WORD OF THE WEEK: Prosopagnosia

Summary: This week's WOW vocabulary word features a common aspect among those on the autism spectrum.

Can you imagine waking up in the morning, stumbling into the bathroom to shower and not recognizing the person in the mirror? This is the experience of people with extreme prosopagnosia, a medical condition sometimes called face blindness.

It's asserted that people who have the condition, often known as prosopagnosics, generally have difficulty recognizing places, objects and/or emotions, too. Particularly, they have a hard time recognizing emotions as they are displayed on the face or in body language. Sound familiar? It should. It describes people on the autism spectrum with HFA (High Functioning Autism) or Asperger Syndrome—all part of this week's featured brain challenge.

The word itself was coined in 1947 in a research paper by German neurologist Joachim Bodamer, who concocted it by combining one Greek word, prosopon (or face) with the medical term for recognition impairment, agnosia. Interestingly enough, agnosia is the combo of two more Greek words: gnosis for knowledge and a for the negative, as in "not known." The American pronunciation is PRAH - so - pag - NO - zhya.

Click here to test your own recognition of faces.


© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2010

This Week's Brain Challenge: Autism

Summary: What does the word autism mean to you? Over the next couple of weeks, we'll explore some resources and meet at least one expert that can share some examples of empowerment in ASDs.

Often, when I hear the word autism, I'm transported to a visceral memory of sitting in a doctor's office, waiting as patiently as an 11-year-old can for my great-grandmother to emerge. (Some parts of the memory are foggy, such as where exactly this doctor's office was and if, in fact, it really was my great-grandmother's appointment and not that of someone else.) And within this memory, I am transported into a story.

The story—rather, the article I was reading during my time in the waiting room—was about a little boy with autism, and how his parents were thrilled that a dolphin-swim adventure in Florida (or perhaps Hawaii) had seemingly brought him out of his 'world' within. This story gripped me fully: I have a vivid inner world of creativity. Was I autistic?

The writer of the article strove to paint a picture with words, something that is typically a challenge for people with autism, since they don't operate with "theory of mind." (See more on this via the video link below.) Furthermore, the article was written primarily from the parents' point of view with mostly guesswork as to what this "world within" was like for the little boy with autism. Being a kid, myself, at the time, I was incredibly curious about his inner life.

What is autism? I've since learned along with the rest of the world that it's not something that strikes just anyone at any time, but is rather a difference in brain development that does have a genetic component. (The potential environmental factors are still in dispute.)

Often referred to nowadays as an Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, it is—like all brain challenges—on a continuum. Ranging from high-functioning (HFA) to severe, ASDs share some similar symptoms, no matter where they fall on the spectrum. Some of these are:

• difficulty making or holding eye contact
• confusion over social skills and etiquette
• challenges in reading body language or other cues
• further challenges in understanding one's own or others' emotions
• hyper-sensitivity to sensory stimuli (i.e., loud noises or certain odors or tastes)
• lack of "theory of mind"
• extraordinary intelligence.

Later this week and next, I'll be sharing some resources on autism/ASDs—including points from my interview with Brian King, M.S.W., who not only mentors ASD kids and their parents, but is the father of three sons on the autism spectrum, the husband to a wife with ASD, and even identifies himself as a Spectrumite along with the rest of his family. He knows a lot about this subject! Keep reading if you want to know more, too.

© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2010

Poll Results: Do You Have a Challenged Brain?

Summary: The latest poll question has been answered and closed. You shared openly and honestly about your brain challenges. Now let's explore more together, over the coming weeks, about the communications challenges they present you and how you can grow to overcome them.

I've already asked if you have a challenged brain. Many of us do--most certainly when we're worked up emotionally. But other challenges can pressure our brains, our bodies, our outlook on life. Some examples you know are:

- Attention Deficit Disorder, also known as ADD or ADHD (for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder): Commonly diagnosed in children, this brain challenge can also affect adults, especially those who have had it since childhood. It's commonly characterized by difficulty focusing or paying close attention to one subject at a time; simple mistakes in tasks or homework that are made even when the person knows the right answer or the correct way of performing tasks; chronic disorganization and forgetfulness. (Tara McGillicuddy, a blogger who not only coaches people with ADHD, but also has it herself, just posted about a workshop she'll be presenting this fall on self-advocacy strategies for adults and teens.)

