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Brain Injury Survival Kit: 365 Tips, Tools, & Tricks to Deal with Cognitive Function Loss
Brain Injury Survival 365 Tips, Tools, & Tricks to Deal with Cognitive Function Loss gives brain injury survivors, their families, and loved ones the strategies they need to improve brain function and quality of life. The book is a compendium of tips, techniques, and life-task shortcuts that author Cheryle Sullivan has compiled from her personal experience. Readers will learn successful approaches Communication tools; Compensating for impaired memory function; Locating things that have been put away; Word fnding; Concentration exercises; Balancing a checkbook; Using medication alarms; And much more! From basic principles to unique solutions for saving time and energy, this book is packed with helpful information for those coping with the special challenges of a brain injury.
- GenresNonfictionHealth
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 4, 2012
Strengths: clear, practical guidance for people having to re-learn basic activities
Weakness: The author seems unaware that some people who need her book suffer impairments more severe than hers.
Summary: If brain activity could be quantified with 1 being full function and 95-100 being a persistent vegetative state, this book can help anyone between 2 and about 50 or 60.
______
Imagine reading a cook book in which you've found many terrific recipes and then coming across one that sounds great until it includes this: "Next, tell your cook . . . ." If you don't employ a cook, you might regret getting your hopes up about the promised treat that you now realize you can't enjoy. You might wonder how the author could have assumed that everyone has cooks.
That's the experience of reading Brain Injury Survival Kit: 365 Tips, Tools, & Tricks to Deal with Cognitive Function Loss by Cheryle Sullivan (Demos Health, 2008).
The book's well-organized 169 pages are packed with useful information that can help anyone trying to navigate a world that has become very different because their brain no longer functions the way it did. Sullivan is a medical doctor whose career ended after she suffered a concussion in a skiing accident in 2002. She has used both her professional and personal experiences to create a book that can make life easier for people who have suffered blows to the head or strokes or who have multiple sclerosis or other conditions that can cause brain trauma.
Anyone capable of reading can benefit if their impairments are less than crippling but more than the occasional forgetful "senior moment." The book could probably also help people suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other pyschological conditions that impair the brain, although it cannot replace counseling.
But Sullivan apparently did not realize that her book would be used by people with cognitive impairments more significant than hers. Brain Injury Survival Kit's occasional lapses can frustrate some of her readers and potentially undermine some of the progress that the bulk of the book promotes. This is worse than finding an unhelpful recipe.
In baseball terms, Sullivan hit a home run in her pre-injury life but the concussion knocked her back to third base. She worked hard to get back to home plate and has commendably shared with others her insightful coaching. Her book would make it into the Hall of Fame if she realized that some of her readers were knocked back an additional base or two, and that some might even need her to remind them what baseball is.
Give Brain Injury Survival Kit to anyone you care about who is impaired but still able to remember what a book is. They might need help making sense of it, especially at first, but the book will make their life better. Especially if they don't get tripped up by Sullivan's occasional, inadvertent carelessness.
The advice
Sullivan starts with basic information that can help even those with fully functioning brains. Neurologic function is affected by overall health so she urges people to eat well, exercise and get enough rest. Then she goes into extensive, step-by-step instructions that are too basic for most grownups but essential for people working their way back to functioning adulthood.
She suggests people working to overcome cognitive impairments do as much as they are capable of but avoid pushing too hard. Recovery takes time and patience. Exertion can cause frustration that can lead to setbacks or even failure. In short, be realistic and go slowly.
She devotes chapters to such areas as attention, memory, organization and communication. Characteristic of her approach is this example of how to cope with distractions:
Set a clear goal or objective in your mind for what you are doing, preferably written down on a schedule or paper in plain view, as a memory jogger. This will help you return to your task after being distracted.
Sullivan has thought through her advice and she presents it clearly, much of the time. But not always. Sometimes she contradicts herself, as when she suggests that everyone eat varied meals but then later advises people with cognitive impairments to establish a routine that is easier to maintain by eating the same meals for every breakfast and every lunch. Even a healthy brain would be taxed trying to pack all the needed nutritional variety into only dinners.
Sometimes her tone is too flip, as when she writes about balancing one's checkbook: "If you have a trusted friend or family member, ask them [to] assist you or (even better!) do this task for you." It can be amusing to get other people to do your work if you have to whitewash your aunt's fence. Otherwise, telling someone to get others to do things for them contradicts the book's proper and mostly consistent encouragement to do for ourselves what we are capable of.
