Hi my name is Emma Martins and I have worked for over two years, as a Lived Experience Communicator at Headway, Norfolk & Waveney. In my first blog, posted in December 2023, I detailed how I acquired a brain injury ten years ago and what I have been doing since to overcome my challenges and to have fun on this recovery journey.
This month’s blog is about Tap Dancing and trying my best at maths lessons and reading.
Tap Dancing
A friend suggested that learning a new skill would do wonders for my memory. My parents’ friends gave me a pair of tap dancing shoes for me to try out! Like Cinderella, they fitted perfectly and I was encouraged to join The Garage Dance Studio in Chapelfield. I began in September 2022 and was petrified at the beginning. My good friend offered to come along to give me some moral support the first day, which I was very grateful for.
Even though it was an adult class, it felt like I was back at junior school! At the beginning I was always the worst pupil, but gradually I started to remember the routines. I hadn’t realised how much progress I had made until the beginning of the next semester, when the new pupils started. Then I realised how much I could remember. This really gave me the confidence to carry on.
Tap dancing demands a lot of coordination, but I have been able to slowly build up muscle memory, to the point where I can now do a routine without having to think through each step consciously. I especially want to thank the staff at The Garage Dance Studio in Norwich.
On the right-hand side of my body I still have some weakness from the brain injury. Sometimes it tingles down that side and my extremities can be very cold, so this affects my coordination. I began my second of year of tap dancing last autumn which meant re-learning the steps after the summer break. In the winter term I was working on trying to master The Timestep, definitely not easy.
If you are interested in visiting The Garage Dance Studio you will find them at 14 Chapelfield N, opposite Chapelfield Park. I’m sure they will be happy help. I don’t think I will ever be a Ginger Rogers, but it has been really good for me and I enjoy it.
Maths lessons
I started taking maths practice lessons with ‘Multiply.’ This was arranged through a Government free learning course for adult numeracy. I was lucky to be invited to an initial six-week course at The Forum in Norwich. The aim was to see if I wanted to try adult learning in numeracy longer-term. I was daunted at first, because as I’m sure, as many of you know, being in an unfamiliar environment makes it harder. Numbers really confused me because of my Alexia, which makes comprehending numbers pretty impossible!
A lovely lady called Jackie Buxton gave me some one-to-one lessons for free in the hope that I would continue on. She then suggested I attend and accompanied me to my first three sessions where there was a group of five or six of us. It was a block of six lessons and they run for two hours and we tried to recall the numeracy installed in childhood. Unfortunately, I found this quite hard and the brain injury has definitely left me really struggling with numbers. This means that everything gets jumbled up in my mind’s eye, especially when numbers and characters are mixed together. Nonetheless, It was a good challenge and it inspired me to continue with the rest of the course. Jackie then suggested a course at The Wensum, but I only had one session there before the Lodge unfortunately closed down. A blessing in disguise!!
Now that the course has finished I am able to use the voice activated calculator on my iPhone and I did find the re-learning useful, but I’m never going to need to be a maths genius, particularly not now!
Reading classes
Reading is still difficult for me, but I am determined to continue with this on a weekly basis. It is good for my brain to be doing this, but I now know that I will never be able to read naturally. It’s a real struggle. I meet with my tutor Phil for free, who is an ex-teacher and a volunteer at The Forum. The Government course organisers put us in contact to try to reignite the reading neuro pathways in my brain. It’s all about trying to build new abilities.
Phil says I have improved, but my confidence can be low because other tasks around this prove so difficult. We spend 45 minutes together and at the beginning we warm up my brain by using a chart from a company called Twinkle. It has columns of the ‘100 high frequency words’ used in the English language, which you can see in the image below.
Once we have completed this warm-up exercise, I progress to reading a small paragraph. I get bored if the story is too childlike, but my proficiency level means that I remain at the age of a 10 year-old child regarding my processing skills although my understanding is normal. I am continuing with this in 2024, because it’s good to exercise my brain. I know I will not be able to read as I once could, when I was younger. What has been useful is audio books and an app called ‘Seeing AI’ by Microsoft which has proved really helpful. It enables me to read ‘sell by’ dates on food labels in the fridge and letters I receive in the post.
In the app I simply hold my phone over the text that I want it to read, it can take a photo and then it verbalises the image of the words for me.
This month’s short story is about wrapping and posting a birthday present for one of my best friends. It literally took me hours!
I bought my friend a birthday present and card, having forgotten the actual date. Luckily, she messaged me to say it was the next day. This meant a last-minute dash to the shops to purchase a suitable gift that I could post to Sheffield, first class post! Wrapping the parcel was stage one…. then there was the writing of a label for the package. I am still amazed that I find tasks like this so hard, but it has become easier over time. This one task involves so many processes and a lot of coordination. It took several attempts to write the address because of my eyesight. I have to use a thick dark pen, which I have recently discovered helps my vision a lot.
I have dyslexia, so I misspelt the street number of the address and then kept repeating the mistake. This meant that I got through a lot of labels before I had even written the rest of the address. I then had to get the postcode from the computer, which I don’t normally use on my own. I did manage to find it luckily, but the mixture of letters and numbers and the combination is still difficult for me, because of the Alexia. Everything becomes jumbled and I cannot distinguish between a letter and a number or upper and lower case. An incredible amount of precision is definitely needed for this, which seems so simple to others.
That was the first time that I had undertaken something like this in the last ten years, as I normally ask Mum or my support worker to assist. Although it took me ten attempts, I finally got it right all on my own but ‘mental note to self’ I should definitely try to practice this more often! Luckily my friend confirmed that she had received the gift, so it wasn’t all in vain.
As a technique, I find if I take a break and look away, I can calm myself and reset my brain to try again.
What have I learnt over the years?
From the above experience I can say that perseverance is key! Don’t give up and try and find a work-around if you need to. I think that acceptance is key.
The content on this platform is produced by Emma Martins, Lived Experience Communicator, in collaboration with her support worker. All views expressed herein are solely those of Emma Martins and her support worker, and they do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Headway Norfolk and Waveney.
It is essential to note that the content shared represents personal experiences and is not intended as professional advice. For medical guidance and assistance, especially if you require specific healthcare recommendations, it is strongly advised to consult with qualified medical professionals, including your general practitioner (GP). The information provided on this platform should not be considered a substitute for personalised medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Headway Norfolk and Waveney disclaims any liability arising from reliance on the information presented here for medical decision-making. Always consult with healthcare professionals for accurate and personalised guidance based on your individual circumstances.