month for migraines. What other activities or appointments do I have this month that I need Imitrex for. I do use pacing app to help regulate time with activities to help manage daily migraines.

2. Workers Compensation claim still open after 6 years so I need to keep certain things if I go back to work and I can get rid of things if I do not go back to work. I do not want to organize office and then have to organize again after decision is made. Keep being told for last year I have one more test to do before decision is made. Hopefully last test was on July 19 2024 and decision can be made.

3. Do not remember where I put my list. I have been trying to use notabilty to get more organized. Now I need to remember was I using my phone or Ipad for the list. Example I put brainstorm activity for this workshop on my phone notability when I usually use my IPAD for note taking during workshops.

[Karen]

I have an iPhone and iPad. I use the Best Suite App and Notability. I like how the Best Suite App links my iPad and IPhone. Pacing is very important in my daily life to help with migraines and fatigue. I like that the app has so many useful tools. Strategies and lists are also very important. I like the convenience of knowing where my lists are. Paper lists get lost or new ones started without adding items that were not completed.

I just started using notability while taking the strategic reading class. I put notability on my phone and have used it at doctors appointments. Taking notes on my iPad while reading a book is very easy. I like that I can change color of text, etc. I look forward to learning more about how notability can help improve my daily life.

[Karen]

Reading and trying to comprehend things causes eye pain and migraines for me. This can happen after just a few minutes. I have done some other classes on Saturday morning and know that this program is good for ideas between the instructors and the chat you can get ideas that others have not told you before.

[Karen]

I have done different therapy programs to help me read and comprehend but I am still having problems. I hope to learn some new techniques and strategies to help me.

[Karen]

Hi I am Karen

My injury happened in July of 2018 at work. I have been an avid reader my whole life. I could read pleasure books in two to three hours. Reading after my injury has been very difficult and I can go months without reading a book. Reading directions to do something is sometimes impossible because I will skip lines and have trouble understanding what to do. I have learned that I need to do important reading in the morning before I do other things. Using a slant board and a ruler helps with my reading.

My doctors want me to do at least 15 minutes of reading a day, which is sometimes difficult to do because sometimes I need two to three days to recover from appointments or different activities. Sometimes I get frustrated with reading a book that I will just start skipping pages so I can just finish reading a book.

Understanding what I am reading is difficult and sometimes takes multiple times of reading something to get a basic understanding.

I hope to get more strategies on how to better read and comprehend things.