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Software to Assist in Recovering from a Stroke?
jshaw001 asks: "My mother recently suffered a stroke. She is not that old, only 55, and she is out of the hospital now but still has a long road to recovery. The doctors said she should be able to recover, but it's up to how hard she works at it. She is an accountant, so numbers and being able to memorize lots of stuff is very important. In short, her memory is very important. I'm in college right now, and my father has to work all day so we can't be there to help her out with her memory exercises all the time. I was wondering if anyone knows of good software I can get for her to help her with her memory, reasoning, and typing. Free software, shareware, commercial code -- cost is not a factor. Games are also a plus. Please note that we are limited to Windows software. Any other advice on things I can use to help her, or your experiences, are welcomed. Thank you."
Get one of those puzzle books put out by Mensa.
That'll work your brain.
Hmmm...Any kind of FPS is good for coordination and reaction time, Enemy Territory is a good free one. also, some typing tutor or whatever might help. As far as reasoning goes...maybe she should read a book or something?
Bookware for various languages:
Living Language
A list of the 'Teach Yourself' Books.
Tuttle Kanji Cards - I have a set of these and they're very nice flashcards.
Free-ish software for Japanese:
Kanji Gold
Tile Tag - Drill game for Japanese kana.
Stuff to pay for:
Multi-Lingual Books - Seem to have a good selection of stuff.
OK... So I myself am interested in Japanese... ;-)
However, it does seem to exercise a lot of different portions of your brain, from the pictographic script to the weird (to me!) grammer stuff. However, you should have her pick what she's most interested in, since interest is vital to keeping with a foreign language self-study program.
Another thing you might look at is the game of Go. It seems to be well thought of by various people who should know, and I believe it's even claimed to be effective in staving off such things as Alzheimers. However, the good players say that there's no good computer implementation, so you might have to find her a human opponent.
American Go Association
Good luck!
Disclaimer: I've tried some of these resources, not all. Your mileage may vary. Contents may settle during shipment.
Curse you plastic mold maker!
My mother had a stroke and oddly enough, a classic old (1989) Gameboy with the old original Tetris helped her out quite a bit.
I don't think the newer Gameboys would work as well since they have smaller form factor and are harder to pick up with "fumbly fingers"
The old Gameboys also can take a fair bit of abuse like being dropped or having food dripped on them, etc.
TDz.
I did a double take when I saw the post. My mother-in-law also had a mid-life stroke and was also an accountant.
Here are some things that have really helped her:
* Books on tape. Reading a book on paper while hearing the book on tape has done a lot for her reading ability, not to mention being a great activity in general. You can try to find free recordings of public domain books here:
http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/screen_main.asp
* Cooking. Following recipes is a good way to deal with numbers, words, and their relationships to actual objects. Just measuring things is valuable for getting a sense of amounts.
All strokes are different, so it's hard to know what exactly will work for everybody. If at all possible, seek out a therapist who deals specifically with stroke patients. He or she may be best suited to figuring out activities that will work best for her.
I'm very interested in what other people have to say about this, too, since my own family is dealing with these same issues.
Both my parents are speech pathologists (well, dad was then he died but...). Much of what Dad used for helping children develop language (learning disabled, forieng language, etc) was childrens books, Mom uses lots of flash cards and old (no battery) childrens toys as well for helping stroke victims. When I worked in a PT department as an aide, the Occupational Therapist also used lots of childrens toys, and simple things for ADL (activities of daily life) like a set of buttons or snaps on a piece of cloth attached to a wood frame.
In short, work with a rehab team. They've all gone to school for 4-8 years (or more) to learn how to do it, they are the experts. They can/will assign you things to help her with doing to assist in her recovery.
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
I suffered a minor stroke a couple years ago.
In my case, I (luckily) suffered few physical effects. It did, however, affect my speech to the point that I could not pronounce anything shortly after the stroke.
Let me tell you what a frustrating thing that is, because mentally I still felt sharp, aware, and able to do normal things. I could hear the words I wanted to say in my head. But as soon as they exited my mouth they were a jumble. Some people thought they needed to treat me like a 2 year old when that wasn't the case at all.
What I needed was time to practice speaking *slowly*. I'd do it in the mirror. Or just trying to talk with my best friend, who would listen patiently without laughing. Sometimes I got frustrated and gave up, and just wrote stuff out on paper when I was in a hurry. But eventually I was able to recover.
I realize this was a response based on my personal experience. I don't know the specifics of your mother's condition. It just irritated me when people started suggesting children's software. Your mother is every bit the same person she was before the stroke. Don't treat her like a child -- just be supportive of her.
And yes, seek guidance from a professional - a stroke is a serious thing.
Thanks for reading.
Software for speech and language therapy after stroke or brain injury
Windows-based programs were designed by a speech therapist and are easy enough to use independently at home. You can download a free trial.
Back in September, my sister had a stroke (she's in her late 40s). She suffers from expressive aphasia and a very mild receptive aphasia. She has trouble speaking and reading. She understands virtually everything spoken to her but she gets confused when numbers are spoken -- but she can READ and WRITE numbers fine with full understanding. Her reading weakness is with regards to syntax/grammer. Simple sentences she's OK with, but toss in more than Subject-Verb and she struggles. Read it out loud and she understand perfectly.
I've found the following bits of software helpful:
Sayzme -- simple text-to-speech software. Anything copied to the clipboard gets read outloud. It takes a little getting used to highlighting/cont-c, but she adapted quickly. She uses it for reading email, internet news sites, and she even types in her own SNAILMAIL and has the PC read it back to her.
Bungalow Software - There are many worksheets and excercizes available. Download the "shareware" versions and see which ones will best direct your mother's therapy.
Wizcom - They have a number of handheld scanner/text-to-speech gizmos. I've yet to get one for my sister, but I will shortly.
The BEST advice I can give is talk to your mother OFTEN. Get her to excercize her weaknesses EVERYDAY in REAL WORLD situations. My sister is just over 6 months past her stroke and the recovery is amazing. She want from being able to only say 3 or 4 words to being able to communicate with some dificulty (like a stutter). The words she cant "remember" how to say, she can mostly WRITE. It's amazing how she's adapted. She talks -- with a notepad with her. When she hits a word she cant say, she WRITES the word, then READS it out loud.
If you want to contact me directly, try jhonryan at gmail dot com. I'll be happy to share my experiences with you.