My First Four Months In The Eaton Arrowsmith Program by Mary Landell, age 79

MY FIRST FOUR MONTHS IN THE EATON ARROWSMITH PROGRAM by Mary Landell 

Aug. – Nov. 2023

My advisor, Jenna Kelly, has asked me to share some of my journal notes about being in the Eaton-Arrowsmith program and I am happy to do so, hoping it will encourage others to explore enrolling as well, or to stay with the program as recommended. My name is Mary L., I live in Vancouver, my age is 79 and I am retired after finessing, fumbling and praying my way through 2 bachelor’s degrees and four exciting, fulfilling careers.

My Cognitive Concerns / Incentive to Register

Whether I live two or twenty more years, I am determined at this point in my life to face and deal with some life-long or recent concerns. Brain fog and exhaustion for a few weeks this summer possibly related to Covid - though I didn’t test positive - were the final incentive to seek help with cognitive functioning.

I’ve always been low in the ability to remember faces and names, find items in stores, and as I have become older to remember words, and sometimes appointments. Avoidance and dread are my response to computer-related problems/challenges.

One of my biggest challenges through life has been procrastination - my tendency to not meet deadlines for projects. In my last year of my second degree I had 13 essays overdue before I finally got them all in and graduated. I have a history of being a slow learner and I sometimes have difficulty in comprehending or mastering a task or concept at first, but in many cases tend to thrive once I have caught on. That’s my learning style – hear, see, write down, do, review, try again, and again, and ideally teach someone else.

I was miserable in kindergarten then blossomed in grade 1 with a wonderful teacher who made sure those of us who were slow learners had extra phonics coaching from her.  That’s when I became an enthusiastic, confident life-long learner, though I still need to try some new things over and over before I fully understand or perform well.

First Exposure to Neuroplasticity Concept

I first learned about neuroplasticity and the work of Barbara Arrowsmith-Young at a Professional Development Day for Teachers in Vancouver, BC where she was a speaker (was it in 2010?). At another talk I bought her book The Woman Who Changed her Brain (2012), plus The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, and Spark – The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey. I attended a fund-raiser held with Barbara Arrowsmith-Young to help provide money to have Dr. Lara Boyd do research to provide solid data about the program and results.

I’ve been thrilled to read about updated research and validation of the program in postings from Eaton-Arrowsmith, in Howard Eaton’s book Brain School, in information Sandra Heusel has kindly sent to me, and in a talk given by Barbara Arrowsmith-Young this month on a Neuroplasticity Alliance webinar  Barbara Arrowsmith Young, Founder/Director of the Arrowsmith Program. I ache to see every child in the world tested regarding their cognitive areas of strength and weakness and then given appropriate strategies to improve their cognitive functioning if needed.

On August 15th and 17th I had the Assessment in two two-hour sessions, administered very clearly and kindly by my facilitator Estellise. On August 18th the Eaton Arrowsmith School Online Initial Learning Profile was ready. The Eaton Arrowsmith scale is that 1 is very severe functioning, and 12 is above average functioning. My lowest score was 2 – severe – in Symbol Relations “connecting concepts and ideas, understanding logical and conceptual relationships.”

On Monday August 29th I met with Jenna Kelly, Advisor, to review my Assessment results. Given the time frame I had set for myself, three months, Jenna advised that I continue to work on Symbol Relations (Clocks).

The chart on page 294 in Barbara Arrowsmith-Young’s book The Woman Who Changed her Brain says that the part of the brain involved in Symbol Relations is “in the Angular Gyrus at the juncture of the parietal-occipital-temporal regions.” So…If more neurons need to grow and connect in my brain in all three areas that’s a lot of neuro-plasticity activity required!

The online Virtual Tour regarding requirements for the online courses explains that most people start with the Symbol Relations Cognitive exercise on clocks. “By learning how to understand the relationships between two or more concepts we strengthen the brain’s capacity to improve: reasoning; information processing; executive function; attention control; and working memory.”

To encourage myself in the hope that the above improvements will happen, I have kept a journal throughout my weeks in the course.

After registering, paying, doing an online tour and watching videos, and completing the Eaton-Arrowsmith (EA) Cognitive Questionnaire on July 28/22, in the first week of August  I joined a four-hour a week online program that met from 10 to 11 Monday to Thursday in a class of approximately 15 students and with two facilitators.

