Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » Attention

The Different Types of Attention Associated With Learning

colleen — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:15:46 +0000

In order to strengthen the cognitive skills of ADHD using my brain training program, it’s important to understand the different types of attention necessary for learning. For cognitive purposes, the definition of attention is the ability to focus on one thing to the exclusion of others.

First of all, there’s sustained attention. Sustained attention is the ability to focus on one thing for an extended period of time. For instance, if Molly is asked to complete a page of math exercises in school, she’ll have to keep her attention on the exercises until they’re finished, whether it takes her five minutes or half an hour. If Molly has ADHD, you know that this can be a problem for her, because her cognitive functions have impaired her ability to maintain sustained attention.

Another type of attention is selective. Selective attention is the ability to filter out environmental factors and focus on just one thing. An example would be a Sam, a boy with ADHD, who’s doing homework at the kitchen table after school. Sam isn’t able to selectively apply his attention to the homework because he can’t filter out what’s going on around him. It doesn’t matter if he’s sitting alone in the kitchen; he can get distracted by anything; the salt and pepper shakers on the table; the clock ticking on the wall; a bird flying past the window. He just can’t maintain selective attention because of the cognitive impairment of ADHD. Divided attention is another type.

Divided attention means the ability to focus on more than one thing at a time. If your child has a cognitive impairment from ADHD, they’re often unable to divide their attention between tasks. Divided attention allows you to perform more than one task at a time. An example of this would be following instructions to make a batch of cookies where you have to divide your attention between reading the recipe and doing other things like measuring and stirring. The cognitive impairments of ADHD can make this type of activity extremely problematic for a child.

In order to find out what types of attention are affected in a child with ADHD, I always perform cognitive testing as the first part of my program. In that way, I can see what areas of the brain need to be strengthened and tailor my program to those areas. Using my Student Transformation System, we see tremendous increases in the areas of attention that are critical to a child’s ability to perform important cognitive functions.

Colleen Bain is the best-selling author of Overcomers Inc. She writes, trains and consults in advanced brain training for children and their parents, teachers and professionals. Professionals also look to Colleen for her expert coaching relative to starting and expanding a brain training business. To find out how Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids can help you – visit http://www.els4kids.com

ADHD Summer Online Program Updated to now be using BrainWare Safari Program

colleen — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:07:30 +0000

SUMMER SESSION FULL AND CLOSED If you are interested in the next group session – just let me know colleen@els4kids.com

I am offering this group to work through the same 12 week program using BrainWare Safari which has proven to have fantastic results for ADHD symptoms.

SIGN UP TODAY TO GET ACCESS TO THE REPLAY OF OUR RECENT WEBINAR ABOUT ADHD AND YOUR CHILD'S BRAIN AND HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD ATTEND, REMEMBER AND PROCESS BETTER.

I gave valuable information on:

How your child's brain processes
Why neurotransmitters are important
Theory of hyperactivity
Theory of neuroplasticity
RAS and what it means
Medication and options
How to improve ADHD symptoms
How to help your child learn easier and more efficiently.

When you sign up for updates on the testing program, you will also begin receiving my weekly ezine newsletter. Your email will not be sold and will be kept private.

Plus, upon investing in your child's life, I am adding a bonus which is access to my braintraining101 teleseminar replay.

When you listen to the replay of Brain Training 101 you will learn about . . .

The theory of Neuroplasticity
Underlying Mental Abilities (Cognitive Skills)
BrainSkills
BrainWare Safari
Fast ForWord
Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE)
Using brain training in an intensive manner over 12 weeks to overcome learning differences.
The information you need to know before you work with a trainer.

The Summer ADHD group using BrainWare Safari is open for enrollment and I will begin shifting to provide more information to you on this program. The webinar will remain intact where I will discuss ADHD/Brain and of course, BrainWare Safari. I will be posting a new page for the webinar within the next few days.

