Brain change is a very real thing. I came from a bad upbringing didn't get many qualifications, never read a book, and had to have a side assistant teachers to assist me in every lesson, got diagnosed as autistic and add. This planted wrong programs in my brain and I believed it because I was only 8 years old. I was scared and felt extremely suicidal as everyone else seemed to have it easier. This made me not want to go out places and I decided to sit in doors playing video games to escape the world and because of this I somehow came across brain plasticity, this planted a new seed of hope and I decided to believe in it, because if people can change the size of their muscles, why cant they learn new skills and change other things too?.. I took a fitness course and the first week I did pretty bad because I was still stuck in that school mindset and the teachers said I should leave because I am not learning anything. This scared me because I needed to do something with my future so I put in the effort and within a few months I was literally flying through my assignments as if I had done it my whole life, students was even asking me for help and the teachers was quite shocked (I was around 23 when I finished so I wasnt exactly a child).. I managed to come out with the second best grades in my group from people who was older and more experiences than me.. I am now above average intelligence despite how disgustingly bad I did at school. Brain plasticity is real guys.
This is amazing, that's a lot of heart to push through like this. I hope you're able to continue on with all life's obstacles in this same, adaptive to the situation, fashion.
This is not just for children--the exercises work for ALL ages! My 73-year-old father is the oldest student in the Arrowsmith program and is having incredible results! These exercises need to be part of general education at all age levels. Our brains can change and grow throughout our entire lives. There is no "too old"!!
My dad died of Alzheimer's disease. In my late fifties, I noticed I was slowing down in my memory skills. I decided since there is such a connection between what the hands do and what the brain does, to work with my hands as much as I could so I went back to knitting. I was difficult for me at first. But as things got easier, I challenged myself with things which I found hard, and when that became easier, to find something more. I also learned every style of knitting so as to know how to knit each forwards and backwards. And when I knit I change my styles and work to be sure the knitting all looks the same. I have far less difficulty with forgetting anything now. My memory is better now at 66 than at 58 when I started this. Now I Europe, I have learned that they teach knitting in schools to both boys and girls. Their test scores exceed those of Americans, even those who are of the same heritage. So there is something to this. Knitting works well with attainment and advancement of mathematical understanding and also with music. Though I did not learn piano as a child, I did learn how to play by chord. Since my avid knitting, I sound very good. So there is something going on here. Perhaps we are all our own puzzle and we can create the tools to help ourselves. In the meanwhile, I have made many useful things, so I have an outlet for my creativity. One cannot put a premium on what being happy does for one's mind. But I am sure that just as children find success and become more excited about learning because they can master a hand-eye skill, so it is with adults who fear they are becoming by the day, more child-like. You can do something about it. Many find exercise is the key for them. The thing is do not give up. Perhaps it is learning to cook differently, again, don't give up. The more things you can add into your repertoire, the less bored your brain is and the more you have relish for life. But I also know this, that nutrition is key also to how we feel and how we think as well as sleeping well and consistently. Our diet, if we are not eating meat, is able to create in our gut, serotonin which is shared with the brain. Many of us have had so many antibiotics, the microbes to support this are dead. We have to rebuild this flora inside ourselves and eat what is easiest to digest especially as we age, plants. Meats do not digest well, figure into stroke and heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis, including asthma. What a price we pay to be addicted to our tastebuds and not willing to try new things. I've gone vegan and I will not look back. Lost weight and feel so much better. We need to continue to learn throughout our lives. And we are the ones who need to go after it. Trying to keep up after a spouse who won't do anything for himself is no fun. I have to get out for a few hours to be able to remember that I am not him and don't want to be. Negativity kills just as much as a loaded gun. It kills the soul. Life is too short, we have to find ways to be happy even if the spouse is sappy. Another reason I knit, I can go loads of other places inside my head even if I can't with my feet.
Wow. Thank you for sharing your story. Sometimes I persevere through difficult tasks. Sometimes I just find the easy way. Think I'll take up knitting. Thank you 😊💕💕💕
My mother turned 91 and knitted from a very young age and still do. For her age, her memory is very good, better than mine at 66! She always tries to be positive, in spite of previous cancers and other difficulties. She is in an old age facility, but still reaches out to others. She also reads a lot.
courag1 “we are all our own puzzle and we can create the tools to help ourselves.” ✨✨✨ Thanks for sharing. And your knitting experience had inspired me & reminded me “to continue learning new things and not give up”🌸🌸🌸
Magnificent! I was a natural speed reader from the first time I learned HOW to read. My "wonderful" teachers told me that I had to say each word while moving my lips if I were to be able to absorb what I was reading. They totally ruined my ability to read until my mid-40s when I returned to college to finish my bachelor's degree. Little did I know I would wind up with a PhD in computer science. The faster I read, the more I comprehended. Now retired, I read 3 or 4 books at a time. Ahhh...
