Music Changes The Brain (image from meditate on it)

Neuroscience reports successful outcomes with specially engineered music therapy programs. Reports of music making a difference abound in science and classical literature. In Bible days musicians were sent ahead of Warriors to maintain morale and to set the climate of victory for battle. Recently there has been much emphasis given to the Mozart effect. In some studies music has been emphasized as being able to even enhance mathematical ability.

There is little doubt that music plays an important role in clinical recovery for many clients. One program I have used personally and clinically with great success is The Listening Program. We find The Listening Program improves many clients’ abilities to hear in noisy environments. Additionally we see improvements in auditory processing speed and attention. 

The Listening Program has matched spectral bands with somato-sensory cortex patterns and taken out some of these frequency bands. Participants enjoy the music in a classical format. The brain then attempts to match the missing frequencies to strengthen synaptic connections in the new pattern. The program employs dichotic listening in order to restore the balance in the way sound is perceived by the ears and translated by the brain.

Impaired auditory processing skills can be seen with imaging techniques as an abnormally enlarged auditory cortex is with the neurons responding over a greater area producing increased sensitivity as a compensatory measure. Unfortunately this also produces a greater signal to noise ratio in the brain. This may translate to reduced auditory accuracy in noisy environments. The ability to filter extraneous interference and to accurately discriminate sound is compromised. This same process takes place in chronic pain patients who are slower to feel the initial sensation of pain but are found to have increased sensitivity to pain, less tolerance and this pain is spread over a wider area.

One logical way to solve this problem would be to help the brain create a new path, making it less reactive to all stimuli and more sensitive to discriminating important stimuli. The Listening Program is effective as a tool to train the brain in this way. The orderly cadence of classical music in its mathematical formation can act as a filing cabinet for the auditory cortex. The frequency filtering allows the brain to come out of an automatic mode and learn a new way of hearing. The stereophonic listening gives the brain an opportunity to generalize where and how it will process new sound.

Song is often used to awaken dormant skills in comatose or stroke patient’s, evoking auditory response and initiating corrective response. Individuals may be unable to say words but they can repeat them when they are sung to them by a participating therapist. After singing, they then say the same words that were impossible for them just moments before. It may be that when people cycle between speaking and singing the contour and spacing of musical sounds may be decoded by additional areas in the brain which can then act as a conduit to the language centres of the brain. This may be because language uses motor, auditory and visual skills.

Singing may engage other brain areas and then cue brain neurons to act as a construction crew to make a detour around the damaged area or to enlist nearby neurons to build a strong new path. Recently neuro imaging tools have advanced so that changes caused by this kind of learning can be demonstrated by an increase in white and gray matter cells in the brain. The Listening Program also serves as a relaxing way to restore cognitive reserve and reduce the fight or flight response created by learning anxiety.

Many brain therapy patients spend hours in occupational, speech pathology, and physical therapy every day. This concentration is required to build new paths in the brain, however in early stages of recovery the brain is vulnerable and becomes tired. The Listening Program can provide a restful interlude in the midst of these other therapies. Clients report that using The Listening Program between other therapies refreshes them and allows them to be more productive.

Brain and Pain Diet Help

By Amy Price PhD

Brain injury and chronic pain survivors often ask me why they are getting so fat inspite of  low fat eating. Many people blame it on the meds but patients in increasing numbers are stating they get overwhelming cravings for sweet and fatty foods. This makes sense as it is one way the body tries to bring the reward system into balance since being brain damaged and in chronic pain sucks out the feel good neurotransmitters like dopamine, oxytocin and opiod receptors which the body then tries to take short cuts to get back to acceptable levels by over indulging on sweets and fats. Sadly over time this makes things worse and the system requires more and more fats and sweets just to find a balance. Getting your thyroid levels checked after a spine injury is important too thyroid dysfunction due to injury can show up years later and thwart efforts to have clear thinking and a slim body.

Changing your diet can help as can safe effective forms of exercise not only because you will look better but because your body will operate more effectively and the brain fog will lessen.

