Hi, I’m new here and haven’t found how to search to see if this has been discussed before - I am sure it must have been.
My Mum had a stroke at the start of Feb 2026. She is now wheelchair bound and her left arms and leg are significantly affected. She is left-handed. Prior to her stroke, she was pretty good with technology, for an 88 year old.
She is frustrated that she can’t look make notes, a shopping list, put stuff in her diary, look things up etc as she can’t write now and no longer has the dexterity to use her mobile phone. Her non-dominant right hand also has arthritis.
I was wondering if an Alexa of some sort I gather there are different types but have never used anything like that) might be helpful and would like to know what other peoples’ experiences are. And any advice regarding which one and how she could best use it.
A modern smart phone will take dictated notes and turn them into text.
A lot of the smart phone functions will work by voice control.
You simply tell it to ‘take a note’ or whatever function you require.
For example it will answer a question or make a call.
Also a smart phone can make keeping in touch easy.
You can buy nearly new smartphones at reduced prices too.
I’m an old stick in the mud happy enough on my laptop but eventually I was persuaded to try a smart phone..
Now both my wife and I have them. They are very useful keeping us in touch in the house, my mobility is impaired, giving me a weather forecast, At last it’s going to be cooler.
Some people prefer a tablet, I use laptop and smartphone. Each to their own I suppose.
I was right handed but now have to do everyhing with my left hand.
Always ask your questions here on this forum you’ll get a good cross section of answers. Also you will realise you are not so alone. There are an awful lot of us in the UK alone.
..and if you press Windows + H on a Windows 11 PC then it enters dictation mode And you can dictate things to your PC. That is how I am making up / compiling this answer to you without using my hands. Actually I should say I still use a little bit of typing for accuracy and tidying up. I also use this dictation feature with Deepseek medical AI… so it’s a pretty relaxed way of interacting and researching. Good luck
Hi @DimplesSupport and welcome to the community. Sorry to hear of your mum’s stroke and the issues she now faces. As the others have already said Smart Phones or Tablets are all able to be used using a voice so if your mum’s speech is ok this is a good way to go. I use a Samsung Phone but there are many that offer the same facility. You can get some good 2nd hand deals when it comes to phones if you shop around. Your mum should keep practising with her affected side though as this is how she will get back the use of it. It will be frustrating for her and could take a long time to come back properly (if it ever does) but practice does help.
Aye, smart speakers are brilliant because they have the advantage of instant vocal response. My partner’s mother uses voice activated television and smart speakers and she is technologically challenged and 82. I have used an Alexa for many years now, had it even before stroke, but it became increasingly more useful after stroke, however, I am thinking of switching over to an Apple HomePod now as my Alexa system is a bit old.
You can use them to make notes and keep diary entries for events and appointments with reminder alarms. And it can all be done by just speaking. It also is fantastic for playing radio stations instantly. You can use them to do equations for you, and call people and send text messages. I have used my Alexa (I changed its name to Computer, so my wake up word is Computer) to call friends and send text messages.
I find that engaging with it is also quite entertaining as I live alone, it is not someone to talk to but it does amuse me when I have to shout at it, but like I said, my models are quite dated now and the new models on the market will be more refined.
The main players seem to be Amazon Alexa, Apple HomePod, and Google Home. I say this because it may be useful to tie it into whatever tech ecosystem you use or prefer. You will need to install an app onto either your or your mum’s phone to set the device up.
The only caveat is whether or not your mum will embrace the technology or fight against it. This seems to be the overriding factor to whether something like this is useful. My father is a nonagenarian and has what he calls “tech lust”, indeed he runs multiple computers, one being a powerful gaming computer (he doesn’t play games) and on the other side is my friend in his mid-sixties who struggles with basic smartphone use as he finds the technology daunting and overwhelming, despite being twenty-five years younger than my father. So as they say, horses for courses.
I use an Amazon Echo with the screen. Great for shopping lists and calendar etc., you can set an alarm and much much more, like asking it to play radio etc.,
being a techie i used hello siri and gemma (gemini) to track my recovery and by that i would take selfies and get siri to do or write things out for me… google pixels are probably the best for transcription i use my pixel in church so my partially deaf partner can follow the reading.. but it also worked the other way for me to write out blog posts about my recovery or send texts or emails. probably worth getting as many different platforms for her to try to see which one works best for her needs.