Resources

Respite means a short break. It’s a word with tremendous meaning for family caregivers. Though there is still work to do, in recent years, strides have been made to better support the need for respite for family caregivers.

Thinking ahead and preparing for a backup caregiver can help ease some of the anxiety for you and your loved one and assure that things go smoothly while you are away.

Recently, I was asked a question about a subject I hadn’t paid much attention to in a while: balance, the kind of balance it takes to move around a kitchen and reach for things safely. Stroke definitely can affect your sense of balance. It did mine in the early post-stroke years, and I did have to take special care in the kitchen. Here are some suggestions about cooking and balance.

A few years after his stroke, David Layton rediscovered bowling. He’s setting and achieving new goals for himself and having a great time doing it. Check out his video with tips for one-handed bowling.

Kim Mullens is an exuberant spirit — you can hear it in her voice, punctuated with laughter and memorable phrases: "There are good days and bad days — sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug." In 1995 when she was 38, a tear in her carotid artery left her "with one paw," that kept her from working because she couldn’t climb into the cab of the CAT 966 earth-moving equipment she operated.

Don't pass up on a scrumptious orange, peeling it with one hand can be done.

Most people choose the role of family caregiver with little or no knowledge of what they’re getting into. Stroke is a sudden occurrence that requires many decisions to be made very quickly.

Here was my challenge: when bathing, how to wash under my “good” arm considering I cannot use my affected arm and hand?

The third of a three-part series on how to use journaling as a method to help manage expectations across different aspects of your caregiving experience.

It’s often the very simple two-handed tasks, when approached with one hand, that seem to morph into monstrously frustrating and anything but the simple tasks we used to know. Case in point, opening cans and jars.

Two great tips for caring for your nails with the use of only one hand plus advice for shoes, dental floss and a device that helps when peeling fruits and vegtables.

Apps and websites that may be helpful for stroke families.

Step by step instructions that simplify folding with the use of only one hand.

The first of a three-part series on how to use journaling as a method to help manage expectations across different aspects of your caregiving experience.

It is no mystery that friends and family drift — they feel awkward because they see how hard it is for the survivor to communicate. They don’t want to aggravate him or her nor do they know how to help. For the most part, they don’t understand that aphasia is a language disorder, not a thinking or reasoning disorder. We are all so accustomed to speaking that people don’t naturally understand that intelligence and emotion are distinct from speech.