In the spinal patient community patients have been unofficially using bio-active magnesium and benfotiamine  (along with a multi B and C supplement) for relief of CNS nerve pain along with piracetam or aniricetam to assist cognitive functioning. There is also considerable discussion on the merits of a heart healthy diet inclusive of lots of green vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins for improving cognitive function, cell repair and pain levels after spine and head injuries. Some of us have found supplementing glucosamine chondritin along with vitamin C, E and fish oil to be helpful as well, for the vegetarians flax seed oil seems to do the trick. The diet rich in magnesium may seem counterintuitive due to the brain’s demand for glycogen and sweets cravings induced by chronic unremitting pain and brain fog but many have found good results with a change in diet and supplementation. In light of  this, the following  information about research on magnesium  was an interesting find.

Here is a link to a doable diet, for recipes there are some good ones at this  South Beach Diet site. You can download free apps to your cell phone  or use this program from your desktop that will total not only calories but nutrients so you can track your progress

Injury Consequences Can't Wait, Drive Safe Now!

By Amy Price PhD

MTBI survivors and families want to know if and when it is safe to drive again. There is computer software and professional treatment that can help many with driving, processing and memory skills. It is important to know if the treatment is effective before going back on the road. Email for more information on what is available. The AMA has released guidelines for physicians on how to test for safe driving and in addition many universities with memory clinics have road testing clinics where driving skills can be practised and tested before heading back on the road.

Abilities like picking out an object against a contrasting background can diminish in TBI in addition to visual processing speed and acuity as well as balance. Attention is important as many accident are caused by Brain fog and this can often be rehabililitated.  The ability to find your way around or handle the stress of adverse driving conditions such as weather, traffic, headaches or bad drivers is critical for safe driving. Often fear can influence driving skills and it is common for those who have sustained a TBI as a driver or a passenger are justifiably concerned. The AMA and Highway Safety comission have partnered to creat a great guide for physicians to test driving ability. You may want to take this to your doctor. It is also a good barometer for you and your loved ones to assess when you are safe for the road!

Save Your neck and the Necks of others rehabilitate driving skills…see you at the Dashboard!

Brain Training You Can do Together

By Amy Price PhD 

    Do you need to get your life back and restore relationships after trauma? It is not only truama survivors that can benefit from training but also family and caregivers who deal with the unexpected pressure of caring for a critically injured loved one. Brain neurons that fire together wire together, families that play together, stay together! Extensive research indicates our brain needs to overcome the negativity bias ingrained through the fight/flight response produced by trauma or social rejection to operate at maximum potential. It is more than positive thinking as the mind has a specific ratio of positive to negative input it accepts plus the input must be genuine to release the feel good chemicals that promote brain learning and healing.  Many people involved in an auto crash must fight for insurance rights and social acceptance during an era of limited capacity and chronic pain. All these aspects take a critical toll on the brain and promote inflammation cascades that lead to long term functional loss. The great news is that with targeted brain training in small manageable steps you can get back the edge taken from you though trauma, bad relationships, or serious illness. Your brain wants to work for you! 

Clicking on Train Your Brain , Save Your Mind here will take you to a fascinating short video on the power of personal brain optimization and contains a clinically validated assessment tool. This video is presented by Dr Evian Gordon of Brain Resource Company  and speaks about the highly acclaimed wellness program My Brain Solutions. It is well worth investigating, in less than 15 days I showed improvement on several measures of cognition. If you would like to sign-up for MyBrainSolutions please email me ….read on for why training your brain matters. 

Our minds and brains become so starved for approval and acceptance that we accept input and relationships that are harmful and not genuine. Your own brain even when it is damaged can pick up emotional cues in 1/20 of a second  which will determine how we respond to others.  I worked for the medical director of an organization for several years following a TBI…it was not until I was past that situation and had embarked on an adventure training positive emotions that I realised that in four years I had never been given a genuine smile. How can you tell? For a smile ask your self if the eyes crinkle slightly and the pupils enlarge, smiling with only the mouth is not genuine expression. Interestingly this insight has been validated by multiple behavioral, FMRI, GSR and QEEG studies, yet like many insights it is rooted in wisdom passed down from successful individuals who are at peace with themselves. Dr David Whitehouse, an eminent Harvard trained Psychiatrist put is this way  ”PEOPLE NOT ONLY SEEK AN EMPOWERING MIND, BUT ONE THAT IS AT PEACE WITH ITSELF”.  My Brain Solutions can help you learn to discern emotion and train your brain from a negative to a positive bias and offers a clinically validated personal assessment with a presonalized prescription to increase your brain function. Dr Evian Gordon states in his book ‘The Brain Revolution’ that  “THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AND EXPERT AND A NOVICE LEARNER IS A MODEL” One critical component of cognitive skill is one’s ability to speedily reframe or re-appraise the circumstances that surround you. People that successfully reframe have better life satisfaction and long term survival rates than those who are fixated on negative events, this ability can be trained. 

