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IWU Magazine
From IWU Magazine, Spring 2016
Teaching peace
At IWU, Shah (above) was a Peace Fellow. The fellowships were created in 2007 by John Stutzman '54 and his wife, Erma, to encourage focused study in areas involving peace, conflict resolution and social justice. (Inset) A note to Shah from one of her students.
As an IWU student and in her career as a public school teacher, Monica Shah '10 has thought about, and done a lot, for the cause of peace.
An international studies major, Shah was selected as an Illinois Wesleyan Peace Fellow in 2008. She says being a Peace Fellow "gave me the confidence I needed to know that I could and would engage in a path of peace-building, education and global issues. It also helped provide me with some direction in studying abroad, finding internships and in the classes I took."
One of her most important Peace Fellow experiences, Shah says, was an experiment that failed. She organized a group of international-minded IWU students who would visit local high schools to discuss critical global issues and the benefits of studying abroad. "This project did not succeed because I went about it the wrong way. Yet I realize now that I was essentially designing a course that I wanted to one day teach, and I've taken that passion and interest with me into my career."
At Illinois Wesleyan, Shah widened her interest in peace to national and global scales. "IWU is a small liberal arts school that allows students great educational opportunities around the world — it can't get better than that," she says. After spending semesters in Washington, D.C., and in Salamanca, Spain, she interned for a summer with the National Children's Center at the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Arlington, Va.
Her ability to speak Spanish allowed her to interview children from Latin America who had been caught crossing the U.S. border unaccompanied and were facing deportation hearings. Using information obtained from each child, she created a legal memo that was sent to pro bono lawyers who could represent them. In speaking to the children, she was both moved and appalled by their accounts of gang violence, parental neglect or abuse and their dangerous journeys to the U.S.
The experience inspired Shah to consider a pro bono legal career, but her belief in the power in education pulled her in another direction. She thought back on meeting Colman McCarthy in Washington, D.C, where he directs the Center for Teaching Peace. Shah later invited McCarthy to speak on the IWU campus. "He said, 'Unless we teach our children peace, someone else will teach them violence.' I fell in love with this idea and began chasing this dream."
Her first stop in that pursuit was American University in Washington, D.C., where she earned her master's degree in international training and education as well as a graduate certificate in teaching secondary education.
In the fall of 2012, she began teaching history and geography to eighth graders at Washington, D.C.'s Brightwood Education Campus. Her classroom is diverse: many of her students come from Latino and Ethiopian immigrant backgrounds.
"To make lessons relevant and enriching, I make sure to always connect a unit they are studying with something that is happening today in society, whether locally or globally," says Shah. Those lessons "shift students away from simply being consumers of information to becoming critical thinkers who question the perspectives and credibility of sources, and consider the histories of all people."
At Brightwood, she also introduced programs such as Model UN and National History Day to her students and brought fresh energy to the school's Student Government Association. And, two years ago, her long-held dream of teaching peace classes became a reality when Shah launched a peace education program that works with children from second to fifth grade.
"The kids go to gym one day, then art, then music," she says. "They come to me for peace."
Monica firmly believes that "peace is a subject that needs to be taught, just like reading, math and science. One of the goals of my peace classes is to develop social emotional competencies and equip students with skills to create and maintain intrapersonal, interpersonal and intergroup peace both in and out of school."
Shah knows some regard teaching peace as naïve or idealistic. But what is the alternative, she asks. "Day after day, students, especially in urban environments, are suspended from school," she said in an interview for the United States Institute of Peace website. "Should students be punished because the society they live in is failing to teach them nonviolent ways to engage in and resolve conflict? We do not expect students to intuitively know how to do algebra, so why do we expect students to simply know how to act nonviolently?
"My students grow up amidst violence, watch movies and TV shows that portray violence as justified or even honorable and play video games that glorify violence," she added, "so how can we expect them to act peacefully?"
To further her students' knowledge and exposure to diverse cultural and international issues, Shah has taken them on field trips to the U.S. Institute of Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, Gandhi Memorial Center, Newseum and the United Nations. Her students have Skyped with young peace activists in Afghanistan and Sudan and with Peace Corps volunteers in Nicaragua. "All of these opportunities allow students to learn about the work of many different organizations and career paths in peace-building."
Shaw also aspires to work with teachers to help introduce and incorporate peace education into different classes. "Anyone can be a peace educator, no matter what subject he or she teaches," she says. "You can incorporate lessons about social justice in math, language arts, science and social studies."
At the "Work That Matters" panel discussion, Shah gave advice to current and prospective students. "Surround yourself with people who support you. Especially as you transition from undergrad to the real world, it's really, really important just to be around supportive people who will encourage you to think critically and at the same time will be there for you."
Though her IWU Peace Fellowship lasted two years, she says, "I feel like there really was no term limit. You don't just stop advocating for peace when you graduate — that's when things really get going."
Read about "Work That Matters" alumnus Charlie Sell '10.
Return to the main story.

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 Posted on Featured, Mobile Phone Video, Police Violence
Last Month In Video: From Rio to Catalonia and beyond
January 2018 edition	By Dalila Mujagic
From Rio to Catalonia, people are capturing human rights abuses and life-changing events, and they're doing it with their cell phones. Our Last Month In Video series covers video news each month, highlighting the impact of video to shift narratives or document human rights abuse. We will also help you stay up to date with security and technology news that relates to video.
If you have a tip for a story, we want to hear from you! Please feel free to reach out to us at feedback@witness.org. In the meantime, check out January's post. There were many developments stemming from late 2017 and we will continue to provide coverage on the impact of these events.
January 2018 in human rights video:
January 11: Facebook announces algorithm change
January 11: NYC council members among those arrested at rally for detained immigration activist Ravi Ragbir of New Sanctuary Coalition
January 15: Residents of Rio de Janeiro favela used mobile phones to capture footage of an armored police helicopter opening fire at random
January 27: Community activists transmit live commentary on the inauguration day of contested Honduran President
January 30: Deposed Catalan President Skyped in from Brussels to address his constituency regarding a parliamentary vote
The WITNESS Take: Facebook's announcement came close to a month after admitting that passive social media use may be an unhealthy practice. While this may be guided at increasing meaningful personal interaction and decreasing exposure to ads, we cannot ignore the fact that, from the Arab Spring to the 2017 Women's March, online spaces such as Facebook have become public spaces where nonprofits and coalitions share videos and engage with people seeking to spark social change—and despite the security concerns regarding activist use of platforms like Facebook, it continues to dominate political and organizing exchanges. Facebook had already tried a similar tactic in select countries before, resulting in massive drops in engagement for business accounts, but we have yet to see what the true ramifications of January's algorithm change may be for social organizing. WITNESS will continue to monitor these changes in collaboration with other organizations; in the meantime, to continue viewing WITNESS and other public accounts, be sure to click on "see first" in the follow options.
The WITNESS Take: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officials continue to spread fear in immigrant communities and undermine the legal system by arresting people at their scheduled check ins, in restaurants, courthouses, and schools; Ravi's detainment was no different. Despite being married to a U.S. citizen and actively challenging a non-violent conviction from 20 years ago, ICE marked Ravi as an "aggravated felon", moving quickly to attempt to deport him. While a U.S. district judge has since ordered ICE to free Ravi, citing that his detention by ICE was "unnecessarily cruel", Ravi's release does not change the reality for thousands of other immigrants facing targeted surveillance and detainment. Filming encounters with ICE is one way that immigrants and their allies can help counter ICE's cruel tactics, but we urge anyone thinking of filming to take precautions. The footage from these counters can expose human rights abuses, deter violence, substantiate reports and serve as evidence. But if the footage isn't captured safely and ethically, it can put people filming as well as immigrant families at risk. Learn more and stay safe with our checklist for filming ICE encounters.
The WITNESS Take: Favela residents in Brazil continue to face illegal and barbaric military police actions—in Rio's Complexo do Alemão community last year, the military police took over rooftops of residents' homes to create makeshift bases of operation. It is precisely the video footage and documentation of eyewitnesses and residents that helped the community, in conjunction with public defenders and organizations such as Coletivo Papo Reto, successfully launch a campaign to hold police accountable; this campaign led to a pivotal decision to indict two high-ranking commanders of the military police on charges of illegal home invasions. Mobile phone footage like the video below from Jacarezinho favela, also in Rio, serve to counteract the dominant police-led narrative, and can continue to help hold perpetrators of illegal actions accountable. If you are filming, be sure to stay safe and film effectively by following these tips.
The WITNESS Take: We promote the safe, ethical and effective use of video for human rights. Sometimes, that means putting the camera down. Amidst the brutal threats to land defenders, indigenous groups, and political opposition, the highly-contested November 2017 presidential election and a general strike, Honduras remains one of the most hostile countries to activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. Voces de Mesoamerica—an independent collective of media activists—teamed up to produce a live audio stream providing contextual background on the election and reporting in solidarity with the massive protests taking place during President Juan Orlando Hernández's inauguration. By transmitting from Mexico via internet audio and retransmit from local radio stations in Honduras, Mexico and Chile, the group was not only able to broadcast safely but also reach and hear from thousands of people in at-risk communities across Latin America who do not have high bandwidth internet access. Read more here on how WITNESS joined the Voces de Mesoamerica Caravan to train Latin American activists on how to stay safe and protect human rights using video.
