Reinvention: Life After Traumatic Change

Following a massive cerebellar hemorrhagic stroke in 2017, Elizabeth Cottone, PhD founded and now manages a brain insult support group. She has secured part-time work as a stroke survivor advocate, and has written two books, all while committing fully to PT, OT, speech therapy, and rehabilitation.Elizabeth works hard to reinvent herself, doing new things like horseback riding, singing, and unloading the dishwasher. She is also relearning a lot of basic skills like walking, typing, brushing teeth and hair, and swallowing, to name only a few. For an achievement-oriented woman in her fifties, these adjustments continue to be as difficult as they can be rewarding.Prior to the stroke, she was a research scientist (Assistant Research Professor) for 11 years at The Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL), part of the University of Virginia's School of Education and Human Development.She is fascinated with the process by which people survive and thrive after traumatic change. Her research interests include dyslexia, stroke, investigating pathways from economic disadvantage to poor outcomes for children, and understanding families in poverty through a resilience lens.Her FUN-R (Foundation Underlying New Reading) method incorporates her broad experience as a research scientist and as a tutor for students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.Elizabeth Cottone has discovered similarities among stroke survivors like herself and people with dyslexia and ADHD. She works to support recovery, advocacy, and education for all people who have undergone trauma.Her book, Dyslexia: A Universe of Possibilities (4 Peas Press, 2021) combines case studies, education theory, neuroscience, special education policy, and more, to highlight a path forward for the countless curious, inventive, creative, and challenged students born with dyslexia, ADHD, and other neurodiversities.Visit elizabethcottone.com