Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness –- shut down one by one. An astonishing story.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229
(available at www.TED.com)
I've watched this video two times already today, and I'll probably watch it several more times. My brother Greg sent the link to me. Sometimes, he sends me scary and weird things, but this one is a gem. I started to watch it and called my 13-year-old into the room to watch it with me. I asked my Mother to watch it. (I think she was slightly skeptical and that it made her sad.) I sent the link to some family/friends and to teachers of my 9-year-old daughter who has autism.
My intent was to show a glimpse into my daughter's head. Here, in the video, an educated adult explains how hard it is to think when there's been a trauma to your brain (in the scientist's case, a stroke; in Sophie's case, vaccine damage). She also explains vividly how each hemisphere thinks differently.
I think that my autie-girl thinks in some of those same ways.
Even though I shared the link with others, the video is still in my head. I just really needed to pick it apart and talk more about it. So, I'm watching it again, and making notes here. My comments in italics.
Jill the scientist's interest stemmed from her brother's schizophrenia. She said that he could not connect his dream into reality.
People say that autistics live in their own worlds.
Jill says that the two sides of the brain are completely separate, but communicate. They process things differently; they have different personalities.
Autistics process ideas differently than non-autistics.
The right hemisphere is about right here and now. It learns through our bodies, movement, energy. Our senses!
Sophie learns best by doing, not being being told how to do something. She wants things now, when she wants them. Patience was not easy, but she has learned to have some.
The left hemisphere thinks linearly, about the past and the future. It takes the collage of the present moment and organizes it.
Sophie needs time to process and organize all those floating details.
The left side thinks in language.
Sophie thinks in pictures.
It's the voice that says I am separate from the world and others in it.
Sophie thinks that we are here to serve her, that we should know what she wants, what she is thinking.
Jill describes the way that she viewed her body during the beginning of her stroke. Her reality had shifted that she was part of some larger space, that she is moving in slow motion, that she lost her balance, that she cannot define the boundaries of her body. Her body was blended with inanimate space.
Sophie does not have good control over her large motor skills or her fine motor skills. She is strong, but does not know her own strength. (I think that Bambam from the Flintstones was autistic.) She can run fast, but might stumble. It's taken years, but she can use scissors. She cannot color within the lines though.
Jill was, at one point, in her silent mind, but was captivated by the energy around her.
Sophie loves the world around, maybe because she sees herself as part of it, a fast car ride on a sunny day filled with shadows, a blustery day of leaves twirling and twittering, the chaos of books, movies, toys, blankets, scarves scattered haphazardly about her room, and her favorite... the twirl and glimmer of beads as they extend from her hand in the most creative and natural way.
Jill said the right side sees/feels euphorically.
Autistics sometimes laugh and giggle and get excited for no apparent reason that a non-autistic can detect.
It Jill 45 minutes to figure out how to call her office for help.
Autistics need time to process.
When Jill woke up at the hospital, her sensory system was overloaded. Light burned her eyes. Sounds were so loud that she could not pick out a specific voice. She couldn't identify her body in the space.
I think that sometimes, Sophie becomes overloaded. She squeezed her eyes shut tight. She covers her ears. She consistently requests that I rub her arms and legs. Maybe so she knows where they are?
Thinking with the right side is peaceful.
Autistics do not lie or cheat.
If you could choose how your brain functioned, which side would be dominant?
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