When
my brother, Tom, was born with Spina Bifida, a neural tube disorder, the doctors told my mother
he wouldn't live to
see his second birthday. They also told her, in the outside
chance he should live, he'd never grow higher than our
kitchen table. That was in 1970. Tom, now 37, has grown into a
well-established gentlemen. One who is both intelligent and a delight to know. And
I, feeling as if I had a front row seat to a miracle in the making,
have studied closely the way both his
mind and his personality progressed.
No, he
could never "walk" in the traditional sense, and he does uses braces and a
walker. Yet, his intelligence, to this layperson, seemed far above average,
as were his social skills.
His ability to interact and adapt to his environment easily were traits I
admired from a young age. As an adult, he has grown in this role and
carries himself as a professional. He continues to communicate well
both socially and with the
media, as his unique situation has drawn attention for its ability to
inspire others in similar situations.
When I
read The Brain That Changes Itself written by the wise and wonderful Dr.
Norman Doidge, my brother's ability to adapt to his environment despite his
obstacles all made perfect sense. In the book, Dr. Doidge shares his tales of
caravanning the country and meeting the finest minds in psychology and neuroscience
research. His quest for
understanding and to help those with situations like the one I describe come through clearly to the reader.
In my opinion, his aim was to help all of us understand the information that
is now available regardless of mass popularity. In the same way
"those" doctors told my mom my brother would never live, Dr. Doidge offers
hope and belief that survival and change are possible.
Make no
mistake. The Brain
That Changes Itself is an ambitious read. It is a book meant to be
read slowly, if not aloud, to allow the processing of every word. For
this reason alone, it is a book that I will revisit again and again. The studies that Dr. Doidge present are full of hope.
We learn of stroke patients who have rebounded, emotional disorders overcome
and hope for the vitality of the mind during the aging process. Here's
just a simple example in Doidge's words:
"To keep the mind alive requires
learning something truly new with intense focus.
That is what will allow you to both lay down new memories and have a system
that can
easily access and preserve the older ones.
The thirty - six scientists at Posit Science
are working on five areas that tend to
fall apart as we age. The key in developing exercises is to give the
brain the right
stimuli, in the right order, with the right timing to drive plastic change
(p. 88)"
For me,
The Brain That Changes Itself explains in detail how my brother's mind
and body have literally "re-mapped" themselves in effort to conform to their
environment. Once the body was traumatized, it was originally thought, the
nerves or the nerve functions could never recover. With this new
knowledge, there is
evidence to support what my family and I have known all along: the body's
intelligence is so vast, it can accommodate for any changes in function.
This, coupled with love and positive reinforcement, makes amazing things
happen.
If you or
someone you love has compromised functioning of body or brain,
Dr. Doidge's book is a welcome find. His book carries the air of a life's
work, as he makes publicly available the ideas and research
making great strides behind the scenes. His is a brave book, however, as research is not always attractive.
It creates ethical challenges that Dr. Doidge faces head on. In the
end, The Brain That Changes Itself is empowering. For me, it was
a welcome reminder
that there are always new ways of thinking. Literally. For both
researchers and for the "differently abled" alike, it reminds us all to follow
our instincts. My mother will tell you, if no one ever colored outside the lines, nothing new
could ever happen.
