#Neurological conditions

[nightmaretour]

So I got bored and made a server for people with brain damage. Idk how this is going to go with how Tumblr behaves towards brain damage and anything we try to have for ourselves, but it's worth a shot right? It's about time we had some form of unified community.

This server is specifically for people with physical brain damage.

Brain injuries of any kind and cause are welcome! TBIs and ABIs (neurodegenerative diseases if you want to classify yours that way, infection, stroke, drug overdose, birth complications, all are welcome!) of any severity belong here equally. This is intended to be a safe and welcoming space to connect with each other, share experiences and advice, and feel a little less alone with our disability.

No, depression, PTSD, ADHD, etc. are not brain damage. Not everything that affects your brain is brain damage. There are plenty of specific and nonspecific spaces for all manner of neurodivergencies, we deserve a space of our own. If you don't have physical brain damage, this particular space isn't for you and that's okay. I will not tolerate arguments about this, neither on Tumblr nor on the server.

🏳️‍⚧️This server is trans inclusive, terfs and other transphobes are not welcome.

🇵🇸This server is anti-genocide and supports a Palestine free from war and violent occupation.

[dredgen-dumbass]

(Disabled) player's guide to making D2 more accessible

because so far (correct me if I'm wrong) I haven't seen one on here, & maybe (hopefully) it'll help someone.

Alright, to get it out of the way, I'm disabled. I have neurological damage from a tbi, and more recently another concussion, and among many many other things it makes gaming a lot more complicated. It can (unfortunately) be difficult to find advice for disabled gamers online that isn't just "get good" or "then gaming isn't for you", so I figure this might be helpful, since it was for me.

I can't speak to other conditions, so this is more about adjustments for specific symptoms, but I can only really speak from experience. That said, I've had to learn quite a bit, so it's sharing time :)

(I play on Xbox. Some settings aren't the same between platforms, just a warning. For that reason, some of this post is going to be xbox-specific.)

This is divided up into menus & subjects of bullet points are bolded to be easier to skim.

Controller settings - (and explanations for some of them in case y'all don't know)

Test out different look sensitivity. The default is 3, I moved mine up to 5. I have issues with spacial awareness and saccades dysfunction, and this has made it easier for me to keep whatever I'm looking at on-screen.

ADS sensitivity- if you don't know, this is the speed when you aim down sights. The default is 1, I have mine reduced to .5, and I've found that the larger difference between the look & ADS sensitivity can really function as having two look settings available when using a weapon that doesn't have a very extreme scope.

The default sprint-turn scale is 0.4, I bump mine up to 0.8 for similar reasons to the look sensitivity increase. (Turning this up makes you turn faster, turning it down makes you turn slower.)

Alternatively, if you have more issues with overstimulation/visual clutter/quick movements/etc, you may want to turn everything down a bit to slow down your camera, but that may make combat harder to keep up with, especially pvp.

Axial & radial deadzone. This helps with stick drift. Stick drift is a pain for everyone but if you have fine motor issues, tremors, arthritis, etc, it's even worse. Finding what works best for your hardware will help make sure you're compensating less, which puts less strain on your hands.

I've seen people recommend turning off controller haptics for the same reason- the vibrations make you grip the controller harder and can cause worse strain. Personally, I leave them on because the sensory input helps balance out the awareness issues, but maybe it's for you! (this one's a system setting, not a d2 one.)

Video settings

Brightness can be important if you have issues with eye strain. I would recommend changing this relative to the lighting in the room, not just your monitor. Turning it up may help with visual issues with the tradeoff of risking overstimulation. Again, all of this is very dependent on the person.

Motion blur- Evil, evil, evil, turn this off. Visual problems or not, it's harder to follow things on-screen with it enabled. Combined with any garden variety problem with eye movements or cognitive strain it's even worse.

Chromatic aberration- I turn this off. It's a nice vfx, but it can wind up just being added visual stimulus and if that's a problem for it's worth losing. It can also make the radar harder to read. Not worth it (personally.)

Film grain- off for the same reason. It's a smaller change, but a clearer view is worth it if it helps you.

