i-Pad Apps Help Stroke Patients

Losing the ability to communicate well is one of the most devastating effects of a stroke. It was to me, when I had a stroke in 2002.

One day at the drugstore, shortly after my discharge from the hospital, the pharmacy clerk asked, “Is that Anne with an “e” or without?”

I hesitated, confused by the glaring fluorescent lights, the garish banners, the rows upon rows of remedies shelved in flashy cardboard boxes.

“Well, Don’t you know how to spell your own name?” she asked. A pimply teen aged boy in too-big jeans snickered in line behind me.

Heat crept up my neck. I wanted to disappear behind the shelf of diet aids–either that or slam them both over the head with a giant orange tub of fiber supplement.

Excerpt from Scrambling Back:One Woman’s Quest to Return to the Wild After Stroke and Autoimmune Disease

After my stroke, I was lucky to have a good speech therapist, but the only “electronic aid” I had to draw on was a tape recorder.

How things have changed in ten years! Now there are a variety of tablet apps–most so far for the i-pad–that are getting good reviews from patients and therapists.

“Apple’s iPad has helped to make life much better for stroke patients whose speech has been impacted,” one hospital rep said recently.

If you or someone you know has had a stroke, you might want to look into them.  I know I would.

Below are links to information and reviews on i-Pad communications apps.

Have you used any i-pad apps to aid in stroke recovery?