Thanks @Bobbi it just feels like I’m alone and I’m looking for a strategy to get myself back to “normal” though I know no going back now
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It’s early days still
Hope yr otherwise ok - happy to get online w/you if wanted - also you are welcome on Thursdays 
On reading there’s more info on Google scholar and more relevance & understanding here than in the typical book. The channel on YT “I care for your brain” is a good survey in 30ish min chunks of topics
Caio
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I think we all feel like that, no matter what our symptoms.
As far as I see it, confidence, self esteem and some sort of idea of where we are going, all take a big hit. Fear, anxiety and indecision take their place. So, now what?
Finding ways to deal with that is a challenge worth tackling. Largely I think you need to find the answers to all that inside yourself, much better than leaning on the words of someone else.
Keeping myself as busy as I can without over doing it is my first basic strategy, but as I said and it is what I believe, the answers must come from within, perhaps only when one is ready.
It is a big deal for us all. No Mr.Man plaster is going to put this right.
Having said that, talking things over here on this forum can help put things into perspective.
A listening ear, a little sympathy, can make a big difference. We have an opportunity to be pro-active.
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Gareth, hi
Try “Stroke Rebel” by Linda Radestad… she went through a lot of difficulty with speaking. You won’t find direct answers, but it might just inspire you enough to make a difference,
good luck, Roland
ps. Bobbi makes a good point, but I tackle things head on… when I get defeated I stop trying and give up for 3 days, but then I give it another go, maybe from a different angle. I refuse to sit back and twiddle thumbs
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Have a read of this thread, it will take your mind off important stuff for a while.
https://onlinecommunity.stroke.org.uk/t/our-new-funnies-thread/
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The only strategy I ever used for my speech was reading out loud. Reading itself was also a major issue for me, so reading out loud was good for both issues. And non-fiction was a lot harder (and still is) than fiction to read, so I just stuck with reading sections from my favourite authors of fiction. And apparently fiction is better for your mental health. I’ve always loved reading and that was the one issue I fought hardest to get back above all else. I need that escapism, and never more so than after my stroke. I even cleared a lot of books off my kindle and would have shut down my amazon account if I could have figured out how, thinking I would never be able to read again let alone speak. Fortunately I’d kept all my favourite books 
Talking to myself out loud whenever I was home alone.
Reading out loud the shopping list, letters, etc was also good practice for speech. Also reading out jokes, @HHilary has just given you a whole thread of them to keep yourself and your family entertained with 
Back in your post in February, you said you had a young kid. Use them too, you will be helping each other by reading out loud to each other. It’s a great to their confidence to have daddy ask them to help him with his speech by taking turns reading out loud with him and a great benefit to your child’s education 
I’m 3yrs post stroke and the speech and slurring itself is not really an issue for me now…just getting the words from brain to mouth is still a stumbling block. The speech was more or resolved by the end of the first year, mouth straightened out, swallowing issues, could drink normally. All those sort issues just resolved themselves over the months as brain healed.
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I found Norman Doidge’s The Brain that Changes Itself to be quite interesting and inspiring, I find books about neuroscience and the brain in general to be interesting if they are written calmly and not in the popular science vein, which rubs me up the wrong way. Although, I appreciate people’s personal accounts of stroke recovery, I find that they tend to alienate me as a reader and stroke rewirer, I have to admit that I didn’t really enjoy Stroke of Insight. I am looking forward to reading The Second Brain which is actually about the gut. I thought, I should learn a little more about the whole neurological nervous system as a complete network.
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I read A Stroke of Insight, Jill Bolte taylor which i found interesting but I don’t think it helped answer any of my stroke questions as her stroke was so different from mine. It did however provide hope.
I agree with others about finding something else to read that takes your attention away from stroke. A distraction from what ails us is always a good thing.
I was an avid reader pre stroke…i barely read a book now and enjoy magazines more. I do have a book on the go though it’s just taking forever to get through. I think that is down to fatigue after being at work.
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I am reading that now, Rups,
Just finished “The Biology of Belief” by Bruce Lipton
I have to do a lot of reading to stumble across something that helps directly.
In the meantime I’m learning a lot of Biology, one of my weak subjects at school.
ciao, Roland
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I certainly agree with you there, they alienate me too. As a stroke recoverer with aphasia, the last thing I need is a book with so much scientific/medical language language and terminology. Having to look up every other word meaning in order to make any sense of it. It does make the top of my head burn and that tells me its just far too taxing on the brain 
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Sorry for not reading the whole thread (& potentially repeating what others say) but I agree with @Bobbi and don’t personally spend ages reading about stroke.
I have always enjoyed reading but finding books difficult with my stroke hand so bought a new kindle a couple of years ago (after my stroke) and absolutely love it! There is a great website called BookBub that you can add your favourite genres and it sends you daily emails advising of special short term price drops (all at 99p) which I have taken advantage of many times.
It doesn’t hurt to read a bit on stroke, but I mostly do that on here. I like to read to relax before bed and find the kindle (which has a backlight) fantastic!
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Hello gareth970,
Wordsearches are good. It does help focus your eyes and you’ll notice you’re improvement too. Oh, get books you can hold or fold over and peg whilst reading / writing. Soft back books aren’t easy with only one good hand.
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I was just curious to know if you have insomnia.