- Mood disorders: These run the gamut from short-term and seasonal depression to Type I Bipolar Disorder, which can contain periodic hallucinations and psychosis. Substance-induced mood disorders can mirror other such brain challenges, but are only brought on by the intake of substances like drugs and alcohol and/or their withdrawal from the body/brain. (Some mood-related blogs I recommend are Julie Fast's "Bipolar Happens," "My Son Has 2 Brains"--a mother's perspective on raising a young child with a mood disorder--and Helia's health blog about Seasonal Affective Disorder.)

- Autism: A brain challenge that may or may not involve brain chemistry, but definitely involves the size and shape of the brain and its hemispheres, autism--like most brain challenges--appears on a sliding scale, or spectrum. People with High Functioning Autism and Aspgerger Syndrome have the ability to socialize, but are often somewhat confused by the hidden 'rules' of social life and society. This confusion becomes increasingly deeper the further you go into the autism spectrum; those with full-blown autism frequently seem to live inside their own heads, rarely communicating verbally with others, except via sound bites they may have taken from TV shows, music and movies. (From a parent's perspective, "The Joy of Autism" is an interesting blog; from that of someone with an autistic brain, visit "Aspitude!")

Of those who voted, only one reader indicated, "My brain is only challenged whenever I am emotional," meaning that several of you with additional challenges were interested in this poll.

What didn't I include in the poll? Psychiatric and personality disorders like schizophrenia and Borderline Personality Disorder, Oppositional/Defiant Disorder and Histrionic Personality Disorder are just a few. I could also have listed other learning disorders or challenges that affect the senses like deafness or blindness. (Incidentally, the blogger at "Aspitude!", Elisia Ashkenazy, is also profoundly deaf.)

All brain challenges can be 'overcome' through hard work and a desire to grow. The first step is recognition. Over the coming weeks, let's look at some specific challenges to communicating clearly that these and other brain challenges give you. More importantly, let's solve some challenges--together!


© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2010

WEEKLY UPDATE: Interview Coaching for Every Brain Type

Summary: As a Communications Coach, one of the things I most love to do is to provide my resumé clients with interviewing tips, based on their personal needs. If you have a "challenged brain," you can benefit from some of my most commonly given advice below.

This week, I got one of those e-mail messages that really makes you glow: A satisfied resumé client wrote to tell me how helpful all of the "extras" I provided him were—extras like interview coaching, which is my favorite part of creating resumés for people. This work is best done one-on-one, but can also be successful when conducted over the telephone. In my client's case, we were able to meet in person and expedite the process.

Resumés are an integral part of the work world—even for blue collar positions nowadays.

This fact has surprised a number of my clients in recent months. I've helped people who have never created resumés (in one case, a retiree who had over 30 years of experience as a steel millwright in Gary, Indiana) pare down lifetimes of experience into concise, accurate, one-page sales pitches of their work history.

This can be a daunting process! Most clients come to me because they are completely overwhelmed by figuring out how to do this properly—and because so much depends on their getting the right employment right now.

Because of my expertise as a Communications Coach, it's far easier for me to do this on their behalf, simply by asking them a few questions and working off of a template that I've designed to cover all the bases. And because so many of my clients have what I call "challenged brains," I'm able to coach all personality types through unique and specific challenges. Examples include clients with ADD who have difficulty focusing (my biggest piece of advice is to practice deep breathing before, after, and especially during the interview); those with autism who may be particularly challenged by eye contact (making direct eye contact during a handshake and at the start of the interview is important, however a trick that can help for the remainder of any interview session is to look at the speaker's eyebrows or eyelashes); and clients who've struggled with depression, addiction or other illnesses that interrupted their work lives (there are a number of ways to address resumé holes or gaps in employment, and it's best to discuss these to determine what's right for each individual).

I love to see people grow and succeed. And I also love getting e-mails from those people that read, "I feel more confident thanks to you. ... I know who to come to with any questions in the future"!

© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2010

WORD OF THE WEEK: Neuro-Typical

Summary: Is your brain neuro-typical? If so, you have what's considered to be 'normal' brain chemistry. But that doesn't mean you can always escape the brain challenges that come with emotional overload.