January 30: Deposed Catalan President Skyped in from Brussels to address his constituency regarding a parliamentary vote.
The WITNESS Take: With Carles Puigdemont and his government in (digital) exile or prison, and the independence movement scrambling for clear leadership, the Spanish government stepped up surveillance in order to prevent Mr. Puigdemont from secretly entering the country, and has announced an investigation of sedition into the Catalan regional force for providing protection to referendum organizers. This is in addition to the devastating orders in late 2017 demanding that internet service providers (ISPs) filter websites hosting referendum and voting content, that web domain registries both turn over information on its customers and take down sites that help people vote, and that even a Google voting app to be taken down. We believe that a free and open internet is pivotal to a functioning democracy—especially in moments when at-risk communities are looking to make their voices heard. But as we have also seen, in today's age the curtailing of rights in digital spaces is often a first step to curtailing rights in physical spaces as well; another key precedent set in Catalonia in light of the referendum was the number of shared eyewitness videos depicting state-sanctioned violence against protesters. Groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and grassroots organizers alike have denounced the unprecedented digital repression of Catalan residents and political dissidents, and WITNESS stands in solidarity with those who seek to protect internet freedom across the globe.
 Archived in Featured, Mobile Phone Video, Police Violence and tagged freedom of expression, Human Rights, police violence, protests, Video Advocacy, video as evidence.
Video As Evidence in the Middle East & North Africa By WITNESS
Last Month In Video: 2017, a year of extremes By WITNESS


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The hexadecimal color code #cc7a42 is a shade of orange. In the RGB color model #cc7a42 is comprised of 80% red, 47.84% green and 25.88% blue. In the HSL color space #cc7a42 has a hue of 24° (degrees), 58% saturation and 53% lightness. This color has an approximate wavelength of 588.82 nm.


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Home Articles Public Libraries: A Vital Space for Family Engagement
Public Libraries: A Vital Space for Family Engagement
Libraries Family Engagement Research Policy
Libraries provide families a welcoming environment in which to learn, to connect with other parents, and to find other community resources that can help them thrive.
Children and youth learn in countless ways, anywhere, anytime. And one of the most powerful levers of children's learning—from the early childhood years through adolescence—is families. For families, libraries provide the books, media, and activities that help them open doors for children's literacy and lifelong learning.
Libraries are poised to engage families more meaningfully across children's development. They embrace the entire family—from infants and toddlers to teens to grandparents—making libraries a space where children and adults can learn together and strengthen their relationships. The rich digital and hands-on resources libraries offer, especially when guided by librarians, can help families steer, guide, and support learning. And with the disparities between how children and youth from high- and low-income homes spend their out-of-school time growing, libraries – free, trusted, safe, and welcoming places in virtually every community – can help counterbalance these inequalities.
This call to action explores what family engagement is, the research behind why families matter for children's learning, and why libraries matter for family engagement. The paper concludes with ways that libraries around the country are encouraging family engagement by:
Reaching Out: Libraries reach out to families to promote the programs, collections, and services that are vital in a knowledge economy;
Raising Up: Libraries elevate family views and voices in how library programs and services are developed and carried out;
Reinforcing: Libraries provide guidance on and modeling of the specific actions that family members can take to support learning, reaffirming families' important roles and strengthening feelings of efficacy;
Relating: Libraries offer opportunities for families to build peer-to-peer relationships, social networks, and parent-child relationships; and by
Reimagining: Libraries are expanding their community partnerships, combining resources and extending their range, improving children and families' well-being, and linking new learning opportunities.
This Call to Action is based on conversations with librarians and directors across the country, the results of a national survey, and a review of the current research. Taken together, this document shows that there is no better time than the present for libraries to join together with schools, community organizations, and service providers to establish a system of family engagement that extends throughout a child's life, supports children and families, and optimally prepares children for success in school and life.
This report calls for libraries to join together with schools and community organizations to establish a system of family engagement that extends throughout a child's life, supports children and families, and prepares children for success.
M. Elena Lopez, Margaret Caspe, Lorette McWilliams


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See More Series Subscribe to Resources from the series: Joshua
Resources from the series: Joshua
Reconsecration
Sermon on May 26, 2002
Joshua 24 Reconsecration
In Joshua 24, we come to the end of our studies in the book of Joshua. In the text this evening, verse 15, we find the well known words, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," and that gives me a wonderful opportunity for me to say that this chapter serves as beautiful bridge between the studies of Joshua and what...
Joshua's Farewell Speech
Joshua 23 Joshua's Farewell Speech
Joshua is about 100 years old, but he's not too old to preach sermons. In fact, in the closing chapters of the book of Joshua he preaches three sermons. And Joshua is dying as he lived. The concerns that have been Joshua's burden all of his life are still the same concerns and burdens with which he departs from this life. There is...
When Good Intentions Are Misunderstood
Joshua 22 When Good Intentions are Misunderstood
One Friday, in February 1674, a certain farmer's daughter, Anne Beaumont, wanted to go to a nearby town, Gamlingay to hear John Bunyan preach. Apparently, Anne had been offered a ride by someone who failed to arrive. It would have been impossible for her to walk because of the weather and some local flooding.
Just then Bunyan himself arrives, passing through...
Possessing the Promised Land
Sermon on May 5, 2002
Joshua 13:1-21:45
Joshua 13-21 Marching as to War: "Possessing the Promised Land"
"So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers and they possessed it and lived in it. And the Lord gave them rest from every side according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them The Lord...
When God is Like a Wild Animal
Sermon on Apr 28, 2002
Joshua 11 & 12 When God is like a Wild Animal
I said last week that you cannot make sense of Joshua apart from the cross of Jesus Christ. In particular, the battles, the warfare, the bloodshed, the (at times) "scorched earth" policy where no survivors, "nothing that breathed" (11:11) survived–these things that we have read about in our Bibles tonight are deeply disturbing. If they are not...
The Sun Stands Still
Joshua 10 Marching as to War: The Sun stands still
Can the Bible be trusted? Is it fatally flawed by out-worn concepts and ideas? Can we possibly believe in giant fish swallowing a man for three days and then spitting him up on the shore–alive! Did God really provide manna from heaven for forty years? Was the Red Sea really divided in the way Cecil B. de Mill...
When God Makes Up For Our Stupidity
Joshua 9 When God Makes Up for Our Stupidity
The people of God can do the most stupid things. There is a story of a man from Utah who married a woman after courting her in an AOL chatroom for six months. He proposed and she accepted. They met briefly, twice. The wedding took place in April 1996. Present at the ceremony in the Ritz Carlton Hotel were...
The Defeat of Ai: Learning the Lesson of Unconfessed Sin
Sermon on Apr 7, 2002
Joshua 8:1-34
Joshua 8 The Defeat of Ai
There is something altogether beautiful, yes, beautiful about the opening verse of this chapter. No matter what you make of the rest of this chapter, there is something absolutely beautiful about this opening verse. I don't know about you, but I imagine Joshua was feeling a little discouraged. The city of Ai had failed to be taken. Some of his men had...
The Morphology of Sin and Repentance
Sermon on Mar 31, 2002
Power And Effects Of Sin
Joshua 7:16-27 The Morphology of Sin and Temptation
Michael has been married for 25 years. He has three children; one is away from home and working. Two are in college. Michael is a successful businessman, in the eyes of the world. His business requires him to take frequent trips away from home for several days at a time. During one of these trips he finds himself lured to...
How Achan's Sin Was Found Out
Joshua 7:1-15 How Achan's Sin Was Found Out
On September 17, 1791, Major General Arthur St. Clair headed north from what is now Cincinnati, Ohio, to establish a fort at the head of the Maumee River where he was to be soundly defeated by the Shawnee Indians. He had been brought almost out of retirement by President George Washington. He took one look at the opposition, whom he...
Joshua 5:1-12 Ouch! Dr. Derek Thomas
Imagine that you were some great military leader preparing your men for battle in the hours that follow. How would you go about it? Stonewall Jackson prayed with his men. Henry V, before the battle of Agincourt, walked amongst them and spoke words of courage, rallying them to "stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood." You may remember the great scenes...
There Was No Battle at Jericho!
Sermon on Mar 7, 2002
Joshua 5:13-6:27
Joshua 5:13–6:27 There Was No Battle at Jericho!
The really amazing thing about the battle of Jericho is that there was no battle! It is something which is summarized for us in Joshua 6:2, when the Lord says to Joshua: "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and it's fighting men." When we turn to the pages of the...
Growth And Sanctification
Joshua 3 & 4 Crossing the Jordan
In our earlier studies in the Book of Joshua we have begun to notice that there are a number of themes which are important for us to try and grasp if we are to understand what this book is essentially about.
The first is that when God makes His covenant promises He always keeps them. He had promised to give...
Marching as to War: Rahab, a Scarlet Cord and a Lie
Sermon on Feb 17, 2002
Joshua 2:1-24 #3. Rahab, a Scarlet Cord and a Lie!
Was it right or wrong?
This is what many of you want to know! Was Rahab justified in telling this bald-faced lie or not? There's no way around it: it was a lie. Is this the Bible's answer to the question that Corrie ten Boom faced: you have hidden some Jews in the attic and the Nazis are...
Marching as to War: Captain Joshua! Attenshun!