The Protocol for BrainWare Safari remains similar at 3-4 x a week for 30 minutes all online from your home. All other parts of the program remain in tact offering you tons of value beyond the software program. You will receive a lifetime license and cd Kit within 2 weeks of purchase. You will be provided a digital download of the program prior to program start. We will take care of coordinating everything for you and your child.

I will be targeting to start this program 6/1/11 while most students will still be in school. However, on this schedule we will be targeted to end the work by 8/24/11 give or take for post – assessments.

We will be approaching this training as a group effort. We will have group weekly Q&A calls on Wednesday's at 1pm EST for 60 min. and emails in between our weekly calls to check- in. Replays of the calls will be available for your review. I will be monitoring your child over the internet weekly.

Are you up for this challenge to try and change your child's life? Lessen the outbursts and frustration at home? Ready to Lessen the impulsiveness and improve the executive functioning skills like planning and organizing and of course attention skills?

If yes, please register below with your name and email. This way I can keep you updated about our product launch and what is involved on your part. I know cost is an issue for everyone so I am working to keep it this to a minimum as much as possible.

**You can spend close to $1200 in tutoring fees for your child over 12 weeks or invest just $250.00 for lifetime permanent changes and access the program for LIFE. Sounds like a no brainer to me!

***Targeted investment - $250.00 per student. Ready to invest? Go ahead and Click Here to secure your spot for your child.

Siblings will be at an investment of $70.00 for this special summer program. Ready to invest?

Click here to purchase a sibling license. If your child already has or completed BrainWare Safari and you want your child's sibling to take part then yes, you can just purchase a sibling and participate.

Program kicks off on 6/1/201. Payment must be in no later than 5/23/11!!

SIGN UP TODAY TO GET ACCESS TO THE REPLAY OF OUR RECENT WEBINAR ABOUT ADHD AND YOUR CHILD'S BRAIN AND HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD ATTEND, REMEMBER AND PROCESS BETTER.

I gave valuable information on:

How your child's brain processes
Why neurotransmitters are important
Theory of hyperactivity
Theory of neuroplasticity
RAS and what it means
Medication and options
How to improve ADHD symptoms
How to help your child learn easier and more efficiently.

When you sign up for updates on the group BrainWare Safari program, you will also begin receiving my weekly ezine newsletter. Your email will not be sold and will be kept private.

****Schedule a consult with me if you have further questions. Once you sign up you will receive email updates about the product and launch. You will be asked to make your first payment within a few weeks to hold a spot for your child.

How Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids Can Help Your Child

colleen — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:23:04 +0000

I am often asked to explain what brain training means relative to helping your child be able to learn easier and more efficiently. I often find myself listing out the many benefits that your child can experience. For example, your child will be able to remember more with better imagery and recall the information faster, concepts whether imagery or auditory based will be understood, manipulated and ordered with much greater ease and organization.

Taking tests and studying will become much easier and less anxiety-driven as your child begins to transfer skills back into the classroom. Following your multi-step directions at home will be completed when asked without multiple requests to repeat the information. Your child will be able to follow along in class better and become a more active participant in the overall learning process.

Let’s not forget attending, focus and less fidgeting will be experienced. While this sounds wonderful, I do point out to parents that the joy and life-changing events do not stop there. As your child’s brain continues to dynamically change to the environment, cognitive skills and processing abilities will strengthen even more. Even though we all know that the magic pill, one-stop shopping, does not exist, brain training comes pretty close.

Why? Because, when you provide your child with a stronger foundation and capacity to learn, your child’s horizon has just expanded. Where your child may never had interest in reading before, books are now curiously interesting.

Usually, at this point in the conversation I would begin discussing the “How Can This Be Accomplished?” question. All of this wonderful changes in your child is possible because of the Theory of Neuroplasticity.

