May Cognitive Kit

Welcome to our May Cognitive Kit! This month’s kit honors several of the holidays observed in May each year, including ALS Awareness Month, Military Appreciation Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, and National Stroke Awareness Month.

We are excited to share a book recommendation, coloring page, journal page, crossword puzzle, and some additional resources and further reading.

Click on the files below to download and print any of the exercises and if you’d like to, please tag us on social media when you’re finished. We’d love to see your completed activities!

Book Recommendation: National Stroke Awareness Month

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD (2009)

“On December 10, 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven- year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist experienced a massive stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. As she observed her mind deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life-all within four hours-Taylor alternated between the euphoria of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she felt a sense of complete well-being and peace, and the logical, sequential left brain, which recognized she was having a stroke and enabled her to seek help before she was completely lost. It would take her eight years to fully recover.

For Taylor, her stroke was a blessing and a revelation. It taught her that by ‘stepping to the right’ of our left brains, we can uncover feelings of well-being that are often sidelined by ‘brain chatter.’ Reaching wide audiences through her talk at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference and her appearance on Oprah’s online Soul Series, Taylor provides a valuable recovery guide for those touched by brain injury and an inspiring testimony that inner peace is accessible to anyone.” (Summary from Amazon)

You can find My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey at your local library, or on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more.

Coloring Page & Writing Prompt: Mental Health Awareness Month

Self care is an important part of maintaining an individual’s mental health. This month, we are sharing a coloring page and a writing prompt, as coloring and writing are two ways to help an individual focus on their mental health.