Sermon on Jan 27, 2002
Work And Vocation
Joshua 1:10-18 Captain Joshua! Attenshun!
Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, "Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, 'Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, to possess it." And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to...
Marching as to War: Be Strong and Courageous
Joshua 1:1-9
Joshua 1:1-9 Be Strong and Courageous
Joshua chapter 1. Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, "Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place...


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Hard Knocks Fighting Championship
Hard Knocks Fighting – Glossary
Abu Dhabis / ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship – Abu Dhabi Combat Club, is a submission only grappling championship event that takes place every year to every other year in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It attracts the highest level of competitors for all styles of grappling backgrounds.
Americana – A submission that is often performed from the mount, or side-control position. The technique is done by pinning and isolating an opponent's arm at a 90 degree angle against the mat, and establishing a "figure four" wrist grip on the isolated wrist. To complete the submission, the attacker pulls the opponent's wrist towards the top of their body while simultaneously raising their own forearm. The submission puts extreme pressure on the shoulder joint. This submission is also referred to as the "keylock"
Anaconda Choke – A choke that is essentially an inverted head-and-arm triangle. The choke is performed from a front grappling headlock position. The attacker slides his arm deep past the neck and under the opposite armpit of the opponent, and then grabs his own bicep; to complete the choke the attacker rolls to his side and squeezes his arms together. This choke applies pressure on the carotid arteries along the sides of the opponent's neck.
Ankle Lock – Executed by isolating an opponent's leg to specifically attack the ankle. The attacker hooks the opponent's ankle in the crook of his arm, and then uses a gable grip to secure the foot in place. The attacker then leans to his side (side that the ankle is isolated) and applies pressure while sitting back. This motion adds downward pressure on the top of the foot and achilles tendon.
Armbar –A leverage submission that is applied by isolating and straightening an opponent's arm, and applying pressure to the back of the elbow by the attacker lifting up his hips off the mat.
Arm Drag – A basic wrestling move where the the attacker, controls the opponent's wrist and tricep to pull them into a back or side control position.
Arm Throw – The action of controlling your opponent's arm, and using it against them as a lever to pull the rest of their body over the attacker's centre of gravity, in order to execute a powerful takedown.
Arm-Triangle Choke – A submission hold whereby a person is choked with their own arm on one side and the attacker's arm on the other side of the neck.
Ankle Pick – Associated to the single leg takedown, the attacker rapidly grabs the back of the opponent's ankle and lifts it high off the mat, before driving through the opponent with their body.
Bantamweight – A weight division where contestants weight must be 135 lbs (61.2 kg).
Bodylock – Executed from a standing position, the attacker "bear hugs" their opponent, having their arms pinned by their sides; this sets up a variety of takedowns
Body Triangle – Controlling an opponent's body by the attacker wrapping their legs around the midsection, and then locking their ankle behind their knee, and in some cases extending the non-locked leg under the opponent's knee on the locked side for additional control.
Bout – Shares the same meaning as fight or contest.
Boxing – A style of combat that consists of only fighting with one's fists. Ofter referred to as the "Sweet Science".
Brabo Choke – Also referred to as the D'Arce Choke.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – A style of combat that consists of strictly grappling. Originally formed in Japan, and later adopted in Brazil and modified to what is currently known as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
ButterflyGuard – A guard position where one hooks their feet inside of their opponent's thighs, and uses this position to lift and/or control them. It's best performed from a seated postured up position.
Catch Wrestling – With its origins coming from late 1800's England, Catch Wrestling is a fusion of several grappling styles, including Greco-Roman Wrestling.
Cauliflower Ear – Occurs when the outside of the ear is aggressively hit or repeatedly hit, causing fluid to build up between the skin and cartilage. Common in MMA and grappling arts.
Choke – A grappling term used to express the action of restricting air and/or blood by applying pressure to an opponent's neck.
Clinch – A grapple move where two standing opponent's lock up and grab each other, usually around the back of the neck, overhook-underhook, or double-underhook, in order to apply pressure and control.
Cornerman – Consists of coaches, a cutman, and support for the fighter; immediate team and medical.
Cutman – Medically trained to mitigate fighters damage in-between rounds. Maintains cuts and swelling during the bout.
Counter-Punch – Used when a fighter dodges or defends any striking attack and immediately responds with an offensive punch of their own.
Cross – Also known as a straight, this power punch is thrown from the hand opposite of the lead hand as it "crosses" over the leading arm.
Crucifix – The attacker pins their opponent on their back and locks his opponent's arm with his legs, while lying horizontally across the chest and controlling the other arm. The attacker is now in a "crucifix" position representing what looks like a cross, and is able to attack with submission or strikes.
Catchweight Bout – A fight that is organized between two opponents of different weight classes. The fighters decide on a "catchweight" somewhere in the middle of their two weights that they see fit, and then agree to officially fight at that weight.
D'arce Choke – Also referred to as the Brabo choke, this submission is similar to the head and arm choke but from the north-south headlock position of an opponent facing belly down.
Decision – When a fight goes the distance without any stoppage, the bout is then adjudicated by a group of judges, who decide the outcome based on a scoring system used to determine a winner.
De La Riva Guard – A variation of the guard and one popularized by Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, Ricardo De La Riva. To utilize this guard, one leg is hooked behind a standing opponent's legs from the outside, while the initiating fighter controls the ankle with a hand on the same side. The other hand holds the sleeve of the opponent.
Dirty Boxing – When two fighters throw strikes in clinch type scenarios. Short hooks, uppercuts, and elbows are thrown with devastating results.
Disqualification – When one fighter breaks the rules of the fight, they are then eliminated from said bout and receive a loss for their illegal actions.
Double Leg Takedown – A wrestling move that is executed by an attacker when they drop down to lower their centre of gravity, and split an opponent's stance with a lead step. The attacker then drives through their opponent wrapping both arms behind their knees or hips, and throwing their centre of gravity off as they take them to the ground.
Duck Under – A wrestling move performed in a standing clinch, when an attacker changes levels and drops under an opponent's arm to move to side or back control.
Ezekiel Choke – A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu choke where the attacker uses their forearm and wrist to apply pressure to their opponent's trachea.
Feint – When a fighter makes a fast movement or deceitful attack to confuse and trick an opponent into defending a specific body part. This technique leaves other parts of the body intentionally vulnerable to attack.
Featherweight – A weight division where contestants weight must be 145 lbs (66 kg).
Fight Camp – A term used to describe the preparation a fighter takes for a specific upcoming fight. A fight camp occurs before the bout takes place, and it is where training for a specific opponent takes place.
Fireman's Carry – A wrestling move used to takedown an opponent from a clinch or tie-up position. The attacker drops levels and slides under the opponent, lifting them up onto their shoulders, like a fireman carrying someone out of a burning building.
Fish Hook / Fish Hooking – Placing one's fingers inside of an opponent's mouth and hooking their cheek like a fisherman hooking a fish. The move is illegal and prohibited
Folkstyle Wrestling – A wrestling system used in North America at the high-school and collegiate level of competition
Footwork – A term used to describe one's ability to move, judge distance, control the octagon/ring and generally evade or attack an opponent.
Foul – Illegal action taken by a fighter during a bout, that leads to loss of points and potential disqualification.
Freestyle Wrestling – Included in the Olympics along with Greco-Roman Wrestling.
Front Kick – Also referred to as a teep in Muay Thai or a push kick. The technique is performed when the attacker lifts their knee up and extends their leg forward, connecting to the opponent with the ball of their foot. This technique can be used to knockout an opponent or to keep the distance between an attacker and defender.
Flyweight – A weight division where contestants weight must be 125 lbs (57 kg)
Gable Grip – Named after former American Olympic wrestler, Dan Gable, The attacker clasps their hands together palms in, thumb on thumb.
Gi – The Japanese name for the traditional training attire worn by practitioners of many different Eastern martial arts like Judo, Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Taekwondo etc.
Gogoplata – A Jiu Jitsu submission technique executed by the attacker using their shin to apply pressure to their opponent's throat across the trachea.
Gracie Family – The largest martial arts clan in the world that is known for creating and introducing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to the world.
Grapevine – The concept of using one's legs to intertwine with those of an opponent in order to maintain control while on the ground.
Grappling – Any and all combatant methods used to defeat or overcome an opponent without incorporating the use of strikes.
Greco-Roman Wrestling – An Olympic sport and type of amateur wrestling that focuses on throws and refuses the use of holds below the waistline.
Ground and Pound – Stratagem initially applied by grapplers to drive their challenger to the mat and deliver multiple blows via fist, elbow and forearm.
Guard – This term has different definitions for separate disciplines. In boxing it is used to describe a fighters defence by keeping their fists and forearms protecting exposed body parts. In the practice of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the term Guard refers to the general positions a fighter uses from the bottom to control their opponent.
Guillotine Choke – A widely used and favored technique of submission artists. It can be applied from both a standing position or the guard. A fighter faces the front of their opponent and hooks their arm completely around their horizontal neck. After engaging the front headlock, the attacker then squeezes while extending their core and postering up to fully perform the submission.
Half Guard – A downed fighter uses their legs to trap their attacker's leg. This is performed when a fighter's full guard is unable to be utilized from the position they are in.
Hammer Fist – An attacker strikes their downed opponent with the bottom side of their balled fists, like swinging a hammer.
Haymaker – A term used to describe a savage punch thrown with immense potential.
