Headway Newsletter: March 2003
EDITORIAL
Another (financial)
year has passed. – An eventful and successful year, if we measure our success
by the number of people who have contacted us, and who we’ve been able to reach
out to and help. Our sadness is the huge numbers of people who need
Headway, but our fulfilment is that we are able to make a positive
difference in their lives. Having
personally experienced several different Headway groups in the U.K..,
I’d like to reiterate that our own Headway Natal rates very highly.
We’ve come a huge way from our humble beginnings – borne out of necessity.
We’d like to pay
sincere tribute to all those who have contributed in so many ways to making us
who we are now. And it is so heartening and rewarding to hear the success
stories, how people have been able to get their lives together successfully and
move on. To those whom we seldom see, but who remain in touch via
this newsletter, we thank you so much for your continued support. To those who
are currently visiting Headway, we hope we continue to meet your
needs. To the friends of Headway, we thank you – you are an integral
part of our on-going success.
Hopefully, all last
month’s newsletters have reached their recipients, and you’ll all be aware of
the fact that it is now Membership Renewal time. Already quite a number
of renewals have reached us – thank you.
So, this will be the final newsletter for last year’s members,
but hopefully you enjoy keeping in touch with us, and so will manage, before
the end of April, to renew your membership. Remember, we are only where we
are today because of the part each and every one of you plays, and has played,
over the years.
Thank you again, Rose.
It is also possible to make a deposit straight into our
bank account, the details of which are: -
NEDBANK, WESTVILLE MALL: BRANCH
NO. 138026: A/C NO. 1380054621. Please
remember to fill in the name of the depositor.
Welcome to…
This month Vincent Champion, Thiroshan Govender, David Lotter,
Mandla Mkhize, Nomagugu Mokhloahana,
Gert Neveling, Austin Potts and Costa Sofilas have been introduced to
Headway. We hope that you and your
families will feel the benefits of attending Headway and we’ll do our best to
help you as much as possible.
Donations…
We really have been extremely
fortunate this month (March). Our
donations totalled R159,370 which is a staggering amount, and makes us
feel an incredible indebtedness to all who have shown us such generosity. Many of those who renewed their membership
also included a donation. Thank you so much. National Lotteries gave us a
magnificent amount of R140,000; the Aaron Beare Foundation
donated R15,000; Ubuntu Community Chest donated R1,000; Shirley Coetzee, who continues to pay
Alex – our gardener’s wages, donated R780; Crossroads Work
Party donated R500. To you
all, a huge thank you, and we truly hope you are aware how far your kindness
goes towards making life just that little bit easier for so many people.
Fund Raising…
We had a very successful month
of fund-raising also. Several of our fund-raisers are on-going, and the money
just comes in steadily. The major income
came from our Second Hand Shop with an amount of R1,059 – thanks
to very quiet, but efficient and hard-working team. In total, we raised R2,206 which
included our monthly jumble sale, sale of books and cards and our
on-going raffles. We are so
grateful to all who support us.
General Meetings…
What a pity that there
were so few people to hear the most interesting, thought-provoking and
informative talk on “Driving after a brain injury/stroke”. Basically the talk
was about how, and if, one should take responsibility for driving after
an acquired brain injury, but a great deal of what was said applies to the
public in general. It is patently obvious that the driving on South Africa’s
roads leaves an enormous amount to be desired, and there are many factors which
contribute to the appalling driving and statistics. Leaving aside such factors as un-roadworthy
vehicles, unlicensed drivers and overcrowding of vehicles, each person, injured
or not, should ask himself the following questions:
1. Eyesight How is my eyesight? When did I last have my eyes tested? How is my
distance/close vision? How is my distance/speed assessment ability?
2. Stress Am I stressed? How is my concentration, especially
on monotonous journeys? Am I a tolerant and courteous driver, or do I get
annoyed while driving? How do I react to bad drivers? Can I make correct
decisions quickly e.g. in an emergency, or do I panic easily?
3.
Medication Am I on any medication which
could make me drowsy?
N.B. Anyone taking medication for seizures is not
allowed to drive. However, if a person
has been on medication for over a year and has been seizure-free, then legally
he may drive.
So, then, what about driving
after a head injury? The fact of the matter is that in South Africa there is no
legislation on this subject. As far
as the Law is concerned, anyone can get back into a car after their
accident, and drive off. As far as the Insurance Company is concerned,
it’s a very different story!
If we look at the reasons for
driving – independence, self esteem, freedom etc – we understand
that it is completely natural to want to get back to driving as soon as
possible. After a brain injury, one does not normally forget how to drive. In
fact, usually all the basic fundamentals of driving remain intact and one’s
pre-accident driving technique is retained. If necessary, cars can be modified;
one can change from manual to automatic; special levers can be fitted and many
adaptations can be made. So what’s the problem? Well, quite apart from anything
else, one should be sensible and not put oneself at any risk of sustaining any further
injury – to oneself or to another person! The above questions apply generally
and specifically. After a brain injury, one should additionally ask – am I
still proficient at recognising colours and shapes? Is there any confusion between left and
right? Is the speed of my “motor response” in any way compromised (coming
across an unexpected situation)?
