Additional information
by Shira Yalon-Chamovitz (Author)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to suddenly lose your ability to think, read, remember, or understand? Shira Yalon-chamovitz has researched human cognition for over 30 years, but always took her own cognitive abilities for granted. Then came COVID 19, or more precisely, post-corona or long COVID. Over the course of two tumultuous years, she experienced firsthand the effects of descending into brain fog, with her cognitive function grinding to a halt. Through intensive rehabilitation and deep self-reflection, she also discovered what can be done to reawaken her mind.
Literary Genre: Autobiographical prose
General Description of the Book: Illuminating my Brain: A Journey into Cognitive Rehabilitation from Long Covid tracks the author's quest to overcome the debilitating long-term cognitive effects of the COVID-19 virus. The book is, first and foremost, a first-person narrative, a story of the rehabilitation of a professor of Occupational Therapy and an expert in Cognitive Accessibility. It is the story of a journey from self-recognition of cognitive and functional impairment, through struggling with the medical establishment for recognition of brain injury, to the lengthy process of rehabilitation. Interwoven into the personal experience are professional insights that illuminate the phenomenon of long COVID, emphasizing the cognitive aspects such as brain fog, memory loss, attention and concentration deficits, fatigue, and more. In Illuminating My Brain, the author invites the reader to join her on a journey that begins early in the pandemic, and ends two years later, when she reached a level of function that she could define herself as "recovered".
The book describes an arduous and turbulent rehabilitation process with endless ups and downs, seemingly insurmountable challenges, and the discovery of strengths and abilities in herself and in others. But, above all, the book provides a rare insider's glimpse into the experience of brain injury, juxtaposing personal experience with professional insights that contribute to the reader's understanding. As her condition improved and her mind cleared, the story expands and follows her efforts to raise public awareness of the phenomenon of long COVID, creating a kind of road map to understanding this lingering condition which affects over 200 million people globally, and addressing the broader question of what recovery really means.
About the Author: Prof. Shira Yalon-Chamovitz, PhD, Dean of the Faculty of Health Professions at Ono Academic College, is a world-renowned expert in Occupational Therapy and Cognitive Accessibility. Prof. Yalon-Chamovitz has contributed greatly to advancing the rights and lives of people with cognitive disabilities through a combination of research and public advocacy. In June 2021, she chose to reveal on a nationally-broadcast radio program, that she was coping with long COVID, and specifically with cognitive impairment. Since then, she has been interviewed on popular television and radio programs, and in the written press. Additionally, she has lectured on the topic of cognitive long COVID at many conferences and gave a keynote speech on the subject at a UN conference in 2023.