Head and Arm Throw – A fighter grapples their opponent around the head with one arm and pivots their hip into their opponent throwing them over and onto their back.
Hexagon – The official six sided cage used for Hard Knocks Fighting Championship bouts.
Heavyweight – A weight division where contestants weight must be between 206 lbs (93.4 kg) and 265 lbs (129.2 kg).
Heel Hook – A submission that is widely regarded as the most crippling leglock. It has a high injury rate and its use is almost always banned, except at the advanced levels of competition. Applied by wrapping legs around the opponent's targeted leg, isolating the foot to the armpit via forearm and twisting the body. Extreme pressure is placed on the knee joint and all of it's crucial ligaments.
Hip Toss – Similar to a head and arm throw, the hip toss is used by the attacker digging underhooks into their opponent and twisting the midsection to throw the opponent over their hips.
Hook – Two sets of definitions exist for this term. In boxing it refers to the fighter's lead hand throwing a curved strike aimed for their opponent's chin. For grapplers, the word exists to define the technique of using the feet and legs to control their opponent's position.
Ippon – Japanese terminology used to describe the highest score (one full point) in martial arts competition for Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, etc.
IBJJF – Abbreviation for the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
Jab – Fighters use their forward hand to throw straight and fast hitting punches called Jabs. Consistently used to open up defences and set up combinations of punches, as well as set the distance for a fighter.
Joint Lock – A grappling maneuver that isolates any of the bodies joints and applies severe pressure that causes fighters to either submit and/or sustain injury.
Judge – A non-aligned party chosen to determine the points and overall match conclusion after all rounds have been fought. There are usually three judges assigned by Athletic Commis
Judo – Originally manifested as a pedagogy in 1800's Japan, it was later developed into a combat sport for the Olympic Games. Judo disciples rely on modern grappling techniques to overpower opponents to the ground and further pin them there.
Karate – A Japanese martial art that utilizes striking focused techniques and emphasizes trying to end the fight in the least amount of moves possible.
Keylock – More commonly known as the top shoulder lock or Americana Lock, a fighter uses both arms to confine their opponent's forearm and wrist to the ground while positioned in the side mount. The attacker then bends and twists the arm to fulfill the submission.
Kickboxing – A striking type martial art that uses hand and foot methods to defeat opponents. Variations of the combat sport allows practitioners to also use knees and elbows. This is understandable as the style is derived from Muay Thai, Karate and Boxing.
Kimura – The technique is very similar to the American Lock, however, except rotating the arm towards the opponent's upper body, the attacker uses the "figure four" grip and rotates the arm towards their opponent's hip.
Kneebar – A submission executed by isolating an opponent's leg with the attacker's body on the top side of the opponent's knee. The attacker then controls the lower half of the leg in a variety of ways so that the limb is immobilized, and applies pressure with their hips on the top side of the opponent's knee to incite a tap.
Knee Tap – A grappling technique used to drive an opponent to the mat by the attacker's hand restricting the knee movement. The attacker then uses their weight as momentum to push the opponent in the same trajectory.
Knockout – The act of being struck down hard enough to disable a fighter's ability to resume the match. This brings the competition to a halt and automatically delegates victory to the last man standing.
Kung Fu – A westernized term for Chinese martial arts.
Leglock – A joint-lock classification used to apply any submissions that target the ankle, hip, or knee joints.
Level Change – When the stance of a fighter is lowered to execute a takedown or feint an opponent.
Light Heavyweight – A weight division where contestants weight must be between 187 lbs (84.3 kg) and 205 lbs (92.9 kg).
Lightweight – A weight division where contestants weight must be between 147 lbs (66.2 kg) and 155 lbs (70.3 kg)
MMA – Abbreviation of Mixed Martial Arts.
Majority Draw – At the end of the fight, two out of three judges decide the match even.
Middleweight – A weight division where contestants weight must be between 172 lbs (77.5 kg) and 185 lbs (83.9 kg).
Mount – The attacking fighter straddles the midsection of their downed opponent allowing superior control positioning to attack with variety of moves.
Muay Thai – A combat sport based around kickboxing and striking. It is the national sport of Thailand. Practitioners use hand, foot, knee and elbow strikes to defeat their opponents. Sometimes referred to as the "Art of Eight Limbs".
Neck Crank –A submission move used to control an opponent by putting pressure on their neck.
No Contest – When the match is ended abruptly without a victor, or goes the distance but because of extenuating circumstances the match is not decided. Usually caused by a random occurrence that the referee will stop the fight.
North South Choke – A submission grapple of a downed opponent performed with their head facing opposite directions of their chest to chest position (north-south), the attacking fighter lays on top of their opponent and hooks their arm around the neck to apply pressure.
Octagon – Competitors ring used in the UFC. Noted for its eight sided cage – like fences; stop sign shaped.
Omoplata –A submission frequently applied from the guard position. When an attacking fighter has an opponent's arm confined by their legs, they put force on the shoulder to obtain a tap out victory.
Overhand Right/Left – Strong strikes thrown from the power hand at an arched angle curving downwards.
Overhook – In the event of a clinch, the Overhook is used to control the opponent by hooking over their arm and enveloping the arm or upper body. Also known as a Whizzer, they are usually used to counter underhooks. Double overhooks is the use of both arms.
Over-Under Position – This regular position is when both fighters have an arm around each other's midsection with the other over the opponent's arm. Also a clinch that can set up attackers when they clamp their hands behind the back to perform a throw from the upper body.
Pankration – Meaning "all force", was an old and dangerous sporting event very similar to modern day mixed martial arts. It's design was developed for the Greek Olympics. It was a mixture of boxing and wrestling.
Peruvian Necktie – One of many modified front chokes that puts pressure on the neck. A standing attacker will shoot their lower body inwards before dropping down and putting their legs over their opponents back.
Philly Shell – A style of defence also known as the shoulder roll. A fighter's face is pressed close to the shoulder of their lead arm as it hangs across the midsection. The other hand is held upright on the other side of the face and mainly used for parrying punches. It is known to be the most efficient style of defence to utilize counter punching.
Posture – A fighter's skill in aligning their midsection horizontal to the ring mat. It is helpful for defending against submissions from an opponent's guard.
Pull Guard – An attacker will use this technique in a clinch as an alternative takedown by pulling their opponent towards them as they fall backwards. During the transition from standing to ground, the attacker will wrap their legs around the midsection of their opponent. The attacker is then grounded and has their opponent in closed guard.
Pummel – When opponents move their clinched arms around the others midsection in a fight for control with underhooks.
Push Kick – A front kick that often aims for the midsection of an opponent. Impact is usually delivered by the ball of the foot shooting forward after raising the knee and foot high linear to it's target.
No glossary entries for Q.
Rear Naked Choke – An often used submission applied from behind an opponent where the attacker will hook their arm around the neck and grasp their other arms' bicep. This allows the attacker to apply more leverage to their choke hold.
Referee – An individual used to enforce the rules and regulations of the match. They are also responsible for the safety of each competitor and are formally chosen by the pertinent Athletic Commission
Round – Rounds are set time periods where competitors will usually fight for five minutes. Between each round the competitors receive a one minute period of rest. The regular amount of rounds fought are three, five-minute rounds. A total of five, five-minute rounds are fought during Championship matches.
Sambo – Practitioners of this Russian martial art use a blend of grappling and strikes. It is a modern combat sport mixing both wrestling and submission tactics.
Sanda – Commonly referred to as Sanshou, Sanda is a popular variation of Kickboxing exercised in China. Combatants use a series of strikes and throws on a lifted surface to ground their opponent.
Shrimping – A fighter feeling the pressure from his mounting opponent will tuck his knee to the chest and turn his weight in order to escape a mounted position and form a stronger half guard.
Side Control – A top position taken by a grappler that is horizontal to the opponent. This position used to control a bottom opponent.
Single Leg Takedown – Frequently used wrestling maneuver applied by grabbing an opponent's leg with both arms and forcing them to the ground.
Sit-Out – A grappling technique most common in folkstyle wrestling, this move occurs when a fighter claims their opponent's back in a sitting or standing position, only for the position to then be reversed when the fighter in the disadvantageous position reaches back between their foe's legs to grab a knee and switch positions.
Southpaw – Fighters who use their right hand for jabs and lead with their right foot are commonly referred to as Southpaw fighters.
Sprawl – Fighters defending against leg takedowns will use this tactic by straightening their legs out behind them and dropping their weight through their hips. This places the fighter's weight on top of their attacker, setting them off balance.
Sprawl and Brawl – A style of fighter who prefers to stand and strike opposed to wrestling. They employ strong takedown defence in order to keep the fight standing, allowing them to utilize their strikes.
Stalemate – Occurs when two combatants are unable to overcome each other's position. Stalemates are broke
Submission – Inflicting enough pressure on an opponent's limb, body or neck through the use of holds and leverage to make them consciously surrender to the will of their challenger.
Superman Punch – A technical strike used in multiple martial disciplines. Using the momentum of a feinted kick, the attacker springs forward with a powerful cross. Most famously used by Georges St. Pierre.
Suplex – This maneuver is used by grappling their opponent from behind with a body lock and throwing them onto their back, shoulders, neck and head.
Sweep –Action made by grounded fighters defending under an opponent to readjust to a favourable position by sweeping their opponent from top position to bottom.