Occasionally Sullivan's advice is almost certain to confuse more than help. For instance, she recommends that people re-training their brains avoid potential injury from well-worn shoes. She suggests throwing them out after 400 miles even if they look fine. How many fully functioning people can look at a shoe and know that it has logged 400 miles?
Such lapses are rare and perhaps minor enough that some who rely on the book will not be bothered by them. The book's valuable parts outnumber and far outweigh the vexing ones. The trouble is that it is impossible to know in advance which parts will vex. Sullivan, or her editors, could have done more to leave at least some of them out.
My experience
I had a stroke in 2008 from which I have made a considerable but not yet complete recovery. I haven't seen Sullivan's medical records and we haven't met but her references to her situation lead me to guess that my impairments are more significant than hers. For example, she doesn't mention ever not being able to make her own medical and financial decisions. I have a court-appointed trustee. She is pleasant and means well but having someone else call my shots is an irritation I thought I'd avoided by not enlisting in the military. I would not wish the indignity on anyone. (Well, maybe on one or two but they're not in office anymore so it's too late.)
After her accident, Sullivan has re-gained the ability to drive a car. It's been almost four years for me and I haven't, and likely never will. Not being able to drive is about the least of adjustments but it is the one that caused my greatest frustration with Brain Injury Survival Kit.
Sullivan starts her description of "Getting Around in Your Town" well:
Prepare in advance. . . .
Know where you are going . . . .
But then she gets to this: Plan your stops. If multiple stops are planned, plan the best order to make drive time and energy use most efficient.
And then she prattles on about driving. So much of her book had helped me that I assumed this would too. I spent many hours over several days trying to figure out how Sullivan's advice here applied to me. It was only after my cognitive therapist told me -- repeatedly -- that it sank in that the advice does not apply to me. Sullivan would have saved me significant aggravation if she'd included a simple warning. Just adding a "Skip this page until you are able to drive" would have told me to treat that part the way I would a recipe that requires employing a cook.
To people without cognitive impairments, it is obvious: Skip the irrelevant parts. But nothing is obvious to people with cognitive impairments and -- here's the crucial part -- Sullivan should know that. Discerning which parts to skip requires fairly sophisticated thinking. Because Sullivan is more capable of that kind of thought than some of her readers, she should have invested a bit more of it.
Sullivan's book helped me even before I could make sense of it. Its existence inspired a kind of if-she-can-do-it-so-can-I confidence. It has helped me much more since I've been able to figure it out, either with help or -- more and more -- on my own. Although there are times I want to grab her shoulders and try to shake the obliviousness from her, most of the time I want to say a hearty "Thank you" and give her a big hug.
If Sullivan ever revises Brain Injury Survival Kit, she might want to include advice against randomly hugging strangers.
Weakness: The author seems unaware that some people who need her book suffer impairments more severe than hers.
Summary: If brain activity could be quantified with 1 being full function and 95-100 being a persistent vegetative state, this book can help anyone between 2 and about 50 or 60.
______
Imagine reading a cook book in which you've found many terrific recipes and then coming across one that sounds great until it includes this: "Next, tell your cook . . . ." If you don't employ a cook, you might regret getting your hopes up about the promised treat that you now realize you can't enjoy. You might wonder how the author could have assumed that everyone has cooks.
That's the experience of reading Brain Injury Survival Kit: 365 Tips, Tools, & Tricks to Deal with Cognitive Function Loss by Cheryle Sullivan (Demos Health, 2008).
The book's well-organized 169 pages are packed with useful information that can help anyone trying to navigate a world that has become very different because their brain no longer functions the way it did. Sullivan is a medical doctor whose career ended after she suffered a concussion in a skiing accident in 2002. She has used both her professional and personal experiences to create a book that can make life easier for people who have suffered blows to the head or strokes or who have multiple sclerosis or other conditions that can cause brain trauma.
Anyone capable of reading can benefit if their impairments are less than crippling but more than the occasional forgetful "senior moment." The book could probably also help people suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other pyschological conditions that impair the brain, although it cannot replace counseling.
But Sullivan apparently did not realize that her book would be used by people with cognitive impairments more significant than hers. Brain Injury Survival Kit's occasional lapses can frustrate some of her readers and potentially undermine some of the progress that the bulk of the book promotes. This is worse than finding an unhelpful recipe.