My mother barely slept after she had her stroke. We couldn’t get her to sleep for nothing. In the first year, she slept slightly better, but in the second - barely an hour or two a night. She paced all night long. It was terrible. I felt so helpless.
I hope you are doing well, Bobbi. I haven’t spoken to you in a while.
Take good care.
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Hi Matthew, I’m doing okay and I hope things are good for you too.
Thanks for showing an interest.
At this moment in time I am up, reasonably alert and awake at my laptop, having got out of bed about 30 minutes ago.
Insomnia isn’t a subject I address. I am retired so when I sleep and when I am awake is largely immaterial. I would say that over a twenty four hour period I get at least eight hours sleep though some of that is during the day time occasionally.
To a degree I am ruled by my bladder and often wake to have a decent sized wee about every couple of hours. Usually I then get straight back to sleep.
Sometimes though, when I have an idea in my head or something I want to do I will rise for an hour or two. Next day I will cat nap and recover the lost sleep.
So it isn’t that I can’t sleep, just that when I choose to sleep is a variable.
I am pretty laid back and simply do what I need when the necessity arises.
It is a slightly complicated story.
I do a little software checking, a simple process where I download something, usually an operating system and then see if it will install as it should. I then report the results online. Fresh versions are sometimes available in the middle of the night. So here I am having just run a check. While I was here online I had a quick look at the forum and ended up writing a reply to your post. As I mentioned I’m relaxed about the whole thing and will catch up sometime tomorrow, maybe with a post lunchtime snooze.
I am making the choices that I want and am not driven into this behaviour. I’m also one of those few who do not experience the fatigue they all talk about, perhaps because I do rest when I feel the need rather than trying to drive on regardless.
Sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet and will write a long post online in the forum. Easy to do as all is quiet with no disturbances.
Well there is an account of my strange nocturnal behaviour. I’ve never really fit in with what is considered normal, but I’ve not let it worry me unless someone tries to push me into what they think is correct. I am comfortable in my own skin and have no big need to attempt a change into something different.
Having said all that your comments and concern are very welcome. We don’t have to go about things in the same way as our neighbour and communication is a great way to help understand a bit more about how the world and its inhabitants work.
Well I think I’ve done plenty for now so I’ll get back to bed now, having been up for about 90 minutes
It is good to have spoken. It is also important that you take care to look after you. So be kind to yourself and others too if it suits you.
Goodnight @Matthew1798
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Casting my mind back to early stroke days . . . and nights, I wasn’t sleeping much.
I was laid almost immobile on my bed for the whole time, so not really doing anything to make me tired. A lot of the time was spent in abject boredom. I would talk at any, nurse, doctor, cleaner, visitor, anyone who came near, they didn’t stand a chance, I would pounce.
It was much the same when I got home. Until I found a way to roll over on my side and suddenly I was out cold for a few hours.
I still don’t go out cold for 8 hours, but my life is sedentary, and being retired I can cat nap anytime. I don’t stress about attempting to return to some sort of ‘normality’ when I’m not even sure what that means.
I certainly won’t be marching off to someone else’s tune.
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Thank you for that most lovely of a response. It put a smile on my face.
I agree with everything you said. 
In life, the word “normal” loses value as we see things more clearly, I believe. Please continue, then, beating to your own drum.
You take good care of yourself.
Much love, peace and kindness back to you.
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I found Stronger After Stroke very helpful, but I don’t remember much help on dysarthria. I think I would specifically look for books addressing that. Speaking was non existent for me for awhile, as was swallowing. I had exercises much like music scales…E was the hardest of all to finally get. Took about a year. I have some “breathing” tools I have shared in the past that were helpful in strengthening my ‘throat’ muscles (larynx, vocal cords, esophagus).
Like @Rups, I prefer to read neurology updates over anything else at this point, as the physical is now OK. Could be better, but I would like some of the executive functions to catch up as well as the pain and fatigue to get a bit better.
I have never been one much for fiction. I do read some for fun, but even it must teach me something… Usually science, geography, or history.
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Fiction can exercise the mind more than factual based reading though as it requires a lot more creativity of the mind and imagination. Your brain works harder!
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I can see that. I had pictured the Harry Potter series in my mind before the movies, which were much more vivid for me. (My daughter made me read them with her, as well as go to the midnight book sales, and midnight movie openings, and even dress up).
I am not much for fantasy or sci-fi, romance is blah to me, no war stuff, so that leaves me with Steinbeck, Faulkner, Dostoyevsky, Poe and 2 minute mysteries, poetry or other fictions that bring up social or cultural issues, or philosophies. Animal Farm is a favorite. I actually did enjoy Brave New World and The Giver (sci-fi, but really sociology models).
What do you like to read, or Who? Any suggestions? I will read it if you suggest it. My genres are more of a guide than a rule. I watch romance, mostly romantic comedy, and I watch fantasy or sci fi occasionally. A good mystery is fantastic, but finding a good one is hard since Agatha Christie.
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sometimes. like a tree falling silently in the forest, it seems there is no one to hear.
plenty to chew on here:
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Narziss (Narcissus) and Goldmunde - Herman Hess
Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake
The Sword in the Stone - T H White
The Illusionist - Anita Mason
The Covent Garden Ladies - Hallie Rubenhold
The Shadow Line - Joseph Conrad
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