The NeuroNerds

Recovering from a stroke or brain injury can feel very lonely, but the NeuroNerds are here to help! Every Monday, join Joe Borges and co-host Lauren Manzano as they share their personal recovery journeys mixed with discussions on varying nerd topics from comics to superhero movie theories to video games and more. If you’re a stroke or brain injury survivor, a caregiver or family member of a survivor or just a big lover of nerd culture, this podcast is for you.

The NeuroNerds is a member of the GonnaGeek Podcast Network but is not owned by GonnaGeek.

The NeuroNerds 2021 Year In Review

It’s our last episode of 2021 and it’s a special Joe Solo Rocks edition with our host Joe chatting solo about the past year in review and his hopes, dreams and goals for 2022. He is spreading positivity and inspiration to the brain injury survivor community with words of encouragement and positivity. And he’s also sharing his intentions to expand his support for brain injury survivors on a deeply impactful level through his new YouSoRock coaching program. What are your goals and dreams for 2022? Please share on our socials!

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Hands on with Motus Nova and Maddi Niebanck

This episode continues our series with our sponsor Motus Nova featuring power user Maddi Neibanck and her experience using their robotic hand for physical therapy at home. She shares her progress and how Motus has helped her make big strides in her recovery.

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The Holiday Aftermath

In this episode, our host Joe opens up about his struggles since dealing with higher than normal overstimulation during Thanksgiving and how it’s affecting him throughout this holiday season. As a brain injury survivor, the holidays can be very triggering emotionally, mentally and physically with increased activity and interaction with friends and family. Our producer and Joe’s partner, Felice, joins him to discuss how she supports and empathizes from a caregiver/family perspective. For all of our brain injury survivor listeners, how are you doing during this holiday season? Please share how we can support each other on our socials.

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Hawkeye And Invisible Disability

Not all disabilities are visible. Our host Joe for instance has deficits as a result of his stroke but most wouldn’t be able to tell by just looking at him. In this episode, Joe and co-host Lauren, talk about invisible disabilities and how mainstream media is representing them in a really big way through the new Hawkeye Disney+ series. There’s a new generation of superheroes that are more inclusive and diverse and we’re talking all about it in this episode. What are some of your favorite superheroes with a disability? Please share on our socials!

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Being Thankful With The NeuroNerds

It’s the week of Thanksgiving in the States so Joe and Lauren are talking all about gratitude. Having a brain injury adds another layer to the meaning of finding gratitude in everyday life. Joe and Lauren share how they practice gratitude and find thanks for life and all of its ups and downs. Plus, Joe shares more details about his new coaching program for brain injury survivors. What are you grateful for? Please share on our socials!

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Becoming The Light with Tymiak Hawkins

We love celebrating fellow survivors and their stories through recovery and beyond. In this episode, we’re featuring stroke survivor Tymiak Hawkins who is sharing his story in a big way with the debut of his first book “Becoming The Light.” Our host Joe is chatting with him about their similar recovery experiences being that they both have mostly invisible, mental deficits from their strokes and how they manage that in their daily lives. They’re also both former basketball players so they talk a lot about how being athletes played into their recovery. Like Joe, Tymiak is all about positive thinking and so this episode dives into how the focus on the gift of life post-stroke. How do you stay positive through the adversities of life? Please share on our socials!

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Winter Is Coming

Winter is coming which means the holidays are on the way so our host Joe is talking with his partner and our producer Felice about how they prepare for this time of year. It can be especially overwhelming for a brain injury survivor to deal with the overstimulation and the extra social interactions associated with the holidays so Joe and Felice go into how he prepares mentally as a stroke survivor. If you are a brain injury survivor, how do you cope with the overwhelm the holidays can bring? Please share on our socials!

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Adulting Post-Stroke with Tania Saiz

In this episode, Joe is interviewing 2x stroke survivor, mother, and Dictionary nerd, Tania Saiz. Tania shares her perspective of recovering from a stroke while parenting. Joe and Tania talk about how she deals with physical and cognitive deficits plus the challenge of finding her new normal while raising a family.

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Shocktober Is Here!

Halloween is one of our favorite times of year because well, we’re nerds and we love scary movies and costumes (especially those involved with our various fandoms). But this year, Halloween will also be a way to help with our continued healing from this pandemic by offering some fun escapism through activities like dressing up and watching movies. In this episode, our host Joe and co-host Lauren, chat about how they are using this Halloween season to have a little bit of a release from this past year. They talk a lot about costume planning, offer a Halloween costume challenge plus share how our favorite collection of NeuroNerds merch was inspired by Zombies. What is your favorite Halloween costume of all time? Share with us on our socials!

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From PT Student To PT Patient with Amanda Salgado

With World Stroke Day approaching, we’re chatting with stroke survivor Amanda Salgado. In this episode our host, Joe, talks with Amanda about her story which started with her training to be a physical therapist but turned into her becoming a physical therapy (PT) patient herself when she suffered a stroke. She talks about the benefits she has been experiencing from getting PT at home with Motus Nova and how she’s transitioned from using their Motus Hand to their Motus Foot. She also talks about how connecting with community is helping her through recovery. How does community support help you through challenges in life? Please share on our socials!

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