Sound settings

If you have problems with your hearing/auditory processing, I highly recommend turning the sfx & music drastically down compared to the dialogue, and then just turning up your system audio.

Personally, I often play with music entirely off, but I know that can be a very boring experience to a lot of people, so take that as you will.

(my current settings: sfx 8, dialogue 10, music 1)

if you're playing with an Xbox party or in a discord call, etc, I really recommend messing with the mixing settings there when you first get on to balance out peoples mics, regardless of processing problems.

Gameplay settings

HUD opacity- I turn mine down to high, the default being full. Just another thing that makes it easier to keep track of stuff.

Radar Background Opacity- Opposite here. If you have problems with spatial awareness you're probably relying pretty hard on the radar instinctively, so the clearer it is, the better. I play with mine on medium, you may want to play around.

Subtitles- Are on by default, so that's nice. Let's check out their settings menu for a moment.

Turning on show speaker name can be really good for hearing/auditory processing issues.

You can also change the color for the speaker name/caption text if the clearer contrast will help you.

The best background style for visibility is box, but it won't look as nice. Another trade.

Background opacity may be easier to lower if you switch to box, since the faded style isn't even. A lower background opacity may help you follow things on-screen at the cost of caption readability

If you don't need captions but do need to reduce visual clutter, try turning them off!

Colorblind mode is, obviously, helpful if you're colorblind, but I have also heard it recommended because the color changes can help improve contrast. Not one I've tried, but worth including.

Full auto firing/Full auto melee- Does what it says. Turning this on might help in the same way as turning off haptics/messing with deadzones, ie by changing how much you need to click. You can still fire normally with it on, so if anything it just gives you another option.

Reticle location is slightly below the center on d2. I prefer to center it, though it takes some getting used to. More helpful if you frequently switch between other games that center theirs.

Neutral/targeted reticle color- The defaults are white and red respectively. I prefer black for targeted because I feel like it makes it easier to see what I'm actually aiming at, but you may want to leave it for contrast. To each their own.

Other

Brief overview of Xbox accessibility settings

Xbox has a narration setting. I would assume anyone who needs it is aware of this, but just in case.

If you need more assisted play, there's controller assist where you can combine two people's input

Turning off haptic vibration (as mentioned) is in accessibility -> controller

You can make the on-screen keyboard larger!

There are party chat settings for both text to speech and speech to text

There's also game transcription!

Games that have the function can also do their own read-aloud. I don't know if/how this applies to destiny

Mono output for audio may make things easier to understand depending on your audio setup

There's also high-contrast mode for both dark or light

Colorblind filters are here, too

Night mode! You can change how much it dims/filters your device. If you have problems with blue light or eye strain, or have to limit screens for medical reasons like me, this setting is a lifesaver. The filter will affect how your games look, but personally it's worth the tint. Same is available on most PCs.

Hardware, etc.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller is highly customizable and great for anyone with physical impairments that make the standard Xbox controller difficult to use. Find it here.

I've seen thumbstick extenders recommended for arthritis, might also be helpful for similar conditions

If you have arthritis/fine motor issues/muscle weakness/tremors/etc/etc/etc controller grips might make holding a standard controller easier

If any of those are the case for you, then you might also benefit from a lightweight controller (or playing with a standard controller plugged in & removing the batteries for a lesser weight adjustment)

evilcontrollers also has one-handed controllers and a one-handed controller customizer much like the standard controller customizers

evilcontrollers for hardware accessibility in general

If you play on PC and have muscle or joint issues then you may want to look into different keyboard/mouse shapes. Lightweight, vertical, and ball mice are all options, though there's apparently some argument about using them for gaming. I've also seen good reviews of the Azeron keypad from people with muscular/joint problems. There's also split keyboards, wave keyboards, one-handed, etc etc etc.

If you have problems with auditory processing I would HIGHLY recommend gaming with noise-cancelling headphones. (Hell, do everything with noise cancelling headphones.) I would recommend these for everyday, but they also work pretty well for gaming. The mic is mid, but it works well enough, and there's multiple sound modes + active noise cancelling.