First Month of the Eaton-Arrowsmith Program

From my 4-month vantage point (Aug. 4 to Dec. 6, 2022) the hardest part for me was the first four weeks. My history of being a slow starter was proving true once again. I can remember going to bed and waking up wondering if I would ever learn to “ping” and figure out how to navigate Microsoft Teams. “Pinging” means the student sends a message to the instructor through Microsoft team – much like an e-mail. The instructors hear a “ping” when a message comes in.  I side-stepped pinging by sending separate e-mail messages. This happened even though my two instructors had explained the steps and walked me through it. Finally one day I put my brain in gear, read the instructions again, followed them step by step and finally succeeded in pinging.

I muddled through the clocks all right. It was fun, though sometimes I felt as if I was on a relentless, unstoppable conveyor belt ready to flick me off at any moment as I moved through 2-hand reading (aug. 4th) drawing Aug. 8th, missing hand Aug. 11th, then on Aug. 12th equal hands, and that’s when I had a setback. I continued thinking I was still doing equal lengths when it turned out to be 2-Hand-Timed so it took me 20 minutes typically to do one set of 25. We didn’t figure that out until Aug. 23rd when my Facilitator e-mailed that I only had to read 25 clock faces, and not check for option 1 or 2.   I had completely misunderstood what I was to do!  However, I was soon back on track though shaken by the experience. It was exhilarating to achieve ever lower times taken to finish a set of 25 times, but also felt like being on a runaway horse, or skating down a hill too fast.

Perhaps the setback was confirmation that I really needed to be in the program! And whether I had been doing it right or not, I figure I was still using my brain, which was even more important than times or accuracy. When I mastered subsequent levels through September the encouraging words of Estellise spurred me on. “You’ve got this Mary!” Her observation that everyone’s brain is different was also reassuring as well, especially when I was making slow progress in some areas. On September 14th giving verbal answers in the “facilitated” mode of sets of 25 was a relief. Giving verbal answers was much faster and easier than using the numeric pad. I’m not right-handed. I finally achieved mastery in 2-hands timed and felt like a genius.

On October 5th I met online with my Advisor Jenna Kelly. She explained that “effort and engagement changes the brain” and that “it is necessary to push out of any comfort zones and work up to the levels that challenge me the most”. I smiled when she said “I don’t have to like it!” That was a freeing new thought for me. Of course! Discipline and persistence are needed to reach goals and get through the hard parts – like them or not!

Jenna also recommended that I move into the Independent Program. This meant I would not be using Microsoft Teams and could work alone at times of my choosing. Being in the Independent Program was a total game changer. On October 7th Jenna sent me the new plan and thoroughly explained 3-Hand Timed to me, watching me solve questions and correcting me, with explanations. She would continue as my advisor and check in with me weekly. This was perfect for me and likely freed up time for my Microsoft Team Instructors Estellise and Sherill to deal with their other students.

The move to the Independent Program was likely when I started thinking of extending my three month commitment into four months to the end of November, even though it would involve serious financial considerations. Over the first two months I had started to see unexpected changes and wanted to give the program a chance. Here are my journal entries noting those changes.

Journal Entries 2022 of Changes / Improvements and some set-backs from the start time on Reading 2-hand Clocks Tuesday Aug. 9/22 to Dec. 3/22 4-Hands Timed.

Aug. 23 – More confident in figuring out best driving route to use to Richmond, a city I find confusing to drive in (but not as bad as Coquitlam).

Sep. 8 – Recalled a great-great aunt who had passed away with affection and appreciation. Hadn’t thought of her for a while.

Oct. 7 – Excellent session with advisor Jenna Kelly explaining in detail how to read the hour, minute and second spaces. She will set up a new plan for Independent model.

Oct. 9th- This was not a goal for the course, but my hyper-sensitivity to loud sounds wasn’t as acute, so I was able to tolerate joyous but loud music at church better and didn’t have to use my acoustic noise cancelling device.

Oct. 15th – More observant and aware of my surroundings. Heightened senses on beautiful day- fresh awareness and appreciation of surroundings – noticed heritage houses, balcony gardens, colours keen and bright. Everything seemed fresh and new.

Oct. 16th – Church again. Loud music still no problem, though there are limits.

