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Chapter 6: Raun's Choice
The crimson sun hovered just above
the road in my rearview mirror as I headed home from
the city. A dusty haze along the highway muted the
sharp lines and distinct colors of nearby office and
apartment buildings. The tires of my car hummed noisily,
providing background music for my reflections. I thought
about Raun, knowing he had broken through some of
those invisible walls that enabled him to make more
sense out of his environment than before and take
some small but meaningful steps toward interacting
with us. However, his continued self-stimulating behavior
and his obvious inability to absorb and digest information
- the enigma of some as yet undefined organic dysfunction
- suggested disconnected or disassembled circuitry
in his mind. The system that catalogs and retrieves
information from the memory cells of the cerebral
cortex seemed inoperative in him. And, if this was
so, how could we correct what was already awry? It
was simple: We couldn't. But maybe Raun could.
I had researched studies done of
people who had suffered strokes and read of the possibility
of "permanent damage" In many cases, it
could be shown that specific masses of brain cells
and tissue had been irrevocably destroyed. Autopsies
revealed large areas permanently impaired by scarring.
And yet, despite such damage, some patients found
new ways to talk and new ways to move, and made new
connections that allowed them to regain control over
areas once paralyzed. They did not regain the functions
of the destroyed cells but rather activated portions
of the brain not previously utilized, expanding the
potential of existing neurons.
Why did some stroke victims make
these seemingly miraculous jumps while others remained
crippled and handicapped? Most professionals attribute
such jumps to motivation, an ingredient essential
to the success of most serious operations and treatments.
We knew that if we could inspire Raun to seek involvement
with us, he might then make new connections and open
new channels. Memorizing data and submitting to simple
training and behavioral conditioning could never accomplish
what might evolve as a result of our activating his
own desire to learn.
We needed more than his partnership;
Raun had to play a leading role in his own recovery.
Chapter
6 Continued »» |
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