a learning curve

So here we in 2019, it will take time getting used to writing or typing that, and what better time to learn something new. I had an idea a while ago that I would like to help my fellow brain tumour sufferers with support and guidance in some capacity, when I met with members of The Three Tumours charity I put across that I would not be averse to the idea of counselling given my experience and background.

With my speech getting better and better, I am of course aware that it my never be the way that it was, I embarking on something new in a course to learn counselling skills with that aim in mind of supporting people with brain tumours coping with symptoms and anxieties alike as well as those suffering from side affects post operation.

I admit that I sometimes find it hard to take in, but I am learning a lot attending Momentum Skills specifically enjoying the cognitive behaviour and brain injury awareness knowledge also a little neuroscience and psychology. Insight for when learning counselling, I just attended the taster session today so a long way to go yet and I need to do the diploma/degree first before I can practice but in theory it is all the process.

The social element is good for me, meeting new people gives arise to opportunity to speak, discuss and ask questions all the while improving my speech muscles and furthering my chances to being able to over come my impediment as it is.

Speaking of the speech problems I have there is few things I have discovered help in in stage where speech therapy cannot help further in reality. At the stage I am at only differing content in conversation with people is helping me because it's real on the off the cuff hence not staged as it were.

I find singing along to songs helps with practice and regaining rhythm and pace, an app called English Vocabulary Builder is a useful tool to get the sounding and pronunciation of words and actually gives you a little in content that you can speak out loud, what can I say being a logophile comes in handy in this occasion. Then tools like an Amazon Echo come in helpful, something to speak commands to gives a different angle because you have be in "the ball park", to steal a phrase, with the pronunciation to get Alexa to understand.

Looking positively ahead to a good year, with a mostly bad 2018 behind me, what with Maggies support group, a new Three Tumours group support session, Momentum and now embarking on learning something new and also looking to back to work in some capacity life is getting back to normal as it possibly can.