There is a centre in Johannesburg,
a Psychometric Centre which focuses on assessing driving skills across the
board. Amongst the tests which are used for assessment after a brain injury are
the following:-
1. Concentration under
monotony.
2. Decision reaction test.
3. Stress tolerance test.
4. Speed distance adjustment test [e.g. curves,
changing lanes].
5. Visual perception test
6. Assessment of personality traits.
Ultimately the responsibility and decision is a personal
one which should be thought about deeply. It is also strongly recommended
that one gets a professional and objective opinion of one’s driving ability.
As far as your car insurance
policy is concerned, I’d like to quote from an article written by Annemi
Slabbert in response to questions she posed to the Long-term Ombudsman’s
Office.
“A huge amount of claims are
being repudiated by Insurance Companies because clients have not completed
their application forms correctly – they do not fully disclose their medical
history. We must be aware of the importance and consequences of signing an
application for insurance. Although it is human to accept that the intermediary
knows what he/she is doing, and to trust them to fully complete the form, clients
should realise that the ultimate responsibility still rests with them, and that
it is not a defence, at a later stage, to say they did inform the
intermediary of their full medical history and that he did not write it down,
or that the intermediary told them that it wasn’t necessary to disclose the
information as it was not so ‘serious’. The bottom line is that by signing the
application form for insurance, the signatory accepts responsibility for the
contents. An insurance contract is one of the utmost good faith. In order to
assess the risk, an insurance company has to rely almost exclusively on the
information provided by the applicant. The strict requirement for full and
honest disclosure is a fundamental principle of insurance. The underlying
principle is that all material information must be disclosed to enable the
insurer to fully assess the risk. Often, had the insurer known of a certain
medical condition, it would not have accepted the risk at all. No contract
would accordingly have been concluded.
Clients should take the
time to read through the application form before signing it – it would save
them money and disappointment.”
(A lot of research on this
subject is still being undertaken, both nationally and by us at Headway, and,
at the moment we are barely scratching the surface of a very important
subject.)
Next general meeting will be on
Wednesday May 14th, and I am still negotiating to have someone from
the Sports Sciences Department at UDW come and give us a talk
about Biokinetics and its relevance to movement rehabilitation after
brain injury/stroke. If you’d be interested in attending the meeting,
please phone us to find out if this talk has been confirmed.
More Headway Happenings…
We were most fortunate to
receive a visit from Graham Clarke who was both re-visiting him home
town of Pinetown and was guest “speaker” at the Interface KZN A.G.M. Graham is extremely physically
handicapped after suffering a massive stroke in 1984 while working as a
medic on a research expedition on Marion Island in the Antarctic. The
stroke left him paralysed from the nose down resulting in what is known as the “locked-in”
syndrome. Accompanying Graham, who now lives in Cape Town,
was his friend and facilitator, Russell Krynauw. What a privilege and
pleasure to spend just over an hour with Graham who is a most amazing,
brave and inspiring person, with a lovely sense of humour! In order to “speak”,
he uses a “LIBERATOR” which is a computer-type device, using 128
keys and icons and pre-programmed with app. 5,500 words and phrases. These
keys and icons are activated by using eye contact in conjunction with an
infra red ray which is attached to the peak of his cap, and once Graham
has formulated his sentence/s, the Liberator then “speaks”, enabling him to
have pretty much unlimited conversation. After his stroke he communicated by
using an alphabet chart, and only started using the Liberator in 1988. He said
that “patience is the key to effective communication” and that was borne out by
the fact that once one has asked a question or made a comment, then there is a
period of time during which Graham programmes his replies into the Liberator
ready for the voice output. I think he must have had infinite patience learning
how to operate this device fluently, but he said that being able to master the
Liberator has gone a long way towards giving him his life back. Since he is in
demand as a public speaker and an inspiration to people with a handicap, he has
pre-programmed the Liberator with several different initial speeches. When
asked if he ever got nervous before a talk, or had he become used to it, his
reply summed up what an amazing, courageous and determined person he is. “Yes,”
he said. “But about an hour before the talk I get less nervous because I am
‘pooped’!” Irrepressible, and inspiring. We salute you, Graham.
Healing through sound…
Our Tuesday morning Music Group
was given a treat this month when Ingrid van den Heever came to Headway
to give us a unique experience. Ingrid
had brought her “monochord” with her – a musical instrument which
most of us had never seen before. The monochord,
as the name implies, is a long stringed instrument which plays only one note at
different pitches. Due to “harmonics”,
this is heard in harmony as a chord. The
strings are gently stroked, creating a continuous, undulating sound like a
wave. Ingrid began her hour of music
by presenting each of those present with a red paper heart and a small white
floral sprig as a non-verbal symbol of love and nature. She said that we were going to have an
exercise in listening; that most of hear but don’t listen! When we hear certain kinds of music, its energy enters and flows through our
bodies, and is released creating a sense of harmony and well-being. Music stimulates the right side of the brain
and touches our emotions. After
playing the monochord for 15 minutes - allowing us all to relax, travel
along the sound waves, some to even reach a pre-sleep “alpha state” – Ingrid
asked each of us to share our experiences – what we felt / saw /
heard. Words such as ‘happy’, ‘at
peace’, ‘relaxed’, ‘totally chilled’ were used, and some saw rainbow colours in
the musical sound. Most heard bells and
chanting, and even a flute playing, and all agreed that the music touched our
emotions and created a wave of harmony and joy. Without exception we all enjoyed this brief
journey travelling along sound waves which we had never heard before, and we
were also fascinated by the gentle and unique sound made by Ingrid’s “rain
stick”. A CD of this music is available, but we hope
that Ingrid will make time to come and give us another experience of
listening in the not too distant future.