Switch hitter – A type of fighter that moves between both southpaw and orthodox stances in order to confuse and attack opponents.
Super Heavyweight – A weight division where contestants weight must land above 265 lbs (129.2 kg).
Tae Kwon Do – A martial art based on striking and consisting of opponents relying on numerous kicking variations. It was originally developed in Korea.
Takedown – Through the use of wrestling tactics, fighters score takedowns when they drive their opponent to the mat.
Tapout – A signal used when a competitor admits defeat vocally or physically by tapping on the mat or their opponent. When the signal is seen or heard by the referee he will stop the fight, and establish the other fighter as the winner.
Technical Knockout – Also known as "TKO", this phrase is used to determine the reason of a fight ending. Usually a physician, referee determines if it is unsafe for a fighter to continue fighting, and will deem the opponent the winner. Cornermen can also call fight stoppage due to fighters being unable to protect themselves.
Teep – A front kick used in Muay Thai. Impact is usually delivered by the ball of the foot shooting forward after raising the knee and foot high linear to it's target.
Thai Plum – A dominant type of Muay Thai clinch used to position a fighter for delivering efficient strikes.
Throw – When an attacker grabs an opponent and launches them through the air.
TKO – The abbreviation for Technical Knock Out.
Toe Hold – Submission technique used to isolate an opponent's ankle by grabbing the top of the foot by the toes while utilizing a "figure four" grip behind the heel of the ankle, and applying pressure through the toes to incite a tap.
Triangle Choke – ften applied from the guard position, a fighter will wrap their legs around one arm and neck of their competitor and lock their foot behind the knee to create pressure. Once these are confined, the attacker will squeeze the opponent into submission.
Turtle –Defending against strikes and opponents "hooking in" by curling up on elbows and knees.
Two on One – When a fighter controls one of their opponent's arm or wrist with both of their own hands, hence the term "two on one"
Twister – A submission where the attacker controls one arm and the opposite leg from the back position, and then grabs the opponent's head from the same side as the arm they have control of and applies pressure creating a twisting motion that puts intense discomfort on the opponent's spine and neck.
Underhook – Type of clinch hold used to control an opponent. Single or double underhooks are utilized when a fighter hooks their arm (or arms) under their opponent's in order to gain control of the clinch.
Unified Rules – A global basis for accepted terms to be adhered to by practitioners of mixed martial arts. These rules and guidelines are administered by athletic commissions.
Uppercut – A strong strike targeting the chin of an opponent, usually thrown from the waist in an upward curve. An effective tactic against short fighters and opponents leaning forward.
No glossary entries for V.
Weight-Classes – Multiple categories in which fighters of a specific weight may compete in. For example, fighters who weigh somewhere between 172 lbs (77.5 kg) and 185 lbs (83.9 kg) may only compete in the Middleweight class.
Welterweight – A weight division where contestants weight must be between 157 lbs ( 70.7 kg) and 170 lbs (77.1 kg)
Whizzer – In the event of a clinch, a fighter controls the opponent by hooking over their arm and enveloping the arm or upper body. Also known as an Overhook they are usually used to counter underhooks. Double overhooks is the use of both arms.
Wrestling – Combat sport based entirely around grappling your opponent. Techniques employed by practitioners of wrestling are locks, holds, slams, takedowns and throws.
X-Guard – An alternate form of an open guard. Applied to standing opponents by a grounded fighter. Used mainly to ensnare opponent's legs. This allows for the fighter in the unfavorable position to attempt powerful reversals and possibly apply submissions.
No glossary entries for Y.
No glossary entries for Z.
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← MASHONALAND IRISH ASSOCIATION, HARARE, ZIMBABWE, St Patrick's Day 1993 by Michelle Clarke
POETRY: Well known poets but unknown also; people in my life who wrote and did not publish. Compiled by Michelle Clarke. Poetry Day May 2nd 2019 →
Traumatic brain injury: a survivor's contributions by Michelle Clarke
Posted on August 16, 2015	by michelleclarke2015
Brain Awareness Month of March 2019
What has changed. For me I have written a book. Details as follows:
As the month of March 2019 draws to a close, Brain Awareness gathers momentum with each day that passes.
For March 2019 I want to add something very important. Pure chance and constant curiosity led me to two professional people, one Professor Eleanor Maguire at University College London and to Professor Adam Zeman at Exeter University. Professor Maguire explained what I now know are spatial memory problems post traumatic brain injury. Professor Zeman who named Aphantasia explained what the Mind's Eye is and what the absence means for the person. This was only named in 2016. For further details you can access my book. In 2017 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and as a form of discipline and for memory purposes I wrote the book. As Twitter is my main support for communication I am marketing my book through random connections via Tweets.
Twitter augments my memory & is my friend. Fortune Favours the Brave eBook: Michelle Marcella Clarke, Foreward Prof John Crown … 10% to CCRT charity. Traumatic Brain Injury bipolar chronic fatigue to Breast Cancer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fortune-Favours-Brave-Michelle…/dp/B07LCMPBNH/
Brain Awareness Week 2007
The intricacies of the brain, consciousness and the grasp that it is okay to be different:-
by Michelle Clarke – Social Inclusion; understanding and compassion
The year was 1993 or perhaps 1994, I lived in Zimbabwe and the past time that I most enjoyed was horse riding in the Veld near Sunset.
On this occasion I was being brave. I had learned to canter so it was time to jump. An arena, an enthusiasm, the taste of speed and miscalculation and there was change, I went over the horse and under the horse.
Outcome: private emergency ambulance – a team who I will never know who most likely saved my life. There was only one elderly man as Neurosurgeon in Zimbabwe at that time. From there life became a pilgrim path of exploration and many bumps and turns on the road.
Welcome to Brain Awareness Week. Let us all take the opportunity to learn about the brain, about acquired brain injury, about diseases of the brain, about mental health implications,
Funding is needed in particular for areas of rehabilitation. Let us look in earnest to the Government, to socially and ethically responsible public companies, to philanthropy and to Minister Cowen's (Minister for Health, later Taoiseach) ability to set up a fund whereby families can get tax benefits and give donations to their own family members, when badly affected by brain injury. To sustain a traumatic brain injury is a life sentence but there is always a nugget – the experience gained suggests, seek the inherent talent and then nurture it. It is after all okay to be different.
We are constantly informed when we ask for help and advice that no head injury is the same. The confidence of the neurosurgeon in Ireland in the 1990's is now undermined because MRI and neuroscience in particular have made such advances. The internet is the adaptive technology that opens doors to the ever inquiring mind that a person who sustains a traumatic brain injury needs to engage with.
Can't believe it is 2007, 2003 the body seemed to give up because I sought to use the head too much. They call it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and it is just that. It is that drop dead exhaustion that consumes you to the point that all you seem to do is sleep. You become agoraphobic, fearful of people, fearful of constantly falling over, dreading the phone; the reason is that your system can't cope. The sound from the phone caused me to freeze rigid and likewise the doorbell.
Today I note in the Irish Times – Professor Ian Robertson from Trinity is to give a lecture in the Institute of Neuroscience. I became acquainted with Professor Robertson's book on Mind Sculptor as I hoked around bookshops in Dublin trying to add little droplets of light to my very dark brain. Tomorrow's lecture is about bizarre twists of self awareness; there are to be revelations and I can't wait to be enlightened; the enlightenment is how I cope with the existence.
Consciousness in the case of traumatic injury is impacted by same; a myriad of factors change it substantially. One dimensional tires the body so much faster but the greatest gift I have been given is a partner who had time to give and with character. KT decided that we should have a dog and the breed (no choice) a rescue dog became my closest friend. Between them, they have coaxed me out for a walk to Upper Baggot Street Village, a coffee at O'Briens and gradually to interact with people again
To return to Professor Ian Robertson, Trinity Neuroscience, and the lecture the Institute of Neuroscience – Good Luck tomorrow. Think of those who do not die in road traffic accidents, think always of the marvelous work done by the Neurologists in hospitals like Beaumont, St. James, Mater and then think about life for these people after the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Funds are badly needed. Ireland is one of the most underfunded countries in Europe in relation to Neurology.
Thank you to the Institute of Neuroscience in Trinity and to the endeavours of all involved in the work of research and making the outcomes general knowledge.
A quotation from Friedrich Nietzche, Philosopher
'Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path that they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal'
(Amended: 22nd August 2015)
WordPress.com permits me to edit and correct many spelling mistakes; inconsistencies that open publishing does not permit.
Acquired Brain Injury by Michelle Clarke – Social Justice and Ethics
I have just heard that it is Brain Awareness week a year on since I started writing on this topic.
We know that if people have cancer, the body politic is shouting out for the provision of Centres of Excellence. For illnesses under the headings of neurology and psychiatry, it appears to be quite the opposite. Funding under these headings ranks them close to the bottom in the EU listing. I suppose the disadvantage being that the outcome is not so rewarding, it is basically rehabilitative with low potential of upwardly mobile earnings wealth potential.
The National Rehabilitation Hospital does outstanding work but the follow on provides a different picture. People with acquired/traumatic brain injury are often left to the resources of homes for the elderly or family, if spouse/partner decides to opt out and not participate in the recovery or rehabilitative process.
