TBI Toleration Pack


I am going to address two of the crucial, in my view, tools that have got me this far. Both these things served me spectacularly well pre-hospitalisation, so I have no fear in recommending them to able bodied people, or ableds, as we like to call you.

The first, and most noteworthy, is the Amazon Kindle. Other Ebook viewers may be just as good but I'm talking about the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, as it's all I know. In the Schoen Klinik, before I started using the kindle, while I left it uncharged, I struggled with a couple of heavy hardbacks, and my cognition was problematic, but the least of my worries. It sounds so simple now but I did not feel comfortable, at all, holding a hardback with my left while I turned the pages with my right.

When I finally got my act together, and charged my kindle, the game was changed. No more would I have to contend with antiquated, lumbering books. Non-kindle-users don't often know this but there is a 'Vocabulary Builder' feature on the kindle. It is great.  If you come across a word you're not familiar with, simply highlight the word, and a definition from Oxford English Dictionary will be presented to you, and automatically the word is appended to your word list, for perusal later. As well as that, buying a new book is conveniently suggested to you and transacted with automatic upload to your device, provided you are connected to the internet. Now, imagine those benefits with the added advantage, to me, of usability. I was in business. The display is comparable more with a book than a tablet or laptop. It's very easy on the eyes. It's great for the beach as well. Other features include resizable font for our near sighted readers.

The next best thing to get yourself at the beginning of a hospital stay for TBI is a free, Android app called Wunderlist*. This is simply a standard to-do list app, but it's executed brilliantly. One can create a shared list, with instant real time feedback, with any of your contacts who also have the app installed. A sample use case for me has been (with Claire) Doctor's Questions. For too long I had said "no thanks" when asked did I have any questions, only to realise later that, in fact, I did have. So, if you have a poor memory, in general, give Wunderlist a try.


*It has since been acquired by Microsoft, and is called now, simply 'Todo'.

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