In baseball terms, Sullivan hit a home run in her pre-injury life but the concussion knocked her back to third base. She worked hard to get back to home plate and has commendably shared with others her insightful coaching. Her book would make it into the Hall of Fame if she realized that some of her readers were knocked back an additional base or two, and that some might even need her to remind them what baseball is.
Give Brain Injury Survival Kit to anyone you care about who is impaired but still able to remember what a book is. They might need help making sense of it, especially at first, but the book will make their life better. Especially if they don't get tripped up by Sullivan's occasional, inadvertent carelessness.
The advice
Sullivan starts with basic information that can help even those with fully functioning brains. Neurologic function is affected by overall health so she urges people to eat well, exercise and get enough rest. Then she goes into extensive, step-by-step instructions that are too basic for most grownups but essential for people working their way back to functioning adulthood.
She suggests people working to overcome cognitive impairments do as much as they are capable of but avoid pushing too hard. Recovery takes time and patience. Exertion can cause frustration that can lead to setbacks or even failure. In short, be realistic and go slowly.
She devotes chapters to such areas as attention, memory, organization and communication. Characteristic of her approach is this example of how to cope with distractions:
Set a clear goal or objective in your mind for what you are doing, preferably written down on a schedule or paper in plain view, as a memory jogger. This will help you return to your task after being distracted.
Sullivan has thought through her advice and she presents it clearly, much of the time. But not always. Sometimes she contradicts herself, as when she suggests that everyone eat varied meals but then later advises people with cognitive impairments to establish a routine that is easier to maintain by eating the same meals for every breakfast and every lunch. Even a healthy brain would be taxed trying to pack all the needed nutritional variety into only dinners.
Sometimes her tone is too flip, as when she writes about balancing one's checkbook: "If you have a trusted friend or family member, ask them [to] assist you or (even better!) do this task for you." It can be amusing to get other people to do your work if you have to whitewash your aunt's fence. Otherwise, telling someone to get others to do things for them contradicts the book's proper and mostly consistent encouragement to do for ourselves what we are capable of.
Occasionally Sullivan's advice is almost certain to confuse more than help. For instance, she recommends that people re-training their brains avoid potential injury from well-worn shoes. She suggests throwing them out after 400 miles even if they look fine. How many fully functioning people can look at a shoe and know that it has logged 400 miles?
Such lapses are rare and perhaps minor enough that some who rely on the book will not be bothered by them. The book's valuable parts outnumber and far outweigh the vexing ones. The trouble is that it is impossible to know in advance which parts will vex. Sullivan, or her editors, could have done more to leave at least some of them out.
My experience
I had a stroke in 2008 from which I have made a considerable but not yet complete recovery. I haven't seen Sullivan's medical records and we haven't met but her references to her situation lead me to guess that my impairments are more significant than hers. For example, she doesn't mention ever not being able to make her own medical and financial decisions. I have a court-appointed trustee. She is pleasant and means well but having someone else call my shots is an irritation I thought I'd avoided by not enlisting in the military. I would not wish the indignity on anyone. (Well, maybe on one or two but they're not in office anymore so it's too late.)
After her accident, Sullivan has re-gained the ability to drive a car. It's been almost four years for me and I haven't, and likely never will. Not being able to drive is about the least of adjustments but it is the one that caused my greatest frustration with Brain Injury Survival Kit.
Sullivan starts her description of "Getting Around in Your Town" well:
Prepare in advance. . . .
Know where you are going . . . .
But then she gets to this: Plan your stops. If multiple stops are planned, plan the best order to make drive time and energy use most efficient.
And then she prattles on about driving. So much of her book had helped me that I assumed this would too. I spent many hours over several days trying to figure out how Sullivan's advice here applied to me. It was only after my cognitive therapist told me -- repeatedly -- that it sank in that the advice does not apply to me. Sullivan would have saved me significant aggravation if she'd included a simple warning. Just adding a "Skip this page until you are able to drive" would have told me to treat that part the way I would a recipe that requires employing a cook.
To people without cognitive impairments, it is obvious: Skip the irrelevant parts. But nothing is obvious to people with cognitive impairments and -- here's the crucial part -- Sullivan should know that. Discerning which parts to skip requires fairly sophisticated thinking. Because Sullivan is more capable of that kind of thought than some of her readers, she should have invested a bit more of it.