Excellent work is carried out by the Peter Bradley Foundation, Headway and others but this is only a drop in ocean when one considers the number of people who sustain head injuries in traffic accidents, due to crime (daily we hear of violence and victims who if they do not die, they remain a fraction of the former self and we hear no more), those who get concussions while playing Rugby, Gaelic, Hurling, Soccer, falls etc. Why do we hear that scuffles invariably result in people kicking hard at the head of another person? Then in a rampant illegal drug culture, there is an ever increasing number of people, their children who are brain damaged from drugs; and in addition to this alcohol addiction causes brain damage also. The Head, the Mind, the Memory, are the neglected topics and receive inefficient funding from Government. Personally, I attribute this to a form of ignorance and fear.
Brain injury can often include mental health problems. This means we need to look at the Neuro-psychiatric area of medicine. It sounds good but I would heartily suggest to anyone who ends up in this category and who gets into difficulty in independent living and is desperately trying to keep in the circle you had once be part of, it is the Community Services that hold a moral and ethical duty to provide the support services. The Department of Health lag far behind countries like Denmark in the services they provide for people with a dual diagnosis of traumatic brain injury and mental health issues.
Community health services in Ireland do not exist. There are buildings defunct of character …… they close on the Thursday and if possible they transfer patients to different locations and this can often be with the Gardai to assist (yes, where mental illness is concerned). We need forward thinking medical people who have the courage and convictions to fight for the rights of their patients. There have been people like those in Aware (St Patrick's Foundation) who paved a path for people with mental illness but they thread a hard path seeking most of the funds from fundraising.
One more point. Why and how is it possible that the move of the Mountjoy Prison to Thornton Hall includes prisoners who are diagnosed with mental health/brain injury conditions. Where is the rehabilitative and conducive reasoning here? This is the use of Power to sideline a group of people, already marginalised to a form of isolation but with duplicated stigma of criminality attached to them. Is this fair and equitable? I don't think so. I would ask the question is there any research that medically identifies prisoners who previously sustained brain injury and subsequently encountered mental health problems. I would say there was many a fight, a fall from a bicycle, a blow to the head and there are many who fall under this category who find themselves later in prison, with no mention of previous concussions or the implications.
Let us get serious. Stop the Stigma. Take down the barriers and let's have a multi-disciplinary approach that includes an accepted input from patients.
Look out for lectures given at Trinity College Dublin Neuroscience and other universities, locations. I would suggest an occasional review of the New Scientist magazine. Neurology, Psychiatry provides a host of really interesting information and research.
Amended 22/08/15: IMC did not facilitate corrections and proof reading would have yielded many errors.
a little frustration:-
Too little attention, funds, rehabilitation, for people with Acquired Brain Injury
by Michelle Clarke – Social Justice and Ethics
When are we the Irish going to get to grips with Violence; Guns, Fast Cars, Blows to the Head, unplanned violence in Garda stations et al. All of these are about life threatening situations. Yet can somebody tell me why Ireland ranks as one of the lowest in Europe, in medical capability, to deal with these problems. I heard last night on the media of a comparison of standards between Ireland and Mongolia in terms of neurological medicine and no doubt this included rehabilitation; (yes, the option that exists for those who live versus die, those who but a few decades ago would not need rehabilitation, burial would suffice). Mongolia being more advanced.
I watched Orla Hardiman, Neurologist, Beaumont speak with the commitment, compassion, dedication, with what was once central to medicine – the Hippocratic Oath. This has a core message 'If you can do no good at least … 'Do no harm'.
'Harmed' are the patients. The Accident and Emergency departments daily host the casualties. They treat the wounds of the body but in the case of the head, treatment is different, critical and in need of neuro-surgeons and neurologists. These are the people to limit the harm. This harm is specialised and unpredictable and their skills are aimed at gaining the best outcome for the patient.
Harm goes a stage further here. Neurologists, hospitals can do so much but once you pull through, it is another journey of life you must face. This journey is for your family, your friends and for the opportunities you once had, in my case, a husband who opted out in a cowardly way, through extra marital affairs, and as happens far more than we expect, leaving me in Zimbabwe in care and struggling.
The Harm of the HSE in Ireland is that we do not have the proper the facilities for Rehabilitation. We do not have personal assistants to take pressure off our family and assist us to co-ordinate clothes, a walk, a medical appointment, pay bills. Yes I go really hard on a HSE that harmed my need to reform and alter my life to help me cope and accept my diminished life.
I became old at 32 and they tell me I am now 49. Day in day out I read the papers and hear the news and there are fatal car accidents, shooting, attacks, knives, young people from lower social echelons who are not aware of prior head injuries which in other circumstances would provide a valid defence for an irrational behaviour. This is harm and ongoing harm among people who are mainly young and really do not understand what a brain injury is. The media have an obligation and the Government to match the crime and the outcome in neurosurgery and awareness of the delicacy of our brain to physical impact.
Harm and self examination: The time has come for those who drink and take illegal drugs to start taking responsibility for their lives. All of you who glamourise yourselves to go out, try to imagine what you look like when you are ossified drunk, minus your panties, possibly sexually explored and worse you don't remember. I know what not remembering is about daily. Memory is wiped each day; it goes with traumatic brain injury which for each person has different outcomes and consequences.
I have rattled on perhaps but I would just like people to take some time out and think about this outcome:-
'Man shot HIS FRIEND as 'FAVOUR' to Drug Dealers'
If the shot is to the head and the man does not die; it is lifelong engagement with what some call 'silent epidemics'. Drug Dealers: these are people who are responsible for causing brain damage to so many people because we know illegal drugs including alcohol in excess causes brain damage. Too often people with traumatic brain damage often followed by mental illness diagnosis are left to fend for themselves in what can be a hostile world by comparison to their prior life.
August 2015: Amendments were absolutely necessary; sentences, spellings, rambling are so clearly identified in the original posting (2008) on open publishing site. However with determination, support, a recovery sufficient to live if you can put in place a regime, a discipline with support of a carer, or a partner, is possible.
What a relief to me the voice in the wilderness. Adaptive technology moves me beyond Ireland to global.
Brain Trauma among US Vets from Iraq
Good to see you back. This article is interesting. It documents the results of Brain Trauma suffered by US troops in Iraq who are exposed, often repeatedly, to roadside bombs. There are an awful lot of them: http://counterpunch.org/hallinan06172008.html
Extract: "The Pentagon says about 20,000 GIs have returned with TBI, but most experts say the figure is much higher. U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, says the figure could be as high as 150,000."
TBI is hardly new. Some 5.3 million people in the country are currently hospitalized or in residential facilities because of it. And its consequences surround us.
For instance, researchers have found a relationship between TBI, and problems like addiction and homelessness. "Unidentified traumatic brain injury is an unrecognized major source of social and vocational failure," says Wayne A. Gordon, director of the Brain Injury Research Center at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.
One Mt. Sinai study of 100 homeless men in New York found that 80 of them had suffered brain trauma, much of it from child abuse. A similar study of 5,000 homeless people in New Haven, Conn., discovered that those who had suffered a blow that knocked them unconscious or into an altered state were twice as likely to have alcohol and drug problems and to be depressed. It also found higher rates of suicide attempts, panic attacks, and obsessive-compulsive disorder."
July 9, 2008 22:54
I think a little different Jack…..I believe in Mentors, Minder Dogs, Angels
Thanks for the reply and your reference to CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and Dr. S. Everington and his years of experience in an exceedingly large practice (by Irish standards) of 10,000 patients in South East London.
I think I am inclined to agree with him i.e. if his view is that the psychologists 2 days per week in the practice, did not add anything to his prescriptive treatment.
I recall when I lived in England in the 1980's that visits to doctors practices was about time capsules…..I mean the nurse spent 8 minutes with you and the doctor say 5 minutes. The practice administrator was charged with the task of keeping time and administration effective.
To me, and I have traveled route of Neurology in Zimbabwe, Optician, Ophthalmologist, Audiologist, heart specialist ad infinitum and replicated in Ireland so much so that all I can emphatically say is that you need a form of mentor to link a person who can advocate on your behalf (and it is vital that the person is independent and paid for by the State). Otherwise your rehabilitation is scattered by the four winds and your recovery is more about hindrances than progressive movement forward. For example, in my case I became overly exhausted and moved into Chronic Fatigue http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases…/chronic-fatigue-syndrome/…/con-20022… where I have been landed like a beach whale of life, capable of little. This has been going on since 2003. Improvement since 2009 post hospitalisation for lithium poisoning https://www.quora.com/Can-a-lithium-overdose-kill-you
About Cognitive Behaviour Therapy……This has distinct advantages but it is not necessary for your psychiatrist to be you clinical psychologist. His function is more clinical; to determine your moods; your level of anxiety etc. If you have an element of trust in your psychiatrist, as I have had and have, then you can briefly discuss anything you need to be clarified. It gives you more of sense of responsibility and diversity in your life.
The Trinity Horizon programme in 1997 http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/…/making-work-schemes-work-1.1252990 which later merged into http://edepositireland.ie/…/Work-Life%20Balance%20and%20Social%20Inclusio.. greatly assisted me. It was structured; Monday to Thursday 9 am to 3 pm. 15 people were selected and we were engaged in creative writing, social functions, personal assertiveness classes, health awareness, drama, physical activity, group counseling and one to one counseling. It ran for 9 months but we remained in contact a numer of years thereafter. There were 15 women involved and we bonded well through our shared experiences. (Separately to the rehabilitation programme I had the major benefit of attending with the sanction of my psychiatrist, a most progressive and enthusiastic counselor). All provided different components that were about survival from the effects of brain injury, depression, suicidal focus, marriage breakdown et al.