“Santiago Ramon y Cajal (a founder of modern neuroscience) expressed this theory in 1894, three years before Charles Sherrington coined the term synapse to describe the connections made between neurons. In the late 1940s the neuroplasticity model was advanced by Jerzy Konorski, who used the word plasticity to describe “permanent functional transformations,” and Donald Hebb, who ascribed testable physiologic characteristics to synaptic plasticity. However, experimental evidence that synapses are capable of long-lasting changes in synaptic strength did not come until the early 1970s, when Timothy Bliss and Terry Lomo described an increase in the synaptic strength of neurons in the mammalian hippocampus (a region of the brain critical for some forms of memory) following electrical stimulation. They termed this increase long-lasting potentiation, now referred to as long-term potentiation (LTP).” (novelguide.com, 2011)

The best part is that you can accomplish a stronger foundation and cognitive skills within 90 days in most cases. For example, I often recommend that while you are still getting “educated” on my site to start out with a home-based program that can be completed with a computer and internet connection.

BrainSkills and BrainWare Safari can begin the whole process of neuroplasticity and strengthening your child’s capacity to learn, remember and process by working the program 3x a week for 30 min. Then, if you even need more intensive brain training and help with transferring the new skills into everyday life and the classroom, you can work with me in-person.

Morning Routine and Checklist

colleen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:57:53 +0000

Now that your child is back-to-school, you may feel the need for a morning routine.

If your child is forgetting items for school already or you are finding yourself stressed trying to pull it all together, you will benefit from a morning routine. I find it helpful to prepare lunches, sign forms, pack backpacks and prep breakfast the night before.

You can't forget about laying out clothes for the next day either. The last thing you have time for is your child telling you that the laundry was not done so no clothes for school!

For homeschoolers, you will benefit from changing around my checklist to suit your needs. Perhaps your child has some chores to do prior to starting their scheduled work?

Let me know your thoughts – leave a comment.

Download Your Checklist Now

P3 Back-to-School Homework Meltdowns and How to Overcome Them

colleen — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:00:48 +0000

This week we discuss what to do if you do not know how to help your child with the subject matter causing stress. For example, with math, you may be a math wiz but your child's school is teaching math a totally different way than how you learned math. To add to this complexity, your child must show their work exactly how the teacher is teaching them.

This leaves quite a few challenges for parents, right? On one hand you are a math wiz and on the other hand, you cannot help your child due to the new math being taught in schools today.

So, here is what you can do. First watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8aW4YuFSiY&feature=related and chuckle a bit to understand it is not just you. Many parents are in the same situation. Their child is struggling but cannot be helped by a parent because the parent was not taught this method.

Next, if you are really that stuck with the new math, search youtube for your child's curriculum. The name on your child's textbook/workbook/journal will let you know what to search for on youtube. Then you can refine your search for specific concepts being taught with the new math approach.

Everyday Math Lattice Method – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y29XL99qM6s
Everyday Math Division – partial quotient method http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWstA8EZr2w

If after viewing the video, the math still seems way too foreign for you, let your child take a look at the video or corresponding videos. The videos may do the trick and help your child internalize the concept and process easier.

If you still have difficulty after looking at these options, I would look for a tutor that knows your child's curriculum or your child's teacher may be able to tutor before/after school.

Remember, your child could be having math difficulty because of weak cognitive skills!

Please do yourself and your child a favor and purchase the online assessment today. You will get immediate results on the screen and understand exactly why your child is struggling with homework and what options you can take to help your child overcome the weaknesses.

Even if you do not opt to overcome the weaknesses, you will be armed with many "AH HA" moments to better manage the daily homework sessions. Stay tuned for next week's continued article on homework meltdowns and strategies to overcome them.

P3 Back-to-School Homework Meltdowns and How to Overcome Them

colleen — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:00:48 +0000

This leaves quite a few challenges for parents, right? On one hand you are a math wiz and on the other hand, you cannot help your child due to the new math being taught in schools today.

So, here is what you can do. First watch this http://youtu.be/Vetg7vWitTU and chuckle a bit to understand it is not just you. Many parents are in the same situation. Their child is struggling but cannot be helped by a parent because the parent was not taught this method.

