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From: Chris.Cummins@p0.f12.n147.z1.fidonet.org (Chris Cummins)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: I guess this is the place...
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Date: 9 Oct 90 13:01:01 GMT
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[This is from the Spinal Injury Conference]

>Chris, it sounds to me like you are lucky to be alive and cognitive.

     Oh, DEFINITELY!  There are worse things that can happen to
         a person though.

> How is your speech, respiration, do you find yourself looking
> for words more than before?

      I have to put a little more effort into my articulation/
         pronunciation in conversation.  Sometimes I "feel" the
         same way I used to when conversing, but those times
         are few and far between.  Most of the time it's like
         I'm fighting a headache or popping of some sort in my neck
         and it's easy to lose concentration on a particular train
         of thought.

> Any holes in your memory or slow reflexes?

     I can't really pinpoint any "holes" per say (of course, if I
         could, I assume they wouldn't be holes) but thoughts bring
         reactions.  Let's see if I can clarify for you... I was
         reading a magazine article some time back about the association
         of colors to smell, and thoughts, etc... a sort of inter-linking
         so to speak... there is a term but I can't remember it.  Anyway,
         I used to experience it quite frequently, and it was sort of
         the "color" of my personalities frequency... now though,
         everything is kind of dull... no real memory flashes or
         color/taste associations...
     My reflexes ARE slower... and less acurate.

>Is there a great difference in how it feels when you are suddenly startled? 

     It's funny you mentioned that, because I remember alot about
         those kind of reactions.  Tonight a couple of things happened
         that caught my attention sort of abruptly, and it seems to me
         one tends to exhibit their muscle tone at those precise moments.
         I feel like I was "stamped" at impact, and everything just
         leads to my returning to that "compacted" muscle relaxation
         (like I had muscular dystrophy or something, which I
         realize I don't, but maybe something similar due to the
         accident).  In other words, instead of instantaneously
         becoming more "alert" when startled, I jerk to the left...
         the same direction I tend to find myself focusing during
         deep thought.

I hope this isn't to much rubbish for you to cipher through, just
thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity to let my observations
out!

[=\Chris

 
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