The word is multi-disciplinary but to get this to work in Ireland is about a miracle particularly when one illness begets another and basically what I can only describe as drop dead exhaustion leaves bed, and not even wanting to eat, then you most definitely need more to help you cope. You need someone who can give you time, can convince themselves not to walk on by and nuzzle in and give you the patience and support that you need for an indefinite period. Believe me – there are exceptional people out there. I know but you need support.
To the Irish Government. You may cut on carers, assistants, supports but my advice is don't – you will gain in finance in the long run from the debilitated person who is empowered and enabled.
Please find alternatives before considering closing down programmes like the drop-in centres in Cork or Castlebar Dublin. Just listen to the people at grassroots.
'Knowledge is no load' particularly for those who have had a Stroke or who have sustained traumatic brain injury or other neurological conditions.
by Jack Russell my canine companion who was my best Tutor
Jack Russell aka Michelle Clarke here.
You must be tired of writing Michelle so I have decided to give you a paw!!!
Jack Russell, the minder dog, has good news. It gives insight to perspective and being a dog I am very alert to perspectives…..
Until recently, if you had a stroke your prognosis was very poor. Your mobility invariably would be restricted and speaking could be a real problem. Communication might be forthcoming but the problem would be the level of comprehension the stroke victim has and the fact that this deficit may not be recognised by the world out there….and the patient would remain hidden under a layer of frustration that could suffocate the life's blood out of them. (Some people refer to the 'Locked In' syndrome).
To know, to understand, to communicate, to comprehend – without these, frustration takes over.
Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD has written a book worth reading.
The title is: 'My Stroke of Insight – A Brain Scientists personal journey'.
Jack Russell goes on to say: This woman is 36 years old, a brain anatomist and in December she suffered a brain haemorrhage, (Stroke). By the end of the morning, she couldn't walk, talk, read, write or recall her life. Audaciously she summoned her medical knowledge, to the conditions of a stroke.
Remarkably in her book she has outlined her experiences – 'my left eye pulsed with a slow and deliberate rhythm, she felt both irritated and bewildered'. She compares the pain in her eye as sharp, 'like the caustic sensation that sometimes accompanies biting into ice cream. She closed the curtains to stop the piercing light. She then thought about her blood circulation or lack of it and got onto to her exercise bike.
She tells us of the sense of dissociation that took over. She comments on the irregular feeling of her body. She talks about a riveting sense of wondery.
When her normal muscular coordination faltered she talks about her mind feeling completely preoccupied with 'just keeping her upright'. She then went for a bath but had to support herself. It is the following words that I think may reassure a person with brain injury that they are understood and believe me, this is essential.
"I could sense the inner activities of my brain as it adjusted and readjusted all of the opposing muscle groups in my lower extremities to prevent me from falling over. My perception of these automatic body responses was no longer an exercise of intellectual conceptualisation……..I was momentarily privy to a precise and experiential understanding of how hard the 50 trillion cells in my brain and body were working in perfect unison to maintain the flexibility and integrity of my physical form'.
The last line…..'Ignorant to the degree of danger my body was in, I balanced my body against the shower wall……' (TBI no such memories exist).
As a Jack Russell, with an acute sense of hearing, balance that let's me walk on a cliff edge, smell that sniffs out the foxes when they roam on the street midway through the night and smell wakes me from my deep sleep…………..I really appreciate that this woman has taken her suffering, her knowledge of the brain, medicine and science and shared it with people. Well done. We need more interaction and rehabilitation urgently. Funding Please for Rehabilitation ABI Stroke TBI Neurological conditions………Wuff Wuff
Jack Russell selection of quotation:
Betrayal. Confucius (c.551-478 BC) Chinese Philosopher
'To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice'
To the medical profession and the Minister for Health. Is betrayal involved in the commitment to health provisions for all people?
At last: Ireland's First ever Neurological Institute … a life line … long needed.
Thankfully – such a surprise for me to read in the Irish Times Healthplus article by Fiona Tyrrell the good news that a house in Eccles Street http://www.neurologicalinstitute.ie/, is to return to former glory as the Georgian house (adjacent to the Mater Hospital), but with a significant change in purpose, it is to become Ireland's First Neurological Institute. This acknowledges an element of our inadequate healthcare system that has been ignored despite of the rising numbers of people with TBI/ABI neurological illnesses (MS, Parkinsons), stroke victims who have had to exist without neurological rehabilitative supports, leaving Ireland significantly behind the practices in other Western European countries.
Since a horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, I have been floating in an orbit, fitting in nowhere or with nobody because brain injury make its it hard to assimilate and leaves you unsure in certain situations. You can often be left outright forthright and often substantially altered in personality from your pre-accident person. You struggle in that 'locked in world' -. mobility problems are clearly identified but those within, is another often altered but hidden problem – it is the one in your head catapulted by factors as in my case, no short term memory and one dimensional. You struggle, you try, you are exhausted, the one dimension focus sometimes makes you look clever but the truth is you over focus and arrive at a new outcome that makes you different.
You keep trying and in my case I was lucky. It was an experience route and feeling of being a pioneer to make people aware with the underlying drive to help other people. Trinity in 1997 was carrying out a research programme for Women with Depression. The syllabus and other 15 people chosen were part of an interesting programme funded by the EC with the research by the Womens Studies Department in Trinity, Horizon i.e. EU funds and St. Patrick's Hospital. I can only answer for me but this gave Hope, add to this an excellent psychiatrist, Dr. Jim Maguire, decd, and certain unsusual people, this "Hope" helped me grow, seek to understand, accept difference and learn that you lose certain areas in the brain but others flower and grow. Writing became the haven even though I have had to learn to accept this is similar to what William Butler Yeats referred to as automatic writing.
Then I gained access to Trinity BESS…..I struggled with illness but the ideas stimulated, hosted and fostered, allowed me to use the computer as my research tool to cover up the aphasia (language difficulties), to use it as my memory, then to write angry letters to politicians about access to psychiatric services and the lack of neurological services.
Trinity College Dublin provided me with discipline and libraries, 2nd hand book shops and Hodgis and Figgis. To this day to walk into a library or a bookshop is possible whereas buying clothes, shoes is not possible. Books immediately trace to place in my pre-accident memory, often childhood and there I start to reactivate memories and add them to the day's event and if I have the physical health Holds within the day, I might even get to share my experiences with other writers on a citizen journalism site. In my own funny way I traveled through the years 'learning to use tools, websites, blogs, the US, American Scientific etc, aimed at forming an identity that my brain could no longer do. Chronic Fatigue is a real illness and it is about never ending sense of drop dead exhaustion. Recently research has found that if you have TBI you can get Chronic Fatigue. I did and it was just before my final exam BESS in 2003. There are days when I cannot leave the bed……and this is an other neurological illness that does not gain credence in Ireland.
I also met a man (Mensa) brain, and he got me a dog, called Jack Russell. Perhaps his mensa brain and my fuddled brain allows an odd mutuality that works…..we may be both outsiders looking in and the Jack Russell is the representative of evolution that helps us identify.
The Heading is on the Irish Times Article Tuesday 16th September 2008
Making headway in neurology: President McAleese will launch Ireland's first neurological institute.
The house is in Eccles Street and forms part of the Mater Hospital neurological department. Important, it is a non profit venture. It involves diagnosis and the key is treatment management. Support which is vital and counselling to patients suffering MS, Parkinsons disease and other neurological condition is provided. Listening skills, understanding, mediation, are all vital components. Personally, marriage of 15 years ended accrimoniously with a third party involved and it took several traumatic years and involved court proceedings. There was no provision by the courts to secure my future i.e 32 from never being able to work again. So much for loyalty and a 15 year marriage. Protection of Law is needed here but for the vulnerable.
Well done to the Neurologist, who is a forthright speaker on radio programmes, a visionary as well as a neurologist Professor Tim Lynch. This will establish Neurology as a Pillar of medicine – it will allow a greater amount of mutuality and multi-disciplinary teams for research and rehabilitation that allows the patient to forge their identity with a source of reference. Prof. Lynch is keen to point out that the institute has been 'developed in partnership with the HSE but he remains frustrated the poor provision to date of neurological services and let me include the appalling standards for psychiatric patients and particularly those in the community. We ought to stand ashamed. Neurological or Chronic Fatigue or Psychiatric are not fashionable illnesses – they don't invoke the compassion that breast cancer does. Equitable distribution of resources ought to be the basic standard in medicine.
Facts about Ireland and its Neurologically affected people
There is only one neurologist per 200,000 head of population in Ireland, compared with 18,000 in Finland and one per 108,000 in the UK. Please think of the number of car accidents say driver dead and others often form the TBI. Why has Ireland so low a level of neurologists in eastern Europe. Chris Reeves actor RIP drew my attention to the fact that the hospital in Israel is one of the best neurological hospitals in the world. I suspect the Northern Ireland hospitals were expert in this field at the height of the troubles.
How many neurological conditions ranging from migraine, epilepsy and sinal to stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinsons disease and Alzheimer's, frontal lobe dementia or Lewy body dementia and the unfamiliar neurological conditions. Yes, it is high – 700,000.
