'their' 'there' my brain no longer functions

[Marie12]

Even if I proofread my posts, I think my brain no longer functions. I sometimes think, "Wait a minute, that isn't me." But then I realize that it is me now. I don't know why I even find it necessary to let you know that I did used to have a brain. Even though I think I've accepted everything, I don't think I really have accepted MS. I still find myself trying to trim grass, trying to write, but then I give up and realize, "Welcome to my new 54 year old self."

[wkikta]

The Spell Checker is an Invaluable Resource.

[Redwings]

Hi Marie12:
Even though you might find it discouraging, proofreading and correcting your posts is a way to keep reinforcing your language skills. It's a "real world" situation that reinforces skills in a way that playing games and doing crossword puzzles and the like can't. (Thinking of words and writing letters into little boxes isn't much more than reinforcing the skill of thinking of words and writing letters into little boxes. It isn't really a life skill.)

You're far ahead of folks who don't proofread and don't make the effort to keep their real-life language skills working. The fact that you recognize the difference between "their" and "there" is a good thing! It shows that your brain is still functioning. It might be a bit slower and need more help, but your post shows that your writing skills are still just fine.

[Sequoia]

Hi Marie,

Redwings has written a wonderful post for you!

I do understand how you feel. My cognitive skills are slipping too, and I've had to accept that my "new normal" isn't as good with words as it used to be. That's been harder for me than accepting my physical disabilities.

As things, both mental and physical, slip away I've had reinforced for me over and over again the knowledge that I am not defined by what I can--or can't--do. I am something both simpler and more profound.

And I'm okay with that.

I also proofread every word I write on the board, sometimes more than once, and I never ignore the spellchecker's squiggly red line! Practice may not make perfect, but at least it makes for good mental exercise.

[Shashi]

I'm a college instructor, and I used to be able to spell and write correctly. Now, even if I proofread, there's usually a mistake or two (or three or more) that I catch later, after my thread has been posted. I've also misused "there" and "their". And I know better!

I also can't figure out how I can spell long medical terms like pheochromocytoma and esophagogastroduodenoscopy and can't spell simple, every day words like "completely" or "symptoms".

And let's not even get into the fact that I forget words that I need when I'm trying to teach! It's really embarrassing to just stand there in class with a stupid look on my face searching for the word or words I need. I've started offering my students 5 extra-credit points if they can tell me what it was I was trying to say.

Anyway, just wanted you to know that you're not alone! (And I love Google Chrome's web browser because it spell checks as you type!)

[SusanD]

Guilty, Guilty, Guilty! I can be a horrible speller even for simple words. I believe it's just part of "It".... 'It' being: getting older, being busy, trying to remember everything, doing several things at one time, being tired, and yes, even from MS. But who really knows what is causing "it" at any given time?

The best thing I do for myself is just accept the fact that some days I'm sharper than others, do mind activities as mentioned previously - word games, computer games, puzzles, anything that exercises the mind, and not get sad from it. I too do a lot of proof reading and sometimes despite my extra efforts, something slips by.

I seem to have forgotten several things I learned growing up that made helping my kids in school practically impossible (great example algebra--it's as if I never learned it in the first place yet in my yearbook someone thanked me for being such a great math tutor!).
However, being an OT and staying on top of my healthcare education, I seem to stay pretty sharp with information.

So I do what I can do by myself and if I need help on a word or spelling , I just ask. I don't feel people judge me in any way because "It" is (or will be) happening to them, whatever their 'it' may be.

[Toomnyhats]

This is (for me) one of my most serious sx. My neuro-psych "prescribed" lumosity.com 45 min/day 3-5X/wk. He has proven through his research that we can "re-train" our brains to work around the damage, but it takes work.

I'm still working up to the 45 min, but I notice a difference if I take too many days off from these exercises.

BTW, it will take 3 mos of regular exercise to see significant changes & this is a "forever" activity -- don't use it, you'll lose it!

[poohb3ar]

marie,
i know it's frustating! i used to be a newspaper copy editor (last hat i wore for paper- also reporter, columnist, editor, layout, advertising, you name it) plus my next career was teaching (literacy, reading & preschool) so it's EXTRA maddening when i let theirs & two/too slip by.

but many 'normal' (whatever that is) people have the same problem and don't obsess about it. my husband is brilliant. but i can still proofread articles and such for him and find those kind of mistakes!

i remember when spell checker came out and he thought he wouldn't need my help anymore LOL!!! it still doesn't catch those crazy english words that sound the same but have totally different meanings. so nice to be needed.
yes, redwings had an excellent answer for you!
noticing is half the battle. it's when you no longer notice or don't care, then it is a problem.
hope that helps. you're not alone.
take care and God bless you!

I'm in the same boat as Shashi. I decided to go ahead and "go for it" in applying for a job as an adjunct teaching developmental reading at the same college where my husband teaches. I was getting worried about my "cog fog" and asking my MS nurse for advice. Among the advice she gave was to join a book club; reading and discussing (she said) was a great way to "fire up those synapses" in the brain.

I was excited, b/c I have a degree as a Reading Specialist, but had not used it since I had my kids (youngest just turned 9). I find that I actually can identify BETTER with some of these students, now, b/c I KNOW how to spell, but often find my self writing odg instead of dog!! Used to think it was only when typing, but have found myself misspelling while writing notes on the board.

Of course, this is a really humbling idea, since I was always a very good speller. One of my pet peeves was to see signs, letters, or ads with misspelled words. My students know I have MS (especially THIS semester's; watching me go through a major flare), so they just go with the flow and laugh when I laugh.

Don't allow yourself to feel discouraged; find fun ways to "exercise your brain." Lots of puzzles, sudoku, word finds, etc. out there. Even found a great game at a local teacher's supply store, called "Spot It." It's meant for kids, to improve visual discrimination, but it's pretty challenging to adults, at times, too!

One more thing: spell check works ONLY when it is not a recognized word; had to point out to my students that it does not let you know when you use "hear" instead of "here."

[502E79]

English etc.

Received this recently, it may allow Marie12 and other responders to her post a big smile....

You think English is easy?


1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?


Let's face it, English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is is a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down; you fill in a form by filling it out; an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

[SNOOPY]

502E79

That was wonderful!

As I was reading there were some of the sentences I needed to go back and re-read for the correct meaning of the same word.

I found your post quite fun thanks for taking the time to post it

[tellnhelen]

I enjoyed the reading too (also). LOL

[Redwings]

Hi 502E79:
Hilarious! Thanks for sharing that. What great insights about the English language.

Did the person you got this from tell you where they got it? At least part of it is from an essay written back in the 1970s or '80s. I'd love to know who the author is.

I'm with Redwings! You certainly brought a smile and some giggles to me (and my daughter) this morning!

Thanks for sharing that! I really want to copy/paste it and share it with some of the staff at work; esp. those in the English dept.!

Might even want to share it with my own students, just to get them smiling tomorrow!

[502E79]

Hi 502E79:
Hilarious! Thanks for sharing that. What great insights about the English language.

Did the person you got this from tell you where they got it? At least part of it is from an essay written back in the 1970s or '80s. I'd love to know who the author is.

If only things received would have credit or background, but not in this case. I thought I'd seen the second part before....

Glad you (and others) enjoyed it. As OP Marie 12 said even with proofreading our brains have a mind of their own.

Jer