F.A.Q.

WHEN I HAD MY STROKE, MY FAMILY HAD 2 SCOUR THE INTERNET 2 LEARN ABOUT MY CONDITION, & I STILL GET QUESTIONS EITHER ABOUT MY DISABILITY, OR ABOUT BEING DISABLED.

HERE I WILL FOCUS ON ANSWERING THESE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, ABOUT ME, &/OR ABOUT MY CONDITION,ONE AT A TIME.

FEEL FREE 2 CONTACT ME (BY MY 2 EMAIL ADDRESS ON THE “CONTACT ME” PAGE) W/ANY & ALL QUESTIONS THAT U WANT 2 KNOW. IN TIME, I WILL DO MY BEST 2 ANSWER U, & I MAY EVEN COPY & PASTE IT 2 THE FAQ SECTION OF MY BLOG.

When you had double vision, did you wear a patch? And did you do exercises?

I HAD DOUBLE VISION BAD ALMOST 10 YEARS AGO. I STILL HAVE IT, BUT IT’S NOW VERY MANAGEABLE. IN THE LAST YEAR, I’VE STARTED READING SIZE 10 FONT ON MY HUGE MONITER, & I CAN USE A MINI IPAD.

IN THE HOSPITAL, THEY TRIED A PATCH, & TRIED TAPING THE LENS OF MY GLASSES ON THE GOOD EYE, BUT I THREW A HUGE FIT! I ONLY DID EYE EXERCISES ON OCCASION (& I STILL DO) S IF I WAS BORED, & LAYING IN BED, WAITING 2 GET UP: I’D TRY TO LOOK AT THE 4 CORNERS ON THE CEILING, IN VERTICAL, HORIZONTAL, & DIAGONAL PATTERN.S

HOWEVER, I BARELY EVER WATCH TV, & I READ ALL DAY. I READ EMAIL TONS, & MY EYES GET WORSE IF I DON’T READ DAILY. AT 1ST, EMAILS WERE WRITTEN TO ME IN SIZE 36 FONT, & I SAW THEM EVEN BIGGER, CUZ MY COMPUTER MONITER IS A 42 INCH LCD. SMALL TYPE EMAILS WERE READ 2 ME UNTIL A FRIEND INTRODUCED ME TO “READPLEASE 2003” (I’D LOVE TO FIND A MORE CURRENT PROGRAM OUT THERE!) NOW I CAN READ MUCH SMALLER FONT, & EVEN READ BOOKS ON MY MINI IPAD.

Is it difficult for you to still ask for help, after all these years?

HECK, YES! IT NEVER GETS EASIER TO NEED IT, BUT THERE IS A KIND OF ACCEPTANCE (LIKE I KNOW I CAN’T POTTY MYSELF, SO ASKING FOR HELP IS JUST WHAT I HAVE TO DO. BUT EVEN W/MY HUSBAND (WHO HAS POTTIED ME PROBABLY 13, 628+ TIMES ),I STILL WAIT UNTIL THE LAST SECOND TO GO–I HATE INTERRUPTING PEOPLE IN THEIR CONVERSATIONS/ACTIVITIES TO TAKE ME!

PLUS, I AM VERY INDEPENDENT, & OFTEN REFUSE HELP WHEN IT’S NEEDED. SOMETIMES THAT HAS BEEN GOOD: THERE ARE MANY THINGS I DO NOW, BECAUSE I REFUSED HELP. THAT’S WHERE THE “RESILIENCE” (THOUGH I JUST THINK I’M STUBBORN!) KICKS IN…4 EX., I CAN NOW GET MYSELF CERTAIN FOODS, OPEN THE CONTAINERS & FEED MYSELF. WHY? BEFORE IT WAS GIVEN TO ME, OPENED 4 ME, & FED 2 ME. I COULD STILL HAVE IT DONE THAT WAY. BUT 1 DAY, I REFUSED HELP & I KEPT REFUSING PERIODICALLY, UNTIL THERE WAS SUCCESS…

SINCE I SHARE THE HELP TIME I GET W/A TODDLER, I THINK THAT A LOT OF MY RECENT PROGRESS HAS 2 DO W/THE FACT THAT I DON’T HAVE SOME1 DOTING (SP?) OVER ME ALL THE TIME, SO I GET THE CHANCE 2 DO STUFF. PLUS, I AM OFTEN ENCOURAGED 2 TALK BY HIM!