Research on cognition that shows transfer of training and increase in quality of life is dependent on carefully assessing individual differences with  clinically accepted tools which provide personalized training to meet these perimeters[1,2,3,4,] 

Learning and novelty are partners yet many brain fitness programs offer rote repetition of weak areas without variation in task or content in a bid to target learning, However research shows us this is not the way meaningful learning occurs. Tasks must be individually challenging to hold engagement and yet structured enough to be doable. Ideally tasks will adapt to changing learning curves to build neuroplasticity. The best learning capitalizes on emotional and intellectual strengths already present while strengthening areas of weakness in a positive atmosphere. For example, teaching a university student mnemonics and concept mapping may make the memory more efficient however teaching an individual with organic damage or early dementia how to remember names and faces with a mnemonic is an exercise in futility. 

Specific training alone can lead to plastic changes in the brain as demonstrated by expert Braille readers who show an enlarged hand area and smearing of finger representations in the somatosensory cortex. This result was observed in expert, but not in novice Braille readers suggesting that the training and not the blindness which leads to the changes in cortical representation [5]Similar domain specific results were noted in London taxi drivers and expert violinists. Kramer et al [6] states recruitment of additional brain regions helps performance only if the recruited area complements processing of the task in question. This is likely why rote memorization fails to increase working memory whereas training that targets attentional networks and processing speed increases working memory limits. We are incapable of processing in depth what we have not attended to and our capacity for material attended to is limited by the speed at which we process stimuli. 

References: 

1. Posner, M., & Rothbart M. Educating the human brain. Washington, DC US: American Psychological Association.; 2007:189-208. doi:10.1037/11519-009 

2. Jaeggi SM, Buschkuehl M, Jonides J, Perrig WJ. Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2008;105(19):6829-33. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18443283 

3. Willis SL, Tennstedt SL, Marsiske M, et al. Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults. JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association. 2006;296(23):2805-14. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17179457 

4. Gordon E, Arns M, Paul RH. Research Report THE INTEGRATE MODEL OF EMOTION, THINKING AND SELF REGULATION: AN APPLICATION TO THE “PARADOX OF AGING”. Thinking. 2008;7(3):367-404. 

5. Greenwood PM. Functional plasticity in cognitive aging: review and hypothesis. Neuropsychology. 2007;21(6):657-73. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17983277 

6. Kramer AF, Bherer L, Colcombe SJ, Dong W, Greenough WT. Environmental influences on cognitive and brain plasticity during aging. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. 2004;59(9):M940-57.: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15472160

Free Memory Screenings for Brain Optimization

 Boca Raton, FL— Consumers who want a status check on their memory can take advantage of free, confidential screenings on November 17 as part of National Memory Screening Day, an annual initiative of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) designed to promote proper detection of memory problems and strategies for successful aging.

 Memory screenings are a significant first step toward finding out if a person may have a memory problem. Memory problems could be caused by Alzheimer’s disease or other medical conditions.   

 Now in its seventh year, AFA’s National Memory Screening Day coincides with National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, which takes place during November.

    On November 17,  Sparks of Genius Brain Optimization Center will hold memory screenings at 7777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, from 10 am – 3 pm. Please call 561-859-4060 for more information or to make an appointment. You are also welcome to stop by.  Refreshments will be provided.

    At Sparks of Genius we offer cognitive training program which can slow down the progression of memory loss or delay it’s onset.

    AFA suggests memory screenings for adults concerned about memory loss or experiencing warning signs of dementia; whose family and friends have noticed changes in them; or who believe they are at risk due to a family history of Alzheimer’s disease or a related illness. Screenings also are appropriate for those who do not have a concern right now, but who want to see how their memory is now and for future comparisons.