Everyday Math Lattice Method – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y29XL99qM6s
Everyday Math Division – partial quotient method http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWstA8EZr2w

If you still have difficulty after looking at these options, I would look for a tutor that knows your child's curriculum or your child's teacher may be able to tutor before/after school.

Remember, your child could be having math difficulty because of weak cognitive skills!

P2 Back-to-School Homework Meltdowns and How to Overcome Them

colleen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:07:15 +0000

Last week I gave you some ideas for those families in crisis mode with dealing with homework meltdowns. The number one takeaway from last week is to be proactive, manage crisis situations and get your child's emotions down and under control.

Your child most likely will not be able to tell why they cannot do their homework and asking them, "Why can't you do this if you just learned it today in school?" will just make your child more anxious and feeling less than successful. If your child's emotions start to get out of control use the "I" statements.

As a parent, when you want to confront the situation (make it go away, right?) try working with a statement that acknowledges your child's feelings. Try using "I know doing homework that is difficult for you must not be fun. Take a 15 minute break and then we will try it again." That type of statement will bring your child's emotions down and avoid the homework meltdown. More importantly, it will let your child know that you support them.

You are saying and offering a break statement if the homework meltdown is about ready to explode and happen in real time because your child's emotions are at the tipping point. However, while your child is taking that 15 minute break, you as the parent are preparing for the homework session when your child returns.

Now you can begin to observe your child's learning preferences – styles that lead to successful learning. Doing so will lead to the phasing out of breaks because your approach to homework will not include meltdowns.

Remember, as a parent, your goal is to get your child to complete the homework. By helping your child "experience" that they can in fact do the work they are becoming more confident, stronger and as a family you are beginning to realize the power within yourselves to breakthrough (anything, really).

You will help your child experience success by completing homework using an approach that keeps their attention, for now. Remember, I am a brain trainer (a.k.a. Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapist) so I will do my best to have you help your child strengthen all cognitive skills so they can learn in a variety of ways.

Just recall how many times you "told" your child that it is okay, you can do it. Nothing proves how strong and powerful we are than when we "experience" this firsthand.

Your goal, with my help, is to discover which learning style is your child's preference for learning. Then, you will help your child "experience" just how capable of a learner they really are without much help from you.

When your child's learning style preference is discovered, then use of this style for homework along with strategies, is what your basic learning center asks thousands of dollars for from you to help your child. You can do the same thing with your children if you know how to do it.

The difference with working with me, in-person or online, is that I help "you" help your child strengthen all skills for learning and processing along with creating new pathways. Your child can learn with any style whether it be visual, auditory, etc. Your child will have the edge over other children, yes, but your child will experience a transformation.

This whole process, my passion for doing what I do, isn't about helping a child learn to learn. I do what I do because it is about helping each child and family that I work with realize that they can live their dream with a bit of hard work, support from family/friends, faith and hope.

When I take families through my process and the child comes through the other side, the child has transformed academically but more importantly an internal journey has happened. Your child will have had a breakthrough in their belief system.

That is the first step of any lifelong change. The child and family will always look back on their time with me and realize they did it, not me.

The child and family did this successful transformation. They will realize that from their heart, comes their belief and feelings which then drive their thoughts and actions in their life.

Here is something I want you to work on for those children that do not like (start to shut down and get frustrated) working with worksheets/workbooks. When your child takes out their worksheet or opens their workbook to a page for homework, let your child take a break while you "convert" this homework into their preferred learning style. Remember, this extra work goes away after brain training with me.

For children that prefer to get involved using a whiteboard, per se, this is your time to get a whiteboard for yourself and your child along with an eraser / markers. Your job is to first write out an equation from the worksheet and then request your child to complete the equation on the extra whiteboard.

You can also complete this using a computer, too. Visit http://www.imaginationcubed.com/ for a FREE online whiteboard you can use with your child via the internet.

If your child appears, through your observations, to have difficulty with recognizing operational signs, use a different colored marker for each part of your equation. Perhaps, Blue and Green for each of the addends (if addition) and red for the operational symbol "+".