What an awesome story! Thank God you went back to school! I shutter to think of the number of lives lived far below potential because teachers don’t know that they don’t know. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I read 3 or 4 books at a time. My husband says how can you do that? I say I enjoy the change and it helps me to enjoy the different styles of writing more.
@@loiswhite1834 Shudder is a good word for it. An appalling number of prison inmates have been found to home kind of previously unrecognized learning disability.
Neuroplasticity is so exciting. And it's good news for me, because my short-term memory and ability to focus has greatly diminished after years of stress and depression.
yeah, amazing that it's possible to improve/bring back cognitive abilities after years of depression and stress or anxiety. prescriptions meds can't quite do it though. books are way better. and regular practice.
Hi Stefan .There is hope! I was diagnosed with ptsd and clinical depression. I could not remember anything! I had massive memory gaps. I could not focus. If I read anything, it would not stay put..I could not hold on to any new information or retrieve old info. I read everthing I could ( over and over ) about how stress affects the brain. The amygdala (alarm system in the brain) is on full alert and your neocortex shuts down and along with it, all your higher order cognitive skills. Your hippocampus (where some memories are processed) shrinks and your memory is seriously affected. I began to practise mindfulness and eventually I was able to alter my stress response. It was a fairly long process but now my memory is sharp and I can retain and use new information. I am no longer depressed and I changed by befriending my brain and learning to turn off the stress response! A very simple basic life changing exercise.. breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Breathe slower on the exhale. This deactivates the stress response. Once out of stress mode, your body and brain can begin to heal. Do it as many times as u can throughout the day ..set little reminders. Just a couple of these breaths regularly. The hippocampus can regrow neurons. You can get your short term memory back!! Good luck.
sheraine zeffrienne Thank you Sheraine. I've led a stressful life most of my life. Though I loved to read, I had difficulty remembering whatever I just read. I would (and still do) forget the names of people I've known for years. I would just go completely blank. I would forget pin #'s I had used many times. I knew something wasn't "right", but I never sought help. I am now convinced that the stress is the reason my brain has never functioned properly. Like you, I'm reading and listening to anything that has to do with how to control and manage stress. Thanks for your comment. I now feel like there's hope.
FANTASTIC!!!!! I suffered a cerebral haemorrhage in my teens. I couldn't do anything, tell a buss schedule, operate a laundry machine and so on. And my doctors just like she said tried to prepare me for a life going around and avoiding my difficulties. And after 7 or 8 years I got fed up with my situation and started progress towards my problems. It took a while and since then 20 years later I have drastically change my life in a way regular treatment would have me living in a special home. Important and well spoken talk. thank you Barbara.
I've read "The Man with the Shattered World" at least three times, maybe more. He was so severely disabled it exhausted him to write a single sentence and reading never failed to give him a headache, but he persevered over many years to piece together an entire book about cognitive disability as perceived from the inside. He describes the moment of horror waking up in the hospital realizing that the newspaper with the foreign alphabet he couldn't read was actually his own language.
Having been one of the founding members of Eaton Arrowsmith School and Eaton Cognitive Improvement Centre in Vancouver, BC, I have seen Barbara's work, the Arrowsmith Program, change hundreds of lives. It's definitely not easy to change the brain, but with sustained, specific practice it is very much possible. Barbara is speaking at Neuroplasticity and Education: Strengthening the Connection in Vancouver on October 25th if any of you are interested. Should be a great day.
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I think what this testimony teaches us is that, not only our brain can change, but also us. We can be the better versions of ourselves in all possible ways.
I could not understand the complexity of my texts in college so in order to get meaning from the texts I had to take notes as I was reading, highlight my notes, and keep reviewing my notes. Then eventually I was able to get meaning from text and complete all my classes for my degree. I think these strategies changed my brain because I did not give up.
The problems she had were more worse than my current problems yet she lives happier than me. I wanna change my brain too and now I just need to take the right bath. Thanks for this wonderful presentation.