    The event features a face-to-face screening, which takes only about five to ten minutes, and consists of a series of questions and tasks. Screenings will be conducted by Dr. Rohn Kessler, Dr. Amy Price and Ninah Kessler, LCSW. The results do not represent a diagnosis, and AFA advises those individuals with below-normal scores or those who have normal scores but are still concerned to follow up with a qualified healthcare professional.

     Eric J. Hall, AFA’s president and CEO, is urging consumers “to be proactive about brain health.”

    ”We pay so much attention to the health of our bodies, but we should be equally concerned about the health of our brains,” he said. “National Memory Screening Day offers the opportunity to find out how your memory is now and to learn how to protect it in the future.”

        For more information about National Memory Screening Day, visit www.nationalmemoryscreening.org or call 866-AFA-8484.

Dr and TBI

How you communicate with your doctor will often determine the quality of care you recieve and that your legal rights are protected. Here is a practical guide from Michael Kaplen a lawyer at BrainLaw. For other survival skills to help you through a doctor’s appointment this post is good reading

1. When you schedule your first appointment, tell your doctor that you will require extra time. Tell him that you need at least an additional 20 minutes (or more if you need it) for your appointment. The challenge here is to not feel rushed, as when you are stressed your cognition erodes.
2. If distractions bother you, arrange with the doctor’s office (when you make the appointment) for a quiet place to wait, such as a quiet exam room. If this is not possible, ask for somebody to come and get you in the foyer or your car.
3. Get to your appointment at least 15 minutes ahead of time, so you can collect your thoughts, become settled and unwind from the drive.
4. Write down everything you want to tell or ask your doctor. Cross each item off the list after you have covered it. Write down instructions that your doctor gives. Recap at the end of each issue, to make sure you understand.
5. Ask your doctor to write down your diagnosis. Ask for a written explanation in layman’s language. Ask for a written description of the preferred treatment and goals, with an estimate of the costs and the expected time frame.
6. Trust your instincts. If you don’t think that a diagnosis is valid, or if you think it minimizes your problems, remember this: YOU ARE PROBABLY RIGHT. Remember, you are the “expert” about you.
7. Always ask your doctor about the contraindications when he prescribes new medications. Additionally, have the doctor provide you with a written list. Take charge of knowing everything about the drugs you take.
8. Ask your doctor to make a notation in your file stating that you should receive a copy of all reports and tests as soon as they are received by the office.
9. Never sign a blank release form. Make sure all authorization forms are completely filled out. Read what you’re signing. Make sure the release has ONLY the names on it that YOU want. Get a copy of each and every release form/letter you sign.

This study included training in 4 techniques to improve memory: meaningfulness, organization, visualization and association. You can use these techniques to boost your memory now.

Meaningfulness

We tend to remember things that have some importance to us. It doesn’t have to be very important, like remembering the code to a secret document which will save our lives, but if there is some significance, we tend to remember. I ordinarily forget phone numbers, but 2 days after my mother moved to an assisted living, I memorized her new phone number. Interestingly, after two years I still don’t remember the number of the nursing station, but I do remember where I wrote it down.

Another example is if I asked you where you were during 9-11 or when Kennedy was shot or even when they bombed Pearl Harbor, you probably can remember.
Interestingly a certain amount of emotional involvement helps remembering. That’s why we remember 9-11. But too much can have the opposite effect. Ask someone in an office building nearby, and they may have memory lapses associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

So the trick is to create meaning. For example, if you are going to the grocery store and you want to remember to buy spaghetti sauce, you might think about a trip to Italy or to your favorite Italian restaurant or even about a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western that you enjoyed watching. If it’s not just a forgettable can of sauce, it’s more likely to make its way into your shopping cart.

Organization

You are more likely to remember things when you put them in a category. For example, you are off to get your hair cut and you need to get gas and stop off at the store to pick up some fish for dinner. Before you leave the house, think about getting food for yourself and food for your car. That way you are more likely to have remembered these things when you get home.

Often memory training includes remembering lists of objects, and the more that you do it, the more neuronal connections you can build up in your brain. Let’s say your list is: fish, chair, potatoes, hammer, sofa, screw driver, pliers, bed and apples. As an experiment I invite you to close your eyes and to try to remember this list. I think it’s a pretty overwhelming task.
Now think about furniture, food, and tools. Think about the fish, apples, and potatoes as food, the bed, sofa and chair as furniture and the screw driver, hammer and pliers as tools. Now close your eyes and see if you can remember more of the list. If you did better, it may be because of organization.