The above example will work nicely for children who understand the concept being worked but may be in overwhelm and unable to work on a worksheet request. Additionally, this approach works when there are too many equations on the worksheet for your child to focus and gets overwhelmed easily.

Have fun with this and let your child be the teacher and you be the student! Let me know how this works out for you and your child!

Remember, you still have time to strengthen your child's cognitive skills. But first, find out which skills need to be strengthened. My summer sale with BrainWare Safari is still active for only a few more weeks!

Back-to-School Homework Meltdowns and How to Overcome Them

colleen — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:00:21 +0000

Well, it is almost back-to-school for our children. Some schools will be opening doors in August across our country. Others will start after Labor Day. The one thing they all have in common is homework. For those students who do get homework, this can be the most stressful time of the day. For families dealing with these students, this can be the time of day that you wish never occurred.

Moms will find themselves up against a child that presents like an oppositional one. Moms and/or dads will raise their voices, some will challenge and yet others will flat out punish their child that presents oppositional towards homework time.

Although parents can google and find hundreds of articles about homework time. All of the articles will most likely tell you how to set up an area for your child to do homework, void of distractions, be sure to have ample supplies in this area, set up a routine for your family and most of all, have patience.

What these articles won't do is help you survive and even overcome the horrid homework sessions. In fact, homework sessions will become independent and fun. Does that sound like a dream to you?

We will begin exploring homework sessions, why they are challenging for some and down right avoided – at all costs – by others. You will begin to understand and even manage your child's homework sessions to eventually lend to overcoming them.

Let's begin. This is week 1 of several week's of pertinent information that will help you, as a parent, take more responsibility towards your child's learning and homework.

For those parents in desperate need of surviving homework sessions, I want to give you some compensatory strategies to keep you moving forward and getting the homework sessions completed while you are learning how to overcome them.

Step 1: When your child begins to avoid homework and procrastinates in starting the homework until the very last possible moment, you need to understand that there is a real reason other than avoidance of homework at play here. Unless your child is perfectly fine, even gifted, and is bored with homework, your child is most likely avoiding it because it is difficult.

For now, your end goal as a parent is to get the homework completed with as little stress as possible while gathering as much information from your child as possible. You will become a detective, skilled at observing your child's mannerisms and responses when working through homework together.

For students that are older and refuse to even allow you to observe, you need to negotiate with them to get your answers. Literally offer them a free pass at something in return for writing you a list of 10 things or less that you hate about doing homework. If you get this much from them, you are off to a great start!

For younger students who will gladly let you sit with them or at least observe them attempting homework, your job is to observe and watch for the following behaviors:

For math homework
- observe if the homework is on a worksheet or in a workbook
- observe how many equations/problems are on one page
- observe when your child's frustrations start —
  - does your child get frustrated when the page is presented?
  - does your child get frustrated after starting on the page of work?
  - does your child get frustrated while involved in showing the work to solve the problem?
  - does your child get frustrated if you begin to "talk" them through the problem?
  - does your child only get frustrated on word problems (maybe trying to read/understand them)?
- For managing the frustration - observe any change in your child's behavior when you
  - only show one equation at a time by covering up the page with extra piece of paper
  - use a whiteboard to actively engage your child to solve the problem using a marker and eraser (its like playing but uses different cognitive skills)
  - use manipulative to actively engage the solving of the problem (helps your child visualize what the problem is asking)
  - use a number line on the table for those students who have not mastered number facts yet (alleviates memory and/or processing speed weaknesses)
  - provide your child with down time during the homework session (allow your child to work for 10 minutes, if possible and then break for 10 min)
For spelling homework
- observe if the spelling words are on a worksheet, word ring or in a textbook
- observe how many words your child is being requested to memorize and spell
- observe when your child's frustrations start–
  - does your child get frustrated when you start "asking" how to spell a word?
  - does your child get frustrated when looking at the list of words to remember?
  - does your child get frustrated when trying to "verbalize" the spelling of the words?
  - does your child get frustrated when "listening" to you read words and often asks you to repeat them?
  - does your child get frustrated when having to "write" the spelling words on paper?
- For managing the frustration- observe any change in your child's behavior when you
  - only show one word at a time by covering up all the other words on the page using an extra piece of paper
  - use a whiteboard to engage and play a game — play hangman, for example using the spelling words
  - use index cards and make 2 cards of the same word. let your child play matching game
  - use a computer and have your child type the correct spelling of the words
  - have your child close their eyes and use skywriting – they use their finger and point to each letter in the sky in the word in the correct order as they spell the word.
  - have your child use different colored ink for each letter of the word when writing it on paper (if allowed by teacher)
  - have your child throw a ball to you as they spell the word out loud