Craft Day…
I just want to announce that Headway
will be holding a Craft Day on Saturday 26th October. I can just hear some of you saying “why
on earth are we being told about this and it’s only April?” However, if
you’re a crafter, a pickler or a plant potter, now’s the time to start! Please help us to make our Craft Day
the best ever. As time goes by, we’ll keep you up to date with our plans
and our progress, but, to those of you who can contribute in any way, please
start thinking about making your jams and pickles, knitting/sewing/crocheting
etc, taking ‘slips’ and potting them, and indeed, surprise us with all your
hidden talents! We also hope to put together a Headway Recipe Book. Obviously
this is not a new idea, but it is usually a fairly successful money-maker, and
so we’d love to receive your best recipes – preferably tried and
tested and flop-proof! Contributions of all kinds can be sent,
dropped off, e-mailed, faxed or phoned through to us. Please don’t be shy! So
please diarise now and let’s all work together to make the day a
roaring success.
Thank you’s…
We consider ourselves so
fortunate to have this “Heading” in every single newsletter we
write. Where would we be, both
materially and, perhaps more importantly, emotionally were it not for the
selfless giving of so many people.
Charities depend so much on just that – CHARITY. And every month,
quietly and often discretely, we find ourselves on the receiving end of some
gesture which is sorely needed at that very time. So our very special thanks go this month to It’s
Africa for the Tee Shirts – they are always so kind to
us; to Innovations in the
navy Heights Centre who have been donating cakes and other delicious
edibles to us as an ongoing kindness;
and to Wally Blom for his generous response to our need for
photocopy paper. (A vast amount of
literature regarding Head Injury and Strokes goes out each month to people who
have phoned us for help. It is a large
part of our Outreach.)
Theme days…
In keeping with our “Theme
Days”, what could be more appropriate for March than having an Irish
Day which took place on Thursday 20th March. This was Veronica’s
“baby” - (there must be some Irish blood there, somewhere!) and, as
is the case with all our theme days, it was greatly enjoyed by everyone
present. Veronica imparted quite a large amount of Irish information,
from the serious to the more light-hearted. We heard about St Patrick, -
the patron saint of Ireland; kissing the Blarney Stone; Robert Boyle,
the Irish chemist who formulated the law of physics which bears his name: “Boyle’s
Law”; and Sir Arthur Guinness – the famous brewer
who is responsible for that well-known drink! Adding to the delight of the
morning, we managed to have Lisa Linton dancing, and Keith Steyn
playing the bagpipes once again – this time doing justice to Irish music.
(We were so, so impressed with their talent and kindness for the Scottish
Day!).
Once again, our grateful thanks
and appreciation for their willingness to share their gifts with us. Can one mention Ireland without telling an
Irish joke? “When the Irish say that St. Patrick chased the snakes out of
Ireland, what they don’t tell you is that he was the only one who saw any
snakes!”
Snippets and N.B.’s…
·
The winner
of our Cricket Set Raffle, drawn at our General Meeting, was Rob
Bellars. Quite by chance, Rob’s name
was on one of the sheets sold by Dennis Smith, and the Cricket Set had
been donated by the Smith Family.
·
Zanele
Ncwane has recently left us and
started working at the St Giles Association in Durban. Well done, Zanele, and we wish you
every success and happiness.
·
We have
another raffle still on the go for a Picnic Quilt, Picnic Hamper and
2 Tickets to Music at the Lake.
If anyone would be prepared to take a sheet of tickets to sell (hint!
hint!), please phone the office.
·
We’re
delighted that Daphne Naidu, our Speech Therapist, has returned
from her maternity leave. We missed her and
welcome her back. News from Razia,
who stood in for Daphne, is that she’s thoroughly enjoying London
and has started working as an Audiologist in Whipps Cross Hospital.
·
We’re
enclosing a copy of the Big Newsletter.
It is always good to read other newsletters, and this month there is a
very interesting, and somewhat controversial, article about the proposed
changes to the Road Accident Fund policies.
·
If there is
any would-be librarian out there, plee...ee...eease come
and help us to sort out all the books which are donated to Headway on an
on-going basis. We would appreciate any
time which could be given to us.
·
Headway will be closed over the Easter period on Friday
18th April and Monday 21st April.
Special N.B…
For people who have suffered a
brain injury or stroke, and who may be taking homeopathic medication, just a
word of caution about tinctures, since they are alcohol-based. Taking of alcohol is actually ill-advised
after a brain injury.
