#Neurological Impairment

[wheelie-sick]

newfound former-EMT friend is very refreshing to talk to about health. comrade is a democratic confederalist (does not mean confederate, Google terms before making assumptions) and very values aligned but also has the knowledge of all of what I'm saying so I can actually talk about the nitty gritty details and have comrade follow along. we were chatting about my cognitive impairment and comrade starts talking about neuroplasticity and how brains are always growing and how this is not a hole I am stuck in. comrade talks about the fact that I might never reach the same point I otherwise would have if I never experienced cerebritis but I can still learn and grow. brains are never done developing.

[ID: A reaction image of a person laying down in a puddle of tears that is also filled with hearts]

comrade loves mad liberation too. I trust this person so fucking much. new AG let's fucking go!!!!

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

I follow tons of disability/chronic illness/mental health tags and I keep seeing memes or infographics without alt text or image IDs. This is not okay for content of any subject matter, but its beyond ridiculous for these spaces in particular. You can’t call yourself an advocate if you are declining to use accessibility tools like this. There are absolutely no excuses, especially with the technologies we have now. Most devices can read and copy the text out of any image, for example.

Basically if it’s not worth including everyone, it’s not worth posting. Make it accessible or don’t post it. Thank you

[mxmorbidmidnight]

Any other neurodivergents who love yapping about their special interests but have issues with speech so they can’t actually communicate what they’re trying to say. I promise I do know of what I am speaking, my brain just cannot coordinate bodily functions. Tis so frustrating because I am so exited to talk about these things but for whatever reason I cannot!!!

[strangestcase]

I wonder if the Invisible Man book fandom at large is aware that albinism implies a number of visual and neurological disabilities, that having no melanine at all has health repercussions in and all itself, and that albinism isn't just the Cool Eyes And Skin Disorder

[disability-and-cats]

+0 : for any symptoms of a illness/disorder that can cause minor visual symptoms without disturbances or notable impairment, such as but not excluded to, some occasional tunnel vision, colorblindness, visual frustration with migraine, or visual unfamiliarity from dissociation.

[hachidori358]

I no longer have peripheral vision on my left, but recently the space where my peripheral vision should be has been full of twinkly lights and they’re very distracting

[bugs-in-the-dirt]

ayo does anyone else have, like, a combination of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome and Visual Snow Syndrome? do ppl usually have one or the other?

so, like, AIWS for me is usually only visual distortion. i've always described it like the world around me looks like its throbbing/pulsating. i've noticed folks seem to describe it like things are simultaneously black-and-white extremes, like for example:

feeling enormous like the Big Friendly Giant but also minuscule like Thumbelina

the space around you is both vastly spacious like a large empty gymnasium and cramped as hell like trying to fit yourself in a dollhouse

objects or people seeming really close like you're seeing them through binoculars or a zoomed-in photo online, but at the same time insanely far away as if you needed to yell from across a football field for them to hear you

even tho i never explained it as simultaneously opposing extremes, it's still exactly spot-on. i remember it only ever happening at night for some reason, and usually after i stare at something for seemingly too long and start to feel self-aware of perceiving reality. i recall as a child seeing the walls on the opposite side of my bedroom simultaneously or rapidly zooming in and out after taking in the size of the walls and focusing too hard on their connecting corners. when i looked away to try and make it stop, if i saw anything remotely rectangular or having flat edges then it would start occurring with that new thing in my sight. it usually stopped if i focused on something round, oddly enough. the worst part of these episodes for some reason was when something incredibly small felt like somehow it encompassed the entire universe? i totally forgot about that til i saw someone's reddit post mentioning it.

though there were nights where it would be so strong and constant it was horribly frightening - floors and walls would start moving like an unstable treehouse balancing on a singular weak limb, rectangles would lean into trapezoid shapes, the ground feeling like a wobbly conveyer-belt. it helped to walk out of my room during those worse episodes, though sometimes i'd walk into the bathroom and still feel like everything was spinning. walking during this time usually felt like time was moving unnaturally fast like is was on x4 speed or smth, but at the same time it felt slow since i was aware it wasnt actually sped-up movement.

that's when i'd start dissociating a bit and see a blurry hallucination of colorful hand-drawn sailboats? it was actually extremely soothing in comparison to the panic-attack-inducing distortion of reality around me, providing a gentle PBS Kids aesthetic of a visual that sailed smoothly across a cutely animated ocean. then when the vision disappeared everything would be normal again. this still happens with me today, which sucks, but the remembering the sailboats and isolating myself in a dark room helps remove all visuals that could possibly be distorted.

then of course Visual Snow Syndrome- i never had any idea what this was, the first time i saw it i was 3 or so maybe? i was, again, about to go to sleep when i saw colorful static making up the entire world around me. that night i was convinced they were an infestation of bugs? but no one else could see them? eventually i just randomly assumed it was this weird ability where i was sensitive to and could see molecules and atoms? but no apparently its a weird fuzzy neurological deviation. the thing about it tho is that wikipedia says the world tends to appear blurry when the static is visible, but my vision stays completely clear if not clearer, i just feel more aware of the visual static thats constantly in the background (its a lot easier to see in the dark or on a plain flat space that lacks luster and texture).

anyways, i've no idea if its common for folks with AIWS to also have Visual Snow Syndrome as well?just thought i'd share my experience with them in case someone else out there is feels they relate and is confused about it.

oh, and here's the reddit post i found that talked about AIWS - they articulate it so perfectly, i was amazed to see someone explain these symptoms that i've had yet had no understanding of what the heck it was:

[crowpunkcognitivedecline]

people without neurological, neurocognitive, or intellectual disability DNI with this post - click for details & why

what do you do when you have cognitive decline and you’re young? like, genuinely?

my memory loss isn't like ADHD or even dissociative memory loss, which is what people my age have context for. it's an extremely physical issue, and it affects my processing in very specific ways. it's hard to even explain it. it's hard to explain developing a stutter or sudden episodes of confusion that really aren't even a little linked to being neurodivergent when that's all people around you know.