Just understand as a parent, there are many ways that you can manage the homework session successfully while improving your relationship with your child, too. Once you can find a way to lessen the frustration, stick with that approach for now. The homework gets done correctly and neatly while the two of you are having a blast.

It is a matter of knowing what to do and what not do under certain circumstances. It is also very important to understand what weak skills your child is suffering from so you are well prepared before homework sessions resume for the upcoming school year.

Do you know what Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome is and who it affects?

colleen — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:00:15 +0000

Have you ever seen a person that has rapid eye movement? It looks like their eyes are jumping all over the place like they are dancing. This person may have Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome.

Opsoclonus is defined as an unusual disorder of eye movement. This is where the eyes involuntarily dart around and Myoclonus is defined as short muscle jerks and “ataxia” indicates lack of coordination. 1 in 10 million children are diagnosed with this disorder every year. The statistic support this being a rare chronic disorder.

We currently only have less than a handful of doctors looking into the cause and treatment of the disorder. We have one doctor in Illinois and another in California. there are other doctors that receive protocol from these doctors and then treat accordingly. There are other doctors that are working on their own theories of OMS, publishing studies and such. However, to this day, there is no known definitive cause and thus no known definitive cure.

There are a number of things that will bring out the symptoms in a person that has Opsoclonus-Myoclonus. Most times movement of any kind worsens the symptoms. You may see the arms, fingers, head, upper body, or eyelids jerk around. When the illness reaches its peak stage, you’ll find it’s impossible to stand or sit. Anxiety and stress are major factors and will cause the symptoms to worsen. Treatment is extremely important.

This illness affects both adults and children, but it presents itself in a completely different way. Most times in adults, they appear to have mental problems where as children will appear to have anger problems, they may be lethargic, or they may look and act like they’re nervous.

There are a number of things that can cause Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome. They can appear separately or together the causes are more specific and known. The two most common causes are infections and tumors. While there are other causes, they are very rare.

Most times when an infection is the cause, the patient may appear to have flu-like symptoms. Most times when an Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome diagnosis is given through an infection, a tumor will be diagnosed later. The tumor is a neuroblastoma. This is important to remember and the doctor should not rule out a tumor until tests are completed.

Tumors are usually found in the chest but it’s not out of the ordinary to find them in the pelvis or abdomen on occasion. Now you may wonder how a tumor in those areas can cause brain problems and that’s a good question. Research is being conducted right now, but there are a couple of thoughts on this.

One of the most commonly expressed theories is an autoimmune illness. The child with OMS receives an acquired brain injury. Why? The brain and the tumor are almost identical in tissue/cells and the immune system can’t tell them apart. The only problem with this theory is there are a number of questions regarding the presentation. The docs don't know the exact cause of the brain injury yet — how and why exactly the antibodies are traveling up the spinal cord, crossing the brain barrier and attacking the brain stem and cerebellum.

Serum antibodies would be another theory that is diagnosed through lab testing. The doctor needs to test for anti-brain antibodies and abnormal white blood cells. These tests are done through blood work and spinal fluid.