BUT THE KEY IS KNOWING WHEN TO GIVE IN… WHEN I WAS LEARNING, 4 ME, THE KEY WAS IF I STARTED FEELING FRUSTRATED, THEN IT’S TIME TO QUIT & TRY AGAIN NEXT TIME. IF I MANAGED 2 GET TO WHERE I WAS UPSET BECUZ NO1 OFFERED HELP, OR IF I FELT IMPATIENT (I.E. I THOUGHT, “I JUST WANT TO EAT!”), THEN I HAD WAITED TOO LONG TO ASK 4 HELP.

I was wondering how you use your I pad?

I GOT MY MINI IPAD LAST CHRISTMAS, & I LOVE IT! NOT SURE WHAT ONE I HAVE, BUT I HAVE UPDATED THE SOFTWARE TO IOS 7. I HAVE BASICALLY TURNED IT INTO A CELL PHONE & LAPTOP–I USE PINGER TO TEXT 4 FREE, GOTOMYPC ACCESSES MY MAIN COMPUTER, & OFFICE2HD LETS ME EDIT DOCUMENTS. (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND OFFICE2HD TO EVERYONE–OFFICE2HD ACCESSES “CLOUD STORAGE”, SO IT’S REALLY THE ONLY APP U NEED, CUZ U CAN ACCESS AND EDIT ON BOTH YOUR LAPTOP, AND YOUR IPAD! I USE IT ALMOST EVERYTIME I’M ON MY IPAD! I HAVE 3 PLACES I USE: GOOGLE DOCS HAS MY CHURCH CALLING (OTHERS CAN ACCESS IT TOO), DROPBOX HAS MY BOOK (IN HOPES I’LL WORK ON IT, THOUGH I NEVER DO!), & SKYDRIVE HAS ALL SORTS OF STUFF (IE. ANGIE CAN ACCESS 2 GET HER LIST OF WAYS 2 HELP ME, & ANOTHÉR FOLDER HAS MY PRACTICE LOGS 4 THERAPY, & THERE’S ALSO THINGS I AM WORKING ON, BUT WANT 2 BE ABLE 2 WORK ON THEM AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER.)

PLUS. I HAVE TONS 4 SPEECH & MUSIC THERAPY! APPS I HAVE:
Speak it
iConverse
Tap2Talk
VAST 1 & VAST 2 songs
Word vault
Speech sounds on cue
CineVox
Speech tutor
My calm beat
Pianist pro
Pitch graph
Pitch not
Appzilla 2–THIS HAS A PITCH PIPE, DECIBEL METER, & METRONOME I USE
I ALSO MAKE LOTS OF VIDEOS DURING THERAPY, SO I CAN PRACTICE WITH THEM…FOR SOME REASON

I ACTUALLY AVOID THE SPEAKING PROGRAMS W/BUTTONS, UNLESS I CAN CUSTOMIZE IT.SO I HAVE ICONVERSE, BUT THE VOICE IS AWFUL! I HAVE “TAP TO TALK” THAT I HOPE 2 LEARN…

I KEEP MY MINI IPAD IN MY RIGHT W/C POCKET, & SET IT ON MY PARALYZED LEFT ARM,& MY WAIST/HIPS KEEP IT THERE WHILE I TYPE! I ALSO USE THE GOGO PILLOW–IT IS AWESOME (www.gogopillow.com–DON’T BE FOOLED, CUZ IT’S AN “AS SEEN ON TV” THING)!

LSVT SPEECH PROGRAM

THIS IS A SUPER OLD VIDEO–JAN. 2012, I THINK? IT WAS TAKEN TO HELP ME PRACTICE THE LEE SILVERMAN VOICE TREATMENT (LSVT):
• IN SECTION 1, I SAID “AAAH” 12 TIMES.
• IN SECTION 2, I SAID “AAAH” 12 TIMES, IN AN ASCENDING SCALE.
• IN SECTION 3, I SAID “AAAH” 12 TIMES, IN A DECENDING SCALE.
• IN SECTION 4, I SAID 10 FUNCTIONAL PHRASES
• IN SECTION 5, I SAID 10 WORDS/SHORT PHRASES FROM A LIST–SOME WORDS ARE “YES,” “NO,” HELP,” “THANK YOU,” “YOU’RE WELCOME,” “WHAT,” “OK,”HELLO,” “HOW ARE YOU,” I’M FINE”

HOPEFULLY, IT CAN HELP OTHERS TOO! THIS IS NOW MUCH EASIER 4 ME, & I CAN HOLD CONVERSATIONS! (THOUGH THERE IS STILL VALUE 4 ME BY PRACTICING–I STOPPED, & MY VOICE GOT QUIETER!)