Other other (oh no I forgot these, editing now)

Compression gloves !!!!!

Pause and do hand exercises after a while

20/20/20 rule for eye strain

may come back and expand this as I think of more things

There is a lot that Bungie could do to improve the game's accessibility without causing an imbalance with abled players, but I'll save that for another post. Feel free to reblog this with any other advice/anecdotal stuff/whatever, I'm considering this as opening a discussion.

I don't know of any clans specifically for disabled players but I'm sure they exist? If anyone has recommendations for community stuff, please do throw that in.

As always, my dms are open. Being a disabled gamer can suck sometimes and if you need a space to vent w/ someone who gets it, I'm your guy. If you're just curious how it impacts gaming, I don't mind being asked, I just don't feel like posting about myself that much unprompted.

I think that's all for now. Happy gaming :)

[raposar]

more epilepsy memes bc I just might go insane

[disability-and-cats]

not having the money or access to see doctors and get tested for other things i need leaves me wondering so often.

☆ what things do i have that i

don't know about yet?

☆ what would my life be like if i

could treat these things?

☆ what would peace feel like to

know all the answers to why

my body works this way, and to

be able to explain it to people?

I'm lucky to have some of my conditions diagnosed, so im able to have recognition of them in order to get treatment and accommodations for those in the past. (now i have no money for anything at all-)

(i was supposed to see a dermatologist + cardiologist for treatment, and a gastroenterologist and neurologist for evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment. i've still yet to be able to afford this and don't know if i ever will be able to.)

[battleangel]

I cant watch these guys develop CTE anymore…

[dianeandrews]

It's been nearly 26 years now. I made this last year for my other TT account, 'beingapara' . Just a few factoids for ya. 😎

[spoonie-girl-next-door]

[vampjasper]

I hate how it can take me anywhere from minutes (on a good day), to hours, to days for me to be able to articulate my thoughts properly and make them coherent and understandable.

I am constantly forgetting what I want to say; constantly forgetting the words I need even when they're just on the tip of my tongue/fingers; constantly getting my thoughts and therefore my words all mixed up, making them incoherent to even myself; constantly going off on a tangent about stuff that often isn't even relevant; and more which makes typing and communicating my thoughts hard.

I just wish I could communicate my thoughts properly but there are so many barriers, and they're all invisible, and a lot of people just don't understand them because they often cannot physically see the struggles.

[fentrashcat]

Comorbidities

Tourette’s Awareness Month, May 17 2025

While I was researching for this section I kept running into a problem of the comorbidities sounding more like symptoms than separate conditions, and I came across the term co-occurring. To help with my confusion I did some more digging into the definition of each, and am listing them here-

Comorbid: Conditions that mutually influence each other, and may be treated in tandem, has almost a cause and effect relationship

Co-Occurrence: independent issues that co exist but require separate attention and treatment plans, more often used in the context of substance abuse problems but I have seen it in relation to Tourette’s

Symptom: Something that specifically indicates the presence of a condition, and used to aid diagnosis

There’s some disagreement about what term to use, so I will be omitting the vocab and just put it my way. The following list contains things someone with Tourette’s may also deal with. Not everyone with Tourette’s will experience these, they are just common problems ranging from full conditions to symptom-like issues. For the conditions I’ll just list the names but for the symptom-like ones I’ll go into a bit more detail.

Full conditions:

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Anxiety

Symptom-like:

Learning Difficulties: Those with TS may experience more trouble processing information when they first see or hear it. They are also more likely to have trouble with reading, writing and math.

Behavioural Issues: More prone to aggression, rage, and oppositional defiance (going against rules/instructions), and disinhibition (struggling to not act on thoughts even while knowing they are not appropriate in the situation)

Mood Problems: Periods of depressed or elevated moods that can drastically affect behaviour and function

Social Skills: It can be hard for someone with TS to develop social skills, and maintain relationships. They are sometimes accused of not “acting their age”

Sleeping Problems: More prone to insomnia, bedwetting, and sleep walking/talking

I wanted to dedicate an entire post to these in large part due to the confusing wording of comorbid/co-occurrence/symptom. I think it’s important to note that while the only symptom of Tourette Syndrome is the tics, there are other common occurrences that aren’t conditions on their own. In my opinion the symptom-like issues should be just that, symptoms, but since Tourette’s can’t be diagnosed based on them, they are often excluded from that term. For a while I didn’t really know that these could be related and was looking into other explanations, only resulting in driving myself mad trying to figure it all out. Anyways, I just wanted to make sure this info was out there.