Organization is actually a way of chunking information. Instead of remembering nine distinct objects, you are remembering 3 categories with 3 pieces of information in each one.
This can work with numbers too. Instead of 358902, think of three hundred and fifty eight and nine hundred and two. I often use this when I am giving out my phone number. It makes it much easier for the listener to write down the correct digits.

Visualization

Visualization is really a way of making information more meaningful to you. For example, if you wanted that spaghetti sauce, you could do more than just remembering your favorite Italian restaurant. Visualize yourself inside the restaurant, see Luigi the star waiter bringing you a steaming plate of spaghetti covered with your favorite marinara sauce, smell the garlic and tomatoes, imagine the taste of the pasta. The more different senses you can use, the more effective the visualization will be, and the more likely you are to remember to pick up spaghetti sauce.

Let’s say you have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday morning at 10 am. Imagine yourself getting up and having breakfast. See yourself looking at the calendar and seeing that it is Thursday. Imagine getting into your car and traveling on the route that you normally take. Hear yourself listening to your favorite song on the radio. Feel yourself sitting in your car seat. See yourself pulling into the parking lot and going into your doctor’s office. As you enter the door, see the clock saying 10 am.

Association

When something is associated with something else, we are more likely to remember it. This is why random facts like proper names or telephone numbers are so hard to remember, because they are not connected to anything else. If you can make the connection, you are more likely to remember.

For example, if you want to remember Henry’s name, think of Henry the VIII, O’Henry candy bars, Henry Fonda or any other Henry that you know. I just met a Lori the other day, and she was so excited because she had another friend named Ninah. Lori happens to be my middle name, so it was very easy to remember her name.

The hardest names are the kind that you have never heard of before, the ones where you don’t have direct associations or even name recognition. In these instances you have to be more imaginative. For example, let’s say that you meet Sharika. You may remember the Shari by thinking about Shari Lewis or by associating it with sharing. Think of the “ka” as being the ending of Topeka or Eureka.

If you have that list of words with hammer, potato and couch, make a story about these objects. For example, think about putting the potato on the sofa and smashing it with the hammer. I guess I though of this aggressive image because I’m tired of senior moments and wish they would go away without me having to work on them. But I wish I had the same metabolism that I had at 20, and neither of these things are going to happen.

How Computer Programs Can Help

We have reviewed some easy things that you can do at home involving meaningfulness, categorization, visualization and association which will boost your memory IQ. But there are also specific computer “games” which will improve these abilities, particularly categorization and association, and they also help with things like processing speed, auditory processing and visual processing as well. For example, you may have to click on the object which is not an animal or click on the computer mouse when the object is not the same color at the outline. These games can get more challenging when there are distracters on the screen, time limits or even games where you have to figure out the rules. There are also computer games that that help with attention and with stress reduction. These are just some of the games that we use at the Sparks of Genius Brain Fitness Center, and in addition to games that are personalized for you, you have a coach for support and encouragement.

So whether you want to use these tips to help improve your memory at home or whether you want to check things out the Sparks of Genius Brain Fitness Center, the important thing to know is that there is a lot that you can do to strengthen your memory and your memories and to enhance your mental fitness.

I’ll leave you with a final quote from Dr. Marsiske:

If you have any concerns that you cannot learn new things later in life, put those away. If people put effort into learning new and challenging things after age 65, they can grow in performance. And they can maintain those gains.

By Ninah Kessler
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Life Coach

Difficult math does not light up this part of the brain either, but simple math done under speed conditions makes a big difference. Reading silently does not use this part of the brain as much as when we read out loud. Dr. Kawashimi developed games that stimulate the prefrontal cortex. So the principle is to work out with your brain and have fun!

He came under fire because a British newspaper quoted him as saying videogames harm the brain. This is not actually true. He said videogames de-activate the prefrontal cortex. Professor Kawashima has four children. He let them all play video games but only for one hour every day. His reasoning was that sometimes the brain just needs to rest and video games were not harmful. He has done tests on elderly Japanese people. What he found was that solving mental puzzles can often arrest cognitive decline. Dr. Kawashimi says ‘I cannot comment on whether the illness of dementia is cured or not, but with these methods symptoms of dementia certainly improve”.

