As my brain has issues with how quickly I can process information "thinking speed", learning and memory - how well I can learn and recall things, working memory (ability to hold information while I do things in the short term) and sustained attention (how well I can concentrate over time) I need to use lots of compensatory strategies
"Imagine for a moment what it would be like to wake up one morning and be unable to think clearly, concentrate and remember new information. You're eager to be productive but are unable to concentrate not completing tasks and forgetting things.
People seem to be speaking rapidly and you become unclear about what they said or what they want. Your self-confidence begins to fade and your relationships with family and friends start to deteriorate.
You begin doubting your abilities and your perception of the world around you. You fear others and start to withdraw from social activities. As time goes on, you begin to lose hope that you will regain your abilities and that your future will be better." [1]
Things like utilising structure and routine, creating lists/writing things down/breaking things down, monitoring progress towards goals, external memory aids etc. Fatigue management - knowing your limits - is also important. To break down even simple things like a morning routine with a flowchart etc
Making a Dahl the other day. For me, that is an exhausting, challenging goal-directed multi-step therapeutic procedure of:
1. working out what ingredients I need
2. Shopping in a quick panic dash out of hermitage
3. Reading, understanding (I make a flow chart) and following a recipe
4. Adding therapeutic social layers while cooking
CogSMART makes some useful materials
Covers things, through examples, like
• Prospective Memory skills eg Use a Calendar, Make Lists, Reminders Start Linking Tasks: Forming a habit by adding a new task to something you already do
• Conversational and Task Attention skills 1) Listen Actively 2) Eliminate Distractions 3) Ask Questions 4) Paraphrase
To understand a task o Paraphrase o Ask questions if you need to Use Self-Talk while doing it
• Verbal Learning and Memory skills
Encoding strategies: writing things down, paraphrasing, association, categorising, chunking, acronyms, rhymes, and imagery
Retrieval strategies: Relax, Mental Retracing, Alphabetic Searching, Recreating the Context, Organization
• Cognitive Flexibility skills
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