Half a Mind to ..

Life after brain injury – one small victory at a time.

Tag: challenge

  • Visual Field Loss – (Challenge 001)

    Visual Field Loss – (Challenge 001)

    I have left-sided hemianopia (or Hemianopsia, which means I cannot see the left half of my visual field; true for both eyes. To a great extent I am unaware of the issue in for the most part daily life these days. There’s no additional edge or the like in what I see, it simply tails off into nothingness in the same way that a normally sighted person experiences. There’s just less information coming in.

    Seventeen years ago, after surgery required sacrificing part of my vision, I would bump into people or objects on my left side almost daily. Although I rarely bump into things now, certain environments remain difficult to navigate.


    In particular, walking through areas of medium crowd density is most challenging. When people have the space to move and change direction unexpectedly, it is very difficult for me to anticipate their movements on my blind side. Low crowd density situations pose fewer problems, and very crowded spaces can actually be easier to manage because movement is slower and more predictable.

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    Lending Central Vision (Strategy:001)

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  • Sensory Overload (Challenge 002)

    Sensory Overload (Challenge 002)

    I live with ongoing sensory overload and hypersensitivity, which began shortly before my diagnosis of a brain tumour in 2008, but I suspect is linked. These difficulties affect many parts of my daily life — from work and social situations to basic everyday tasks. I am sharing this account to help others understand the challenges I face and the adjustments I need in order to function at my best.

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  • Inability to navigate (Challenge 022)

    Inability to navigate (Challenge 022)

    I’ve been a Scout leader for most of the time since 1992. When I was 18, I led a team of Scouts on a week-long hike across Dartmoor for my Queen’s scout award, using proper old-fashioned maps and compasses — the sort with soggy corners and pencil marks from a dozen previous trips. We even used “leap-frog” navigation in thick fog, where you take turns pacing out distances and guiding each other forward through the mist. Over the years I’ve planned many hikes and taught Cubs and Scouts how to find their way using map and compass, the stars, the sun and the moon.

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