The author of the international bestseller, The Woman Who Changed Her Brain visited the region on Saturday.
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The Illawarra Grammar School hosted Barbara Arrowsmith-Young, a speaker on neuroplasticity and the application of brain research to treat learning and other cognitive difficulties.
The Canadian educator and author is the director of the Arrowsmith Program.
The genesis of the program of cognitive exercises lies in efforts to overcome her own severe learning difficulties.
“Neuroplasticity is simply put the brain’s ability to change as a result of stimulation, experience and learning, and how… We can utilise those principles of the brain’s ability to change so that we can actually address specific learning difficulties,” she said. “Previous belief has been if you have a learning difficulty, that it’s life-long.
“Basically, that you just need to learn to live with it, compensate, work around.
“What I’m talking about and what there’s current research on is that isn’t the case. If you can really understand the underlying function in the brain that is causing the learning difficulty, and can find an activity or task to stimulate it, you can actually strengthen that capacity.”
In addition to discussing her life and current research, she met with parents of TIGS students, where the program is in its third year.