We shared the same childhood dysfunctions, we both had fathers that changed our way of thinking - our only difference she knew her diagnosis, I only learnt of mine 2 years ago and I am now 60. This woman has so inspired me - my father taught me all those games she herself used, I still do them to this day and I am sure that is why I made it thus far. This talk brought me the validation of me. I cannot thank you enough xx
Thank you this gives me even more hope for my son who was born prematurely. It affected his brain and at one point we’re told only one side of his brain was functioning turns out it was too swollen to get a good read. We were also suggested to pull his life support because he wouldn’t have quality of life. Jump almost 19 years later this young man who went from delays in walking multiple challenges including hearing loss in one ear and sensory integration and tons of therapy (no drugs we didn’t want to mix with the brain chemistry) ended up running track, playing water polo, graduating from high school and now will be going to college. His high school counselor wanted to graduate him out in special Ed classes but he wanted the chance to go to college like everyone else. He worked hard to graduate in regular classes with only some sped provisions. He still has short term memory loss, can’t tell time on a clock and doesn’t drive yet (big potential to get lost) but one day will. I always told him he could do anything he wants in life but now I think that might have been abstract for him. Thank you again you have encouraged this mom to help him succeed!
So interesting! I realize the neuroplasticity of my brain when I was in college and an excellent teacher realized I had dyslexic tendencies. She took me to the speech coach who determine which letters I automatically switched around and then taught me how to correct the mistake before it happened. Took a few years before the problems vanished, but eventually my brain corrected itself.
My elementary and middle school years were a struggle for me but for me everything changed my 9th grade year, I learned how to play chess and it was fun to me; the result, without me feeling like I was working harder or doing anything different, my grades went up and for the first time in my life I made the honor role. Chess changed something in my brain.
She just touches the surface of her accomplishments in this video. She works with kids who need to reconnect various parts of their brains that have, for whatever reason, failed to connect naturally. The methods she uses for hyperactive kids with very short attention spans was the most impressive I've ever read. Please look up her institute and whatever youtube vids of her therapies if you know someone who is struggling.
Well Said. Never take an “experts” opinion as fact. Especially when it comes to what you are capable of or not capable of base on their training or opinion. I was diagnosed with an incurable disease and told I would never improve and be on prescription drugs for the rest of my life. The day I stopped listening to my Doctor, I started to get well. I was taking eight prescription drugs I was told I would be on for life. I have dropped seven of these drugs and plan on being off all of them in time. You are your own best advocate. There is always a better way to solve a problem. Although it may require you to take an unconventional route to achieve your goal.
"Every time we learn something new, our brain changes. With focused effort, we can intentionally rewire our brains to overcome learning challenges and reach new heights of achievement." - Barbara Arrowsmith Young
What a humbling, magnificent talk. The part about reading philosophy is especially impressive. I have a BA in Philosophy with High Honors, and I've never read and understood 100 pages of philosophy in a row, whether by one or many philosophers. Understanding two pages in a row was a real achievement for me. Philosophy's often tough sledding, even for the practiced eye. It seems to me Ms. Arrowsmith-Young had a brilliant mind before she overcame her blockage, because she figured out how to change her brain while she was still in the strange foggy world of her youth. And obviously her brilliance has shone more and more brightly since. The implications of brain plasticity for education are unfathomable. I taught for 30 years and how I wish I'd know about this when I was teaching. We have to pursue it and find out how we can literally help students mold their brains for the better. There must be so much more to her story. I'm anxious to read her book.
Yours is the most insightful comment here, I think. To look at the situation and realize what genius she must have had in there, somewhere somehow. To be able to find her way out from inside the haze and endless confusion. What she's done is breathtaking. Thank you for your thoughtful commentary.
I’m recovering from a stroke and I’m slowly recovering but I am recovering and it’s because of people like this so thank you for sharing your story and experience x
This is definitely a life lesson. This is one of the people that makes the rest of the people want to live, and thrive and learn, and be better. She gives inspiration and transmits feeling of sadness, hope and desire, that few people achieve. She is a real hero and a genius, has she given other conferences? What is the tittle of her book? I loved this TEDx talk very much. Congratulations, Ms. Barbara Arrowsmith-Young.
Brilliant Barbara! My son attends your school and in only two months of doing the Arrowsmith work, we have noticed positive changes in his self-esteem, happiness and spelling! Taking him away from the constant barrage of negativity in the public school system was the best thing we have ever done! He was in the special ed class for kids with learning disabilities but was blamed on a daily basis for not being able to learn! How much frustration can the students bear before a change is made? Thx
She is the reason I always strive to let everyone I worked with know they can and they matter, they just needed to embrace the inability to find their greatest ability, Barbara here is a prime example of that. Why limit learning and moving forward because of one part of us that is different or complicated. Kudos and blessings to all who don't give up and may we all move forward.