Sullivan's book helped me even before I could make sense of it. Its existence inspired a kind of if-she-can-do-it-so-can-I confidence. It has helped me much more since I've been able to figure it out, either with help or -- more and more -- on my own. Although there are times I want to grab her shoulders and try to shake the obliviousness from her, most of the time I want to say a hearty "Thank you" and give her a big hug.
If Sullivan ever revises Brain Injury Survival Kit, she might want to include advice against randomly hugging strangers.
September 5, 2016
My roommate suffers from a TBI. This book is excellent...a quick read that offers awesome insight not only to the brain-injured person, but to loved ones too. Tremendous ideas for coping and relieving daily stresses for the person who suffers.
September 8, 2017
A bit dated, and it contained information that I had already worked out on my own, but still a helpful read. That being said; it may not be helpful to those who have endured a severe traumatic brain injury.
July 27, 2011
Very useful tips, even for those without brain injury. I started utilizing quite a few and already I'm amazed at the difference it makes in reducing my stress.
January 15, 2018
A must read for tbi survivors and caregivers. A true eye-opener that made me feel “normal” and gave my family answers to so so much of what l myself could not explain in words.
Read
September 1, 2019Good tips on how to adjust to someone with brain injury. And more people have problems than we ever thought!
November 27, 2021
Helpful
I was surprised by how wonderfully and effectively this book was written. Definitely a purchase you'll not regret. I loved how practical it was.
I was surprised by how wonderfully and effectively this book was written. Definitely a purchase you'll not regret. I loved how practical it was.
March 31, 2021
This is a great book for an intended audience of higher functioning individuals with TBI and or clinicians/caregiver/family members. This book contains several practical and useful tips including compensatory strategies (e.g. to make memory external, energy conservation), building consistency in routines, and utilizing checklists. Each chapter is specific to a skill the reader wants to work on or learn more about.
December 10, 2016
Invaluable guide for people recovering from brain injury and their families and caregivers. Dr. Sullivan survived her own TBI, so her writing is not only medically informed, it speaks compassionately out of her own experience and struggles. My husband highlighted most of the book, saying that it explains his own struggles and feelings in ways that he was not able to articulate before. For families and caregivers, it will help you better understand the your loved one's behavior and give you great insight into how you can help them cope. It's a very quick read (you can finish it in a couple of hours). Some of the resources and tips are slightly dated (it was written pre-smartphones and social media), but that doesn't diminish the value of the book, and updated resources are easy to find.
Read
November 4, 2014Written by a physician who sustained a MTBI, this is a "how to" book for high functioning adults with some cognitive sequelae that is also useful for mod-severe TBI survivors with continuing executive functioning problems. Dr. Sullivan covers tools and strategies to deal with memory, time management, organization, and various aspects that effect energy conservation (stress, diet, exercise, relaxation, and sleep issues)
August 30, 2011
My brother-in-law was involved in a serious motorcycle accident on 6/23/11 and suffered a traumatic brain injury. After almost two months in the hospital, he came home to live with my husband and I on 8/16/11.
October 20, 2013
เหมาะสำหรับครอบครัว ที่มีคนเป็นโรคอัมพฤกษ์ (Stroke) แบบไม่รุนแรง
หนังสือถูกเขียนโดยหมอ ที่เป็นโรคอัมพฤกษ์ แล้ว Cognitive เสียหายไประดับนึง
หนังสือจะแชร์เครื่องมือ ว่าจะจัดการชีวิตอย่างไร เท่าที่ Cognitive เหลือเท่านั้น
ไม่เหมาะสำหรับโรคอัมพฤกษ์ที่รุนแรง เพราะจะใช้ไม่ได้เลย
หนังสือถูกเขียนโดยหมอ ที่เป็นโรคอัมพฤกษ์ แล้ว Cognitive เสียหายไประดับนึง
หนังสือจะแชร์เครื่องมือ ว่าจะจัดการชีวิตอย่างไร เท่าที่ Cognitive เหลือเท่านั้น
ไม่เหมาะสำหรับโรคอัมพฤกษ์ที่รุนแรง เพราะจะใช้ไม่ได้เลย
May 31, 2014
I definitely recommend this to others with mild traumatic brain injury themselves or within their family. It gives very simple explanations of what is not working and great tips for learning compensatory means to manage the disabilities.
February 13, 2019
I found myself gleaning even more tips for successful living during this second time through the book than I did the first time around.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews