Hi, my mum had a stroke about 5 weeks ago, amongst the other things she is struggling with, she has lost the ability to read and wondered if anyone had any tips/suggestions as to how we can help her. She knows the individual letters of a word but can’t put them together to make a word.
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Hi @Kferbird wecome to the forum🙂 So sorry you’ve had to join us and that your mum has had a stroke. Just know that her reading will get better, maybe even back normal as my did.
She’s only 5wks as you said, it’s going to take 6mths + to get her on the road to recovery. The first 6mths are all about the cleanup and repair to the damage done in the brain. Then it slows down but it doesn’t stop. Its all about relearning, retraining the brain to do the things it used to do.
But progression will seem like wading through molasses, 2 steps forwards, 1 step back.
Brain fatigue will be her biggest drawback because there’s no way to fight it. Because the brain is has to put so much effort into the healing process, there is much left for anything else. That’s why she will only manage a few minutes here and there, maybe a half hour on something else, but it will very gradually build up over the coming months.
All activity will be in short bursts, and short attention spans much for the same reason. Therefore, things like reading, writing and speech are going to take months if not years to recover because they are so taxing on the brain. There are no short cuts, its just a case of repeat, repeat, repeat.
I think at about 5wks, a page of text was just a sea of letters to me. 4 years stroke now and I’m back to reading books in a couple of nights. It was a year after my stroke before I could manage to register and join in this stroke forum.
The only tip to offer is for her to keep up with her daily attempts to read anything and everything. My hubby would write the weekly shopping list and I would attempt to read and write it out again.
We did all this sort of thing because it was more familiar, natural, insinctual to the brain than say reverting back to the Janet and John style methods of reading from my childhood or learning other new methods 
Much like a person in a coma, awaking their brain is more likely to respond to the familiar than unfamiliar. So no try to make her run before she can walk, because her brain just won’t let her 
As I’ve already discovered, brains can stubborn as mules when you try to push them:sweat_smile:
Lorraine
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@Kferbird Hi & welcome to the community. Sorry to hear of your mum’s stroke.
I echo pretty much everything that @EmeraldEyes has said.
I could read words after my stroke but couldn’t concentrate long enough to actually read anything & I was so fatigued it was all too much effort & exhausting.
I wpuld recommend childrens books too. Janet & John style. I started with magazines with little articles in & when I say little I meN 1 or 2 sentences.
I am over 3 years post stroke & I am only just back to reading a book. I used to read 2 or 3 books a week.
Get your mum to try a little bit every day but don’t overdo it. Recovery is a long process & lots of patience required.
Best wishes
Ann
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Hello @Kferbird - welcome to the community.
I wish you and your Mum all the best. As per the suggestions from Ann and Lorraine this is a relearning curve and your Mum will be on it soon.
Work at her pace - her body/brain will let you know when they need a break or time to recharge. No need to rush things - slow and steady works fine, but again if your Mum wants to sprint and she can cope that would work too. Do what works for you (your Mum).
A stroke is so generic a term and there are so many variations and levels which means there is no out of the bottle solution. It’s all about cutting the cloth to suit …
Takes care.
Namaste|
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Hi @Kferbird sorry to hear of your mum’s stroke but welcome to our community. I found reading a book a big struggle following my stroke 8 years ago and went from always having a book on the go, to not being able to read more than a couple of paragraphs.
In the early days of my recovery I found magazines easier to cope with, just short articles and lots of pictures and I slowly progressed from there. I struggle to hold a physical book as my left side is paralysed and my husband talked me into buying a Kindle and it’s the best thing I ever did.
You can change the font size and background colour and get it exactly as you want it. Your mum would also be able to choose books that suit her reading levels at any particular point, progressing as her reading ability improves, which it will, she just needs to take it slowly and maybe do say 10 minutes at a time and slowly increase that as and when she feels ready.
I do find myself reading for hours if I’m into a book and sometimes give my self a headache and have to force myself to put it to one side.
Good luck finding something that works for your mum and enables her to enjoy reading again, just be careful not to let her overdo things.
Best wishes and regards to both of you.
Sue
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Hi @Kferbird
Welcome to the community, I’m sorry to hear of your mums stroke. I hope the suggestions so far have been helpful for you.
I also just wanted to let you know we have a section on our webpage about communication which reading comes under. You may find some useful information on there.
Wishing your mum well on her recovery, please do come back here if you have more questions as you get further into the recovery journey, there is a wealth of knowledge here!
If you need anything whilst you’re using the Online Community, please don’t hesitate to tag me using the @ symbol and my username.
Anna