Personally, I believe it is a lot higher. My experience with HSE was hit and miss. I missed all the time and eventually got located, near doctor, hospital, VHI…..the problem being that with memory deficits, exhaustion from Chronic Fatigue, muddling that led to insecurity which in turn led to agoraphopia. Yes welcome to Ireland's first Neurological Institute to the idea of media link, deep assimulation and shared experience routes.
Michelle Clarke
Quotation by Gandhi 'You have to be the change you want to see in the world'
Forward to 2011
March 6, 2011 16:05
Brain Awareness Week: The Master and his emissary a book to explore
by Michelle Clarke
March 2007 was the first of the Brain Awareness Week programme. Having received notification on the email from the Neurological Association of Ireland, Headway, and others, it is perhaps prudent to remind the Citizen Journalism site readers of their input to keeping the powers that be aware of the impact of head injury, neurological conditions, the impact of mental health issues associated with head injury in the hope that future contributions can be made.
Quote from earlier writer. We need to get reassurance from those who plan to reform the public sector that people with disabilities will not suffer.
'Funding is needed in particular for areas of rehabilitation. Let us look in earnest to the Government, to socially and ethically responsible public companies, to philantrophy companies and to Minister Cowen's ability to set up a fund whereby families can get tax benefits and give donations to their own family members, who are badly affected by brain injury. It is a life sentence but there is always a nugget – the experience gained suggests, seek the inherent talent and then nurture it. It is after all okay to be different'
To add to the advice already stated over the years and for those unable to visit the lectures and events being held, I highly recommend this book: The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist. This takes neuroscience into the psychiatric to the philosophical to those with left brain dimensions versus those with right hemisphere emphasis.
Europe: May is Brain Awareness Month
by Michelle Clarke (Blake) – Brain Awareness
Every year, people are becoming more and more interested in the Brain. President Obama has lately made funds available for serious research into the brain and European governments are doing similar. The private sector like IBM Watson http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibmwatson/what-is-watson.html/Smart are paving the way for the connections with the computer and its capacity to mimic.
Ireland is making its contribution via Trinity College Dublin (Professor Ian Robertson; Professor Brian Lawlor) https://www.tcd.ie/Neuroscience/.
The focus, and thankfully as person with TBI, the research concerns interventions to delay dementia. We are all living longer and the aim is to live independently and with better health. We need to know how to mind our BRAIN related health.
Some interesting points revealed at lecture in Trinity and some links to look up as follows:-
'Despite the fact that 70% of Europeans are interested in medical and health research, less than 10% of researchers aim their dissemination activities at the general public'. Google: Hello Brain http://www.hellobrain.eu/
Check Out Neuro Enhancement for Independent lives NEIL too. https://www.tcd.ie/Neuroscience/neil/
The Secret Millionaire & Headway
by Michelle Clarke (Comyn)
The Brain and the month of May is the European Union acknowledgement that as people live longer, dementia, brain injury, stroke will become more significant in our lives and much more costly to the exchequer.
Do we care? It was good to see the Secret Millionaire on RTE 1 last night and the visit to the Headway run programme in Finglas, Dublin. Too often people sustain brain injuries in car accidents, a kick to the head, a fall from a horse, and their lives change dramatically. In a split second, you say goodbye to the person you were and you suddenly have to adapt to a whole new way of life. The people at Headway carry out great work in helping people to adapt to these changes but insufficient time, money, research, information gathering from those affected with ABI, is a crisis in the making.
The Brain needs to be respected. It is not beyond the realms of comprehension of every human being and its exploration does not have to be left with the academics only. The brain and its interconnection involves every intricate interaction of every human being with their living environment and their consciousness daily and it is time for academia to cross that divide and allow people with TBI for example to contribute to their research and findings in a more dignified and respectful way. Maybe something can learned by the academics, the psychiatrists, the psychologists, the neurologists, the people who work with the like of Headway Ireland in their day to day routine. Trinity College appears to be paving the way with the Neuro Enhancement Independent Living https://www.tcd.ie/Neuroscience/neil/ research study stating that they want it to be more user friendly. Ageing and adaptation is a core need that we need to address now and this is about engagement and awareness.
It is worth checking out the co-author of a study, Michael Woodley, who has written on this topic in the journal Intelligence. It seems and is worth noting that the Victorians were 'quicker, smarter and more creative than the people in contemporary Britain, according to a study'. What is interesting is the new way of assessing intelligence based on 'reaction times' and that our IQ has dropped by an average of 14 points – and we are slower. What this is in effect saying is that this has led to a decline in both the innovation and creativity that we identify with Victorian Britain. Michael Woodley states "That these findings strongly indicate that the Victorians were substantially cleverer than modern Western populations". He also points out that this dwindling intelligence was most likely due to a "reverse" in natural selection, ie clever people having fewer children. The emphasis therefore according to James Thompson, a chartered psychologist …
"Reaction times" are a real measure, with a reasonably large correlation with IQ, so this is an alarming finding and needs further investigation'.
You ask a person with an TBI what it feels like? You might be surprised how creative and innovative they become and how they cope. Science needs to open up to include people who have a contribution to make, albeit their reaction times may be considerably slower.
About michelleclarke2015
Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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5 Responses to Traumatic brain injury: a survivor's contributions by Michelle Clarke
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It's 7.35 pm and thunder is echoing across the dark and cheerless M5. Rain is hammering down and all I can make out in front of me are the angry water-colour spots of the lights of the cars in front. Melancholy country music is spilling into my car from Radio 2, and I am crying.
I am not crying because the Parents' Evening overran and now I have missed bedtime – I knew that would happen. I am not crying because I won't have seen my children properly for two full days -though the dull ache in my gut will serve as a constant reminder until they are in my arms again. I am not crying because it is late and I am bone tired and I hate driving and I just want to be home again – though all that is true.
I am crying because yesterday was different. Yesterday, the sun shone. Yesterday, I had my babies all day long – their cheeks were mine to kiss, their giggles mine to enjoy.
And I wasted it. I didn't realise I was wasting it, at the time. I was caught up in my own thoughts. Only now – with the rain and the brake-lights and the soft twang of guitars and Southern voices – has the realisation hit. I had lessons to plan, posts to promote, messages to answer. I spent too long staring at screens and answering tweets.
My boy had a difficult day and I was not patient. Everything was wrong for him – his sandwiches too small, the bands on the sleeves of his t-shirt too short, too tight. His bottom lip quivered and huge eyes spilled over because mummy did not say that this was a picture of what the inside of Jupiter would look like – Mummy was looking at her emails and said Saturn instead.
I said for goodness' sake! It's a picture! Why do you have to get so upset over a picture? Mummy is trying to do something important!
Important. It wasn't important. It was the least important thing in the world.
My little boy cried and cried. I tore myself away from the screen and comforted him. But I resented his autism. I resented that his reactions are so severe, that he needs me so much, that I couldn't answer an email for just a few seconds – though I was kidding myself that it was so brief a time.
My little girl was desperate to sit on my lap, but I had so many windows open on the tablet – PowerPoints and Twitter and Pinterest boards – and the bright colours were exciting to bat. And again I was frustrated, irritable. I needed – no wanted – to get things done and she wouldn't let me.
I often get such buoying and considerate comments on my posts; people tell me that I am obviously a wonderful mother, that my love for my children shines through my words. I suppose it does – but the comments always make me feel a little bit fraudulent. Sometimes I am a wonderful mother, sometimes not. Like most mothers – most human beings – I am flawed.
I love my children as much as it is possible for a person to love anything – but I am a human being and I get things wrong. Sometimes? Often? More than I would like.
I do not feel brave or organised or even like I am coping, a lot of the time. I think no one does? I have days I wish were a practice run, days I wish I could have again – because I know I could do them better, if I just had an undo button.
But I get through. I pick myself up. I recognise when I have been less than I should be, like all who feel they have let down the ones they love. I don't feel like a special needs parent – I am just the best parent I know how to be. Anyone would be the same, anyone who loves.
We are all our imperfect selves but, sometimes, if we are lucky, love can make us perfect for a short time.
I have to wait until next week for another day off with just us – mummy and her gorgeous boy and beautiful little bean. But we're going to go out and eat gingerbread and walk in the sunshine. Mummy will say she can see Jupiter and Saturn and Mars, and all the stars in the Milky Way, just right. And that is the most important thing in the world.
Thank you and thanks for commenting😊 We are having fun today!
Thank you for commenting and sharing. You are definitely not alone!
Oh gosh, I bet there's so many of us who could have written this! You have summed it all up so beautifully. Truth is, we are all just human. I get the comments quite a bit, but what people don't see is when I'm being a crap mum. I don't post that on my blog or on facebook often! Thank you for sharing – enjoy your day off!
Completely get this and the one I shared this week touches on moments when I get praised and I feel it's unjustified. We are all human.
We're all human and we all snap sometimes.
If I had a pound for everytime someone said to me 'I don't know how you do it'. We do it because we have to. There isn't a choice. We do it because we love our kids. We do it because no-one else will.
Keep going mamma. Next week will be better.
You'll make up for it the next chance you get. We all have days like this, our patience is stretched and tested every day. None of us are perfect, and occasionally we slip up. At least you are self-aware enough to notice if you do and want to make up for it.