As a Communications Coach, I specialize in what I like to call "the challenged brain"—clients who may have ADD/ADHD, clinical depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder, even Asperger Syndrome, which is on the tip of the autism spectrum.

Challenged brains experience an inordinate amount of problems in communication. Because challenged brains don't produce a balanced amount of neurotransmitters (chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine and others that specifically regulate emotion), people who have challenged brains are often flooded with emotions. And when that happens, the ability to make decisions—like what to say next that's appropriate to the situation—significantly diminishes.

But even people with neuro-typical brains experience moments of "brain challenge." This happens when an abundance of emotion floods the brain, and the neuro-typical person has a fight-or-flight response to what's in front of her or him.

You can probably figure it out from context, but just to be certain, here's the definition of neuro-typical (sometimes spelled without the hyphen):

Neuro-typical (NER - ro - TIP - i - kal) - (adj.) having neurological developments and states that are balanced, or 'normal' for the average human being. Often abbreviated as NT , the term was coined by the autism community to reference those not on the autism spectrum, likely beginning in the 1980s. It has since been adopted by other brain-centered communities and groups, especially throughout the United Kingdom. (Please note: This week's word pronunciation comes from HowJSay.com, and has two pronunciation keys—the first in standard U.K. English and the second in American English.)

For a little more insight into emotional overload and the challenges this causes a neuro-typical brain, click here to read this opinion piece by James Williams, a speaker and advocate for the autism community who, himself, has High Functioning Autism.


© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2010

TRULY SPEAKING: Idioms, Not Idiots

Summary: If you think idioms (like "she wore her heart on her sleeve") are idiotic, think again: They not only serve a purpose, they each have common origins. There are so many of them in today's global village that they can be downright confusing, instead of the shorthand they once were. How to sort them out? See the resources linked below!

“The artless young woman wore her heart on her sleeve for all to see.”

Do you take this sentence literally, envisioning a paper heart sewn onto a shirtsleeve—or worse, a messy sleeve from a blood-pumping heart? It may surprise you to learn that a lot of people do!

This type of phrase is called an idiom, and it’s used to convey an idea somewhat poetically, or metaphorically. There are a lot of these idioms in language—in every culture. (“I’m pulling your leg” in English and “I’m touching your hair” in Spanish both mean, “I’m joking with you.”) Some people, however, are completely befuddled by idioms, especially people on the autism spectrum—which, according to the Autism Society of America, is the fastest growing developmentally challenged population in the U.S.

Despite their seemingly nonsensical existence, idioms do serve a purpose. And whether you're struggling to pick up idioms in a new language you're learning or pondering the roots of those you've heard your whole life in your native tongue, you'll be relieved to know that the purpose of any idiom is not to make you look like an idiot (though it may sometimes feel that way).

Instead, they're meant to be a type of shorthand. They come from common social situations: In example, sailors "learned the ropes" when first starting out by practicing various knot-tying techniques. As they became seasoned, it was understood that they already knew how to tie any knot needed for any situation at sea. It became a kind of shorthand for older sailors to mutter, "He's still learning the ropes," in explanation of a younger sailor's mistake—even when this mistake was about something other than tying knots into ropes. One could logically reason that if the newbie sailor didn't know his knots yet, he must not know much else about sailing; so, saying this was enough. The shorthand explanation of "He's still learning the ropes" often saved the younger sailor from more severe discipline by the captain, who may not know his crew well enough to know each man's level of experience.

Today, we frequently say of a newer company employee, "She's learning the ropes," as an explanation of her adjustment to the company's processes and practices and any other aspect of the work culture.

BTW, "wearing your heart on your sleeve" is a phrase first coined by William Shakespeare in his play Othello, 1604. Just as lines are frequently picked up today from movies—"Show me the money!"—and brought into popular culture, so were many of Shakespeare's lines of that time period. And many have stayed with us through the evolution of English.

For more help, access these sites:

GoEnglish.com - Includes an Idiom Dictionary, as well as an Idiom Thesaurus for searching phrases that convey the same idea

The Phrase Finder - Although this is a British site, it offers a handy Phrase-A-Week e-mail option in addition to meanings and another Phrase Thesaurus

© KiKi Productions, Inc. 2009