Week of Oct. 23rd - NOT PROCRASTINATING with starting and completing dreaded projects such as some complicated housework or sorting through drawers of old papers and doing shredding as needed. This is a huge breakthrough and I think makes this program worth the money!

Also still carefully and optimistically planning routes for car trips to new places, and remembering routes.

Oct. 27th – Facilitated-time for 3 hand clocks new personal best. This is always exciting and hope-building.

Nov. 7th – Confusing words – heard “goats” not “ghosts”. I know this is not an expected area to improve. See Nov. 19th

Nov. 9th – Still not procrastinating! Tackling chores with a cheery “just do it” attitude, for example returning items to a store; two laundry loads; washing floors automatically in a timely manner. In the store identified items and prices quickly and was well-prepared for payment process.

Nov. 11th – carrying a tune better – (singing improvement not expected outcome of course but seems to be happening – noticed it Nov. 18th and Dec. 2nd! Who knew?!) Re procrastination, still cheerful, consistent, energetic, and efficient doing chores. In a fix-it mood: tightening light bulbs, for example and carefully reading instruction books for appliances; figuring out smarter way to do things, e.g. using a paper cutter instead of scissors to cut up a laminated poster.

Week of Nov. 13th – better at Sudoku – more observant and methodical, catch mistakes quickly. 

Nov. 16th - busy day with domestic emergencies – normally calm and realistic and was extra calm and competent this time: telephone person came and replaced a modem; able to follow a telephone rep on phone to reconnect my printer as well with his coaching (normally panic when doing techy things); plumber visited right after modem installed and discovered a leak in a pipe behind a cupboard and he was able to fix it temporarily – glad he came; ended day by doing 80 minutes of clocks to make up for a day missed.

Nov. 17th – Successfully used “print screen” for the first time and so able to print 4-hands reading instructions to study them more closely. So…dealt with something techie.

Nov. 17th & 18th – three “Mastery” achievements in two days: 3-hand timed; reading 4-hand; 4-hand drawing.

Nov. 19 –Still confusing words: I heard “spot” instead of “sat”. May need to look into a hearing aid.    With the TV I’ll see if I can adjust the sound on TV to tune in more to higher register if that’s possible.

Monday Nov. 21 Mastery of 4-Hands Equal Length. However, for warm-ups before 4-Hands timed going into December having difficulty still with 3-hand Equal Length. Jenna helped me with this in a session.

Nov. 23rd – First dream about clocks – sorting numbers and could remember dream. Take it as a good sign that my brain is doing its job behind the scenes!

Week of Nov. 20th –Some setbacks. Am I regressing? (Note: Adjusted back the week of Nov. 27th!)

Nov. 22 – with clocks reverting to old mistakes: 20 for 40; 48 for 43; 8 for 20; 48 for 53.

Nov 26th Driving at night in some rain and not driving well; word retrieval shaky again.

Week of Nov. 27th – Exercised for 15 minutes before meeting with my advisor Jenna Kelly and did really well with facilitated clocks, i.e. not using the number pad but instead calling out the numbers. Picking up speed with four-hands-timed. Self-correcting quickly with clocks, Sudoku and doing household accounts. Also still getting right at household tasks.

·        Still recalling long-forgotten pleasant, happy memories of people and events.

·        Word retrieval coming back.

·        Remembering more people’s names on the elevator.

·        Studying in depth the book Spark by John J. Ratey, MD who has researched how exercise contributes to neuroplasticity and brain health. I’m learning, reviewing and gradually remembering terms like Long-Term Potentiation (LPT) and the meaning of acronyms such as BDNF, GABA and the HPA axis. The book has a really helpful glossary.

Dec. 6/22 - In November Jenna spoke with some colleagues and encouraged me to continue on for another three months to the end of February 2023 to make a total of seven months in the program. Because of the progress I have been making, my high morale, and the positive results (though sometimes surprising and possibly completely unrelated to clocks) I gratefully agreed to the extensions. I’m much more confident now and I am looking forward to seeing what new improvements pop up!

Again, I wish every child – maybe every person - in the world could have the benefit of being assessed for cognitive and other strengths and weaknesses and if needed be given access to this or other appropriate programs.

Thank you to Barbara Arrowsmith Young, my Instructors, Advisor, and the Eaton-Arrowsmith Staff.

Written by Mary Landell