This presentation discusses six patients with different problems, referred for rehabilitation, who challenged my views on how to apply neuropsychological principles to their treatment. We begin with Derek, who had sustained a traumatic brain injury from a gunshot wound. I was asked to reduce his weight, but he could not read or write because of the brain injury so I had to find another way to achieve the weight loss. This made me realize that neuropsychologists have to "think on their feet" and be flexible. The second patient is Kate, who developed brain stem encephalitis. Expected to die, and unable to speak, she convinced me that, however severe the injury, we should not give up and recovery can continue for many years. Kate, managed to speak intelligibly fourteen years after her illness! The next patient, Claire, a school nurse, had herpes simplex encephalitis which left her with prosopagnosia and extreme anxiety. Her story made me realize the personal consequences of prosopagnosia that is typically overlooked by most neuropsychologists. The fourth patient, Gary, was attacked by a gang while saving his father. He remained in a state of unconsciousness for 19 months and, thus, had a very poor prognosis. Nevertheless, he defied the predictions of all medical staff, woke up and did very well. The penultimate patient is Natasha, who, as far as we know is the only person in the world to have two syndromes, "Sheehans Syndrome" which is very rare in developed countries and "Sickle cell disease" which is not rare. As a result of the Sheehan's she developed Balint's Syndrome. Her case made me learn about Sheehan's Syndrome and accept that Natasha's main goal in life, was not what I expected it to be. The final patient is Paul, an opera singer, who was diagnosed with" Locked-in Syndrome" following a brain stem stroke. Not only was he a good communicator once a good system was found, but he felt he had a good quality of life by" living within his head". Although many of us feel that to be fully conscious but totally dependent on others, is a very cruel situation to be in, Paul did not feel this. All these patients taught me a great deal and I thank them for this.

Upon conclusion of this course, learners will be able to:

1. 1. Describe the main purposes of neuropsychological rehabilitation

2. 2. Discuss about six patients who challenged typical concepts about neuropsychological rehabilitation

3. 3. Gain some knowledge about Sheehan's syndrome

4. 4. Explain the three components of Balint's syndrome

5. 5. Summarize the difference between Locked-in syndrome and the minimally conscious state

6. 6. Recognize some of the anatomy associated with these syndromes