Thank you Barbara I work with children and adults as a Speech and Language Therapist and believe fundamentally in the power of this process. I too see incredible changes in the clients I see despite the considerable impairments they experience. I am invigorated by your experiences. Thank you so much
Having a channel about overcoming "disability" I can completely relate to dealing with people that "just deal with it" and give up. It's so sad. I hope to be able to have a positive influence in their life. This video was very encouraging to me.
My Mom was very physically disabled and had Alzheimer's at 80. A friend offered help as a caregiver but only spoke Spanish. To my astonishment I was able to teach her enough vocabulary for basic communication even though she often didn't remember who I was. It puzzled me for the longest time. This makes sense. Thank you.
Easily the best TedxTalk I've ever seen. I've been raising awareness of brain plasticity ever since I read the book, "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Dr. Norman Doidge. Her book also needs to be read. This is all very enlightening and empowering material.
I agree with you! My daughter has a learning disability of lack of working memory and at 7 we started working with her on exercising her brain. She just turned 9 last month and we continue to work on this exercises. I can only hope that with time she will be a better learner for all the hard work we put into this exercises. It's very hopefully news to me that her brain can be rewired and not just to teach her coping skills (that what all schools recommend and argue for)
Thank you for sharing this! I just wish you had shared more about the specific exercises that helped you overcome your obstacle/gift! I have a student who could be you and I have thought and thought about ways to help her learn without success. I know there is an answer - especially now! Thank you again!
This is the most powerful thing I've heard in a very long time. I am 77 years old and have been dealing with ADD and depression and anxiety all my life. I've always felt like a victim but I've recently realized that I have the ability to control my life by teaching myself, my brain and build and create my life. It is incredible.
Thank you for sharing such an honest, humble account of your personal experience with this subject, Barbara! What a testimony to the power of this science! The joy that you felt in finally being able to understand the circle of philosophy books piled all around you - I especially related to that piece; I’ve had moments in my life just like that, and nothing beats that feeling. Thank you for being such an inspiration for us all! ❤️
Thank you so much for sharing, Barbara. I learned about your history in the book "The brain than changes itself" by Norman Doige. Your testimony has been inspiring to me and to my students. We can built the person we want to be. It requires work, but it is feasible.
this woman is an incredible person, and teacher! everything she.talked about, gives millions of others, hope, a chance, a different way of thinking, and... change their brain. with things I am struggling with, I know, I can change my brain! by doing so, my life can be.more relaxed, less anxiety, less confusion and.more enlightened. less hurt, more joy. I loved this lecture.
Love to her your story of life! I have just begin training my brain with DNRS and after only two months I already can Do things I couldent before!!! I am changing my brain! It can be done!
She is such a darling and an inspiration to all those who have learning disabilities. She is.such a ray of light in a dark world to those who have no solution to simmilar issues she faced in one chapter of her life thank you Barbara.
omg, i did the same thing. i wanted to learn how to read maps and i wanted to understand the world.. and so.. i decided to study geography... and now its easy for me.I wanted to change my brain, my struggle, and my life. My LD has been my motivation for change :') I am soo glad she talked about this!
Sharing such stories is not only a relieving reflection but also an improvement of mankind. Thank you so much for sharing your personal journey with us, Dr. K. Lambert. Thank you TEDx.
WOW !!! Thank you very much for making this presentation. I am seeing this for the 1st time. I am a firm believer like her. Your handicap was actually was a gift and blessing in a way. I wish share this with all my family and friends. THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!!
Wow!!! Thank you for sharing!!! Wish I could see your tool! I though because I’m getting older, 53 yo, and having multiple general surgeries that I am too limited in learning but you’re right. We/I can still re-train my brain and excel as a neonatal nurse! Thank you so much for this very amazing and encouraging message.
You can look up other Arrowsmith vids on RU-vid. The CLOCKS exercise, the one she talked about in the vid, is in a presentation showing a number of students working through the program. My own son is working through it right now. It's working, but takes time & commitment.
Thanking God for this great video. This comment on a slightly different tack, but recently decreased to nil over a period of three weeks, the strong dose of antidepressants I had been on. Almost immediately my memory, which had got so bad that I thought at 83 years old, I was heading into Alzheimer's, starting to come back as did my concentration and am now using Google and RU-vid on my phone as my former secretarial skills are back as good as ever thank God. Not suggesting that all reading this does the same but feel I should share in the hope that others may be able to successfully to the same. Please God may this information spread and eventually be used in many various sections of society to the great betterment of so very many. Well done Barbara, may God bless you for sharing all this wonderful news on this most welcome and informative video. Greetings from Ireland.
A movie should absolutely be made about her life. Not only is her story very inspiring and educational about the way our brains work and how we can overcome mental difficulties, I'm literally tearing up just from her describing being able to read for the first time 😢