Also please remember tomorrow is majorly a rest day but I'll still be open to questions and comments.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great day!

[annalise-e-h]

"Angelic Warrior"

Today is Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) Awareness Day. I struggled to finish this piece in time to post it because I wanted everyone who suffers from this illness to know they're not alone. My FND symptoms are challenging me now, so I'm asking a family member to type this for me - one of my "angelic warriors". Remember- we can't fight this alone and we all need our personal angels - whether that's family, friends, faith, or something else. I hope my painting inspires you to keep pushing through the challenges - you're not alone and we're not defined by this illness.

[meditativecat0-0]

My personal experience on a headache’s take :

[raposar]

couldnt find good epilepsy memes so yeah fine i'll do it myself

[disability-and-cats]

[husker-fictive]

One thing about us having the Thing In Our Brain Going On™ is the way we describe it can either be horrifying or funny (talking about a neurological condition)

Like if we need to describe it we either say that our brain is falling out of our head or our brain stem REALLY wants to make out with our spine

(Also said condition is a bitch. Would not recommend it, 0 stars)

[weird-brain-weird-life]

My Journey with Rare Diseases: A Story of Resilience and Hope

It’s been a LONG time coming, but I’m finally ready to share my story. Living with two rare diseases has shaped my life in ways I never could have imagined. This is a glimpse into my journey.

The Early Years: Discovering Morquio Syndrome Type B:

I was born with two very rare diseases, starting with Morquio Syndrome type B, a condition I was diagnosed with at age 10. It all began with a routine scoliosis test performed by my school nurse. I’m not sure if they still conduct those tests, but for me, it was the beginning of understanding my health challenges.

Leading up to my diagnosis, I had several symptoms that raised concerns. I was below average height for my age group, my growth had started to slow down, and I experienced extreme pain in my hips and knees, which made my gait awkward. This was just the beginning.

At age 11, I underwent a hip operation that ultimately failed, resulting in excruciating pain and the loss of my ability to walk independently. This was one of the hardest moments of my childhood, as I grappled with the implications of my condition.

The Second Diagnosis: GM1 Gangliosidosis

By the age of 13, I received a second diagnosis: GM1 Gangliosidosis. The symptoms leading to this diagnosis didn’t align with those of Morquio Syndrome type B. I began experiencing hypertonic muscles, tremors, and dystonia, which complicated my health journey further.

Turning Points: Hip Replacements and Independence

Fast forward to my teenage years, at ages 15 and 16, I underwent hip replacement surgeries. Miraculously, after these procedures, my spasms and pain disappeared. For the first time, I felt a sense of relief and regained my independence. By 17, I was off to college, navigating campus life with newfound mobility and excitement.

Challenges Ahead: The Impact of Medication

However, my journey took another unexpected turn when I was 19. I was prescribed a mood stabilizer that I believe has significantly impacted my life. As a dopamine blocker, it exacerbated my neurological symptoms related to GM1. I experienced slowed movements and speech, became a high choking risk due to slowed chewing, and found my voice quiet and delayed.

Although I discontinued that medication in 2020, I have never fully recovered from its effects. My battle with GM1 Gangliosidosis has continued to decline, and I’ve had to adapt to new challenges.

A Story of Resilience

My journey with these rare diseases has been fraught with challenges, but it has also been a testament to resilience and hope. I share my story not just to highlight the struggles, but to emphasize the importance of understanding and supporting those with rare conditions. Each day is a new opportunity to advocate for myself and others facing similar battles.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope it resonates with you and inspires others to share their own journeys.

[mosscaller]

Does everyone with fibromyalgia and neurological issues drink a lot of coffee? Because…same.