Memory Strategies

The single MOST important thing tat I have learned is to write things down. However, this needs to be done in a thoughtful and organized way. My Daily Planner is invaluable to me! I have learned to treat it with respect, recognizing how important it is to me! I primarily leave it in the house, although I will take it with me in the car as well. I will not take it with me into the store for example, knowing that there is a good chance that I will put it down and forget it. For years I have written things down understanding the importance that it played for me. However, for years, I would simply write things down on small pieces of paper, and invariably lose the piece of paper. In fact, my mother used to tease me about it! Please do Not laugh, it was a very frustrating time for me! Purchasing and using a Daily Planner is an invaluable asset.

Remembering people’s names is another difficult task, and a very embarrassing one as well. People are generally not all that forgiving. Usually when you meet new people, they expect you to remember their names. When you meet them a second or third time and you still do not remember their names, they typically loose patience with you, and the chance of becoming friends is minimal. This has always been a dilemma with me, especially because I have always been a people person. Do I you try to explain to them that I have a short term memory loss? Typical they would not believe me, and they assume that I am slow. Maybe you take the chance of confiding in them, telling them that you have had a traumatic brain injury, and you have problems with short term memory. If they believe you and they are educated they will be kind and understanding. However, more often it will be a source of ridicule, with hurtful comments like, “why tell you anything, you will not remember it anyways.” (This is especially true for most people are insecure. They need to make themselves feel better about themselves and therefore do Not give anyone a second chance, but rather make a big deal of one’s forgetfulness). People are generally mean and judgmental! I was very naive before TBI. I would never have said that before my TBI, but it is honestly what I have learned. The world is the ‘survival of the fittest’, the strong survive, the rest be damned! One example: I was taking a class in Speech Pathology at USF. I went to attend a wedding up North, and I needed to miss classes on a Friday. I gave one of the students in my class my ‘recorder’ to tape the classes I was missing so that I could listen to them when I returned. I never saw that recorder again!

To remember names that I have ‘heard’, I have learned to repeat the person’s name in a sentence, (for example, “Mary it was nice meeting you”) and to try to use the name repeatedly, without making it look awkward. Another technique would be to find similarities with this person and another person with the same name.

If not for the fact that this paper is about memory and head injury, I would Not admit this, But I cannot tell you the number of times that I have forgotten where I have parked my car. This is especially true in parking lots at the Mall. I rarely shop at Malls any longer, but back in the day I did. People with TBI’s such as myself need to really concentrate on things like that, take mental notes, make a concerted effort to remember things like that. (For example, when shopping in a mall, I would have to make a concerted effort to remember, where I entered the store, like Maas Brothers, the men’s shoe department.) Things like that were not a concern before a TBI. Now I am aware of this, I have finally admitted this to myself, which makes the process easier!

Procrastination was something I did all too often! Once I accepted that I had a short term memory loss, it made it more difficult for me to procrastinate. Procrastination was setting me up for failure! I needed to do things immediately before I would forget them.

Consistency, is extremely important for someone with memory problems. I have wasted more time looking for things than I care to admit! I have finally learned to be consistent! I have places where things belong, and have learned to put them in there place.

Routine, is another important element for a person with short term memory difficulties. Unfortunately, my personality does not allow me this pleasure!