Other virtual activities that were once exclusively the domain of the young are being used with increasing success to rehabilitate older adults and bring them quality of life. In some senior centers card games and crossword puzzles are being replaced with virtual reality bowling or tennis. Crossword puzzles and sudoku are played in groups with computers and a mouse. These are much easier to navigate than small pieces of wood and studies have shown that simulated activities are almost as useful for practice as the real thing.

Some other scientists are jealous and treat his work with disparaging remarks such as there has not been enough time to test this or there is little empirical evidence. Other scientists like Dr. Posner are finding exciting results after only a few sessions with brain fitness tools. Scientists are testing brain games and finding increased brain fitness from the very old to the very young. Some say Professor Kawashimi is in it for the money. This is sad as all the royalties from the games and the books he wrote about the mind go entirely to the University. Dr. Kawashimi feels as a scientist it is his obligation and the obligation of others to return the results of our research to society.

This story is adapted from an article by Richard Lloyd Parry of the Times newspaper, London UK

By Dr. Amy Price

Symptoms of TBI included headaches, dizziness, lack of concentration and sleep disturbance. There can be depression, irritability and confusion. They can be easily provoked or distracted. It’s different than losing an arm or a leg (although many with TBI also have these injuries as well.) It is called a silent epidemic because there can be no outward wounds. Even those with TBI can think that they are OK. But the wounding is profound. They not only forget to get bread and eggs when they go to the store, they forget to go to the store period. They could forget what they spoke of 5 minutes ago or blow up at their spouse for no reason. They need highly specialized care which often isn’t available.

Returning soldiers with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can benefit from “working out” their brain on a home computer. One company, Braintrain, is offering high-quality cognitive training software system free to personnel who have suffered brain injuries in the line of duty while serving their country in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Sparks of Genius offers free cognitive testing to South Florida veterans of the Iraqi War. Returning veterans can fill out a free 39-Point Learning Assessment at http://sparksofgenius.com/screens.html

-Ninah Kessler, LCSW

Forgetful?

Material must be attended to before it is possible to program it into your memory. Some ways to help you remember or cue yourself are: For a word or name try to go through the alphabet. Sometimes this will bring back the name or word you are looking for. To remember an event: try recalling all the events surrounding it.Try to remember it through someone else’s eyes. Try reversing the order of what happened. Think about the less important things like what someone was saying or wearing. Think about where you were when the situation you need to remember occurred. Often the scenery will cue another part of your brain to remember the missing piece and this will trigger your memory. Try to put yourself in the same mental, emotional atmosphere, this aids recall.

Lose things?

Find a special place for each object you don’t want to misplace. Always put them back in that same place. Have a list of where you put things so if you forget you can check the list. Say aloud where you are putting something and rehearse it in your mind. For some people it helps to visualize or take a mental snapshot of where you are putting something. Don’t take anything, particularly documents, anywhere where you do not need them. If you lose keys etc., attach them to yourself.

How to remember instructions!

Write them down or record them. Picture yourself doing each step of the task. Repeat instructions aloud and restate them to the giver of the instructions.

Solutions for following verbal instructions

Write it down! People in the CIA and even the president write things down. Buy a small digital recorder and record the instructions. If neither of these options is available say it aloud three times in your head. Repeat it back to the person giving instructions to affirm you have heard correctly

I get sidetracked.

Finish one task before embarking on the next, use a checklist and check it off so you know when it is time to move forward. It is okay to ask others nicely to let you finish what you were saying or doing so that you can give your full attention to them once you have completed your current task.

Hints to avoid foot in mouth syndrome!

Train yourself to watch for other people’s reactions. Your communication might be provoking tension. This is a good time to ask yourself if the trouble you are about to receive is worth the expense. Try changing the topic. There is no crime in not telling all or saying you feel this is not the right time for you to talk about it. Be calm. A soft answer turns away wrath.

I get distracted.

Chart your course before you start and assign the amount of time you are going to spend on the task at one sitting. Work in a noise free atmosphere when possible. Do one thing and finish it before you move to the next task.. Think of how to reward yourself for finishing. Start small to build success.

When things go wrong…Don’t go with them!