ND amnesia tips and accommodations won't work for me. my memory loss can't be treated the same way, and neither can confusion or similar cognitive decline symptoms. but i also can't really articulate or figure out what'd work either.

most people with my experience are senior early dementia/MCI patients, and that just... isn't my experience beyond the confusion and memory loss. dementia tips also won't really work for me because that's not what i have.

i'm disabled in a way that no one in my life is--and not only that, but no one in my life even knows people like me. and that's a lot. i really just want a way to accommodate myself and explain my needs, but there's absolutely no blueprint.

[hannah-snow]

As soon as I saw the headline, I thought it might be her.

I attended school with this woman. I literally sat next to her in science class.

She was able-bodied, intelligent, driven, capable, and exceptionally active. She still is, minus the able-bodied part.

I was there the exact moment she noticed something was wrong with her. Her hands went cold and grey and she was sent to the school nurse.

Over the next few days and weeks, she was out of school. Something about fainting and concussions, we heard. When she came back, she was deaf in one ear and impaired in the other, in and out of school for constant fainting spells. She was strong and tough and positive, writing poetry (in lessons, lol, I sat next to her in science class) and passing her exams despite having every reason not to. We talked about euthanasia and human rights in the middle or our class-paired-up science experiments (she was in favour of both). She spent a lot of time out of school being bounced around hospitals and specialists, often travelling into London on her own. She cried at the isolation her deafness brought her, sitting next to me in science class.

Her head injuries lead to a cascade effect that would, over the months and years, leave her with Functional Neurological Disorder, deafblind and a part-time wheelchair user. And I only mention some of the health issues she's been through over the years.

See does, in fact, still retain some vision. Her vision comes in and out, and her vision field is very narrow, but she still has some.

She relies on her service dogs to go out independently and live alone, because it's too dangerous for her to be without them. They know when she'll faint or have a seizure, and can warn her beforehand and protect her when she's unconscious.

She relies on public transport, because how can she drive?

If a taxi driver or a bus driver doesn't let her dog into the vehicle, they are literally prohibiting her access to get anywhere. It's illegal for them to do this, but a worrying amount of them seem to break the law and get away with it with regular abandon.

So guys . . . stop making fun of my old friend. And if she ever gets on your bus with her service dogs, for the love of God (and I don't use that term lightly), let them on. I'll ask politely this time. Next time I won't.

[wheelie-sick]

feeding into my curiosity about the demographics of tumblr

*this is a specific category of diagnosis. if you're not sure if your disorder falls under this category then google it. ADHD, intellectual disability, and autism are not neurocognitive disorders- they are neurodevelopmental disabilities.

if you have both intellectual disability and a neurocognitive disorder click the relevant "yes" option

[sachinbiher]

Angelman Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, and Genetic Insights

��   What is Angelman Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, and Genetic Insights Have you ever heard of Angelman syndrome? It’s a rare and unique genetic condition that affects the way a person develops, communicates, and moves. This condition might be unfamiliar to many, but it’s important to shed light on it—especially for parents, caregivers, educators, and individuals who are passionate about learning…

[mxmorbidmidnight]

My entire life people have been chiding me to speak more clearly “just slow down” etc, etc. Recently got diagnosed with FND, now I’m realising it’s probably been that all along. I’ve always been really embarrassed of my voice and how difficult it is for me to speak, hopefully now that I have a diagnosis this will change.

[ansautism]

DSM-5-TR Criteria for Speech Sound Disorder

"Persistent difficulty with speech sound production that interferes with speech intelligibility or prevents verbal communication of messages. The disturbance causes limitations in effective communication that interfere with social participation, academic achievement, or occupational performance, individually or in any combination. The onset of symptoms is in the early developmental period, and the difficulties are not attributable to congenital or acquired conditions, such as cerebral palsy, cleft palate, deafness or hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, or other medical or neurological conditions."

-DSM 5 TR, Speech Sound Disorder, under the category of Communication Disorders

[jesse-ben-israel]

Is THIS Normal Aging or Alzheimers

Understanding Memory Lapses: Aging or Alzheimer’s? Join me as I take on the challenge of figuring out if my memory lapses are just normal aging or something more serious like Alzheimer’s. As we age, it’s natural to wonder if our forgetfulness is just a normal part of getting older or if it’s something more serious like Alzheimer’s disease. The truth is, it can be really tough to tell the…

[the-maddened-hatter]

I'm ngl, as much as it sucks it's probably a *really* good thing that I'm not any taller than I am. Like I would just be getting into everything within my spheres of range because I'd have the confidence of someone who knows they're too big to be removed like an ill-behaved Daschund if it comes right down to it.

So alas, this must be me

[sparethedreamer]

Having a terrible memory is no fun.

It means that, among other (possibly worse and more serious) things, I am doomed to wonder what sort of ridiculous college assignment required me to pickpocket my friends out in public. What was the purpose of it? What did we write down on our papers afterwards?

Weirdly enough, I remember catching this one guy's eyes after picking my friend's pocket, knowing they knew what I did, and then watching them do nothing about it whatsoever.

And no, I didn't go to crime school or anything absurd like that. And yes, I believe my friends were all in on it, especially the ones getting pickpocketed. I believe I got a turn being pickpocketed as well.

Huh