HELP! stroke victim can't communicate whats a simple no or small cost way to help?

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HELP! stroke victim can't communicate whats a simple no or small cost way to help?

by Steph
(Vancouver)

I work at an assisted living facility and there is the sweetest man who lives there. I really want to know what this man is trying to say to us, it is a guessing game with him, he tries to gesture. I try asking yes and no questions but i can see its very frustrating for him. me as well.

It makes me sad that he has to live like that. I am pretty sure he is almost all there, maybe the very very first stages of dementia or alzhiemers but he is a very sweet man and I really want to help him.

He has a packet with a few words but not all the words he wants to say. I could add words but I dont think he likes the packet thing.

I know those prompt cards cost only 80 bucks but i am not sure if I want those too many for him to keep track of and sort through.

Has any one tried just a paper with all the letters of the alphabet and had the person spell out what they need to say? does that work???

Help please!

I know there are others out there who are wondering this same thing. Thanks for any info

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HELP! stroke victim can't communicate whats a simple no or small cost way to help?

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stroke victims
by: Anonymous

first u should determine any communication barriers if any.
eye sight, trace, inability to move limbs etc....
as an example my father fell victim to an bleed stroke and is in a complexed care facility. i feel there is a vision barrier that is not uncommon in stroke victims. most of these stroke victims r not treated nor recognised to have vision problems therefore instead of one barrier there are two now.
one being the fact that the patient cannot see appropriately and the worst part of the second barrier is these people caring for them r the largest barrier. imagine being paid top dollars to do a communication assesment overlook the fact that the patient might have vision prob. then hold cards up with no response and then telling the family "im sorry but your father is none responsive and cannot communicate. the kicker is the communication specialist is the barrier because they overlooked a major issue and have the nearve to say they r specialists in this field only in hamilton st peters center could someone b this low level communication skills yet be paid top dollar to mislead and destroy this one persons chance to recover.

Click this link for some free communications tools!
by: Anonymous

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze6l53f/communicationsassistanceforstrokevictims/

Help for speech impaired Mom
by: gerry

I need help. My mother had a stroke about 5 years ago. She cannot speak, but why is it that she can sing a few songs like a birthday song and some of her church songs. We have tried speech theraphy but due to cost it was been discontinued. Is there any tools that can be use to enable her to communicate. Its hard for her to write too.

singing
by: Anonymous

my mother had a stroke 2 yrs ago, we had no tools. I learned that singing helped we sang simple happy birthday, amazing grace, she didnt know who we were nor could get it out but she could sing. practise flash cards. Say I want... then let them finish sentence. its practise finding what works for each stroke victim. my mother couldnt speak, eat, walk all basic. i worked dilegently. then small soft puzzles. she is up to a 500 piece puzzle but started with 1-10 and abcs..we use humor wen she just cant say wat she wants. keep saying its ok this will pass. we can tey again later. n come back 10 20 min later... only 1 person suggesting @ a time. they get confussed easy. best of luck to all.. my prayer n compassion is with you all

Picture Communication Cards can help for stroke victims
by: Dotty

yMy daughter-in-law had a srroke a few weeks ago and she is seven months pregnant.

I am looking for colorful picture books that have the picture and the word. She can speak, but has trouble remembering the word she wants.

It is so sad. I can't seem to find these kind of books. Can anyone help me?

---

From the editor:
I am so sorry to hear about your daughter-in-law. I hope that things improve for her quickly.

In the meantime, you may find these picture communication cards useful:
http://buy.special-need-products.com/Language_Builder_Picture_Card_Set

or you could go with an augmentative communication device, like one of the ones found here:
http://buy.special-need-products.com/Augmentative_Communication

I hope this helps!

Good luck.

Communicate with Stroke patient
by: Anonymous

I work in a home for the sisters and one of our residence hasn't spoke for a while due to a stroke, I just started a month ago, the other day I decided to place a piece of paper and pen in front of her. To my amazement she started to write a lot about her life and when I asked her a question yes/no she answered right away. When my back was turned she tapped on her wheelchair, where she had wrote "I want to go back to my room". She had folded the paper and had it close to her chest, as though it meant a lot, which I'm sure it did. So simple!!!I'm hoping they will get her a board she can write on.

The Special Life
by: Anna

Hi Steph. Thanks for asking about communication aids for stroke victims.

There are a number of different augmentative or alternative communication aids available.

Have you considered a Go Talk?

There are different communication aids similar to the Go Talk that may fit the bill too.

Here are some more ideas

You're right, prompt cards are very reasonably priced, but can be awkward to carry around and work with.

One thing that can help is to separate the prompt cards by function, and then place them in an appropriate spot.

We did something similar with photo communication cards and it worked because we put the appropriate cards in the appropriate places, eg. food choices on the side of the refrigerator, movie choices on the wall beside the TV, etc.

Chances are you'll get the best results by using a combination of tools and applying them for different uses - for instance, a pre-programmed Go Talk to take with him on outings, prompt cards in the assisted living centre, etc.

Hope these ideas are useful for you!

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HELP! stroke victim can't communicate whats a simple no or small cost way to help?

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HELP! stroke victim can't communicate whats a simple no or small cost way to help?