Now you may wonder since there isn’t a lot of information about this illness, how do you treat it? Depending on the location of the tumor, if it’s at all possible, it should be removed in children. Now in adults it’s not recommended because it’s possible the symptoms will get worse. The challenge with treatment protocols beyond a tumor is that insurance won't always cover the treatment and the medicine can cost upwards of 10,000 – 50,000 a month for years. Sounds crazy right? Well, it is.

There are aggressive treatment protocols available depending on how acute the OMS is within the child, the child's age, onset and more. You can get more details on treatments by visiting http://omsusa.org/.

Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome can be found in both children and adults. It causes rapid eye movement and is usually caused by an infection or a tumor. Treatment is difficult at best and needs to be thought about before a decision is made.

As a mom of a child with OMS, I am trying every day to help spread awareness to avoid a delayed diagnosis and to raise funds for research. OMS awareness is crucial so doctors will not delay in diagnosing and limit brain injury. OMS will cause cognitive issues that are able to be helped tremendously through brain training and proper methodology/pedagogy.

OMS Awareness can be found at http://rhythmoflife.homestead.com/Awareness.html.

The International OMS Support Network can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OMSFamilies

Visit our foundations for OMS Research

http://www.chaseaway.org/

http://www.omsresearch.org/

http://rhythmoflife.homestead.com/runningforzoe.html

OMS Awareness Videos

Living with OMS – Soham's journey with OMS from mehul joshi on Vimeo.

Cognitive Problems after Chemotherapy Treatments

colleen — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:00:50 +0000

Many times brain problems come from an injury of some sort, but studies show chemotherapy can cause problems as well. It doesn’t matter what type of cancer you are being treated for, if you use chemotherapy, you might find you have memory loss, difficulty learning, and difficulty managing daily activities.

If you experience any of these problems, you may have chemobrain. This is also known as cognitive deficit. Health care providers define cognitive as thought and deficit as falling short of. So in other words cognitive deficit means falling short of thought.

Unfortunately the exact cause is unknown. Studies are underway to find ways to prevent it from happening and to treat it if it has already occurred.

These problems improve or disappear after a year. For some people while for others they may experience problems for many years after the completion of treatment.

The long term effects of chemobrain are unknown at this time, but what they do know is there are several treatable factors that may cause similar problems that are temporary. People that are receiving chemotherapy treatments may have hormonal changes, stress, sleep disturbances, and a few others.

If you have any of these problems or anything else that’s going on, you need to talk to your doctor right away. Many of these can be fixed with medication and can or will help elevate chemobrain. If you are currently taking medication for problems due to your treatment, you need to talk to your doctor because you may need to have your medication doses changed or you may need to change your medications all together.

If you experienced memory problems during your treatment you need to communicate with your doctor regarding these problems.

You may also consider using the CancerCare’s fact sheet “Combating Chemobrain: Keeping your Memory Sharp”. If these tips don’t help you need to go back to your doctor for further evaluations.

You’ll want to talk to a Neuropsychologist. A Neuropsychologist is a psychologist that specializes in training that helps people in areas like memory, organizing, attention, and learning.

Depending on the outcome of the evaluation, your doctor may recommend cognitive rehabilitation or remediation. Your doctor will explain how the process will work and what the outcome will be based on the decision. A plan will be set into place and your doctor will manage it with you.

You should also contact a social worker that specializes in cancer issues. Your oncologist should be able to help you find someone that will be able to help you cope with these problems. They will also be able to help you find support groups and specialists that can help you deal with what you’re going through.

If you’re experiencing problems with the chemotherapy treatment you’re currently going through or a treatment you went through in the past, you need to set an appointment with your doctor right away. Memory loss is not good and the quicker you get it under control, the easier it will be to correct the problem.

The great news is that research is showing us that brain training is helping to combat the effects of chemotherapy. Programs like Fast ForWord, BrainSkills and BrainWare Safari are all potential programs that can be used to improve cognitive issues from your treatment.

Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » Attention

The Different Types of Attention Associated With Learning

Related Posts:

ADHD Summer Online Program Updated to now be using BrainWare Safari Program

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How Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids Can Help Your Child

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