Mental games for stroke patients

How can this be prevented? Physical activity. Physical activity is important for increasing the chances of regaining function after a stroke. Through the power of neuroplasticity, exercises help stroke survivors reclaim abilities they had before their stroke.

Over time, even light activity such as going for a walk or cooking will contribute to physical improvements and help prevent the deconditioning that leads to further deterioration. Fun activities are a great way for a stroke survivor to work on skills while also keeping them entertained, engaged, and motivated. Not sure where to start? We found 35 fun activities that stroke survivors can do at home. Whether they love to be outside in the garden or curled up with some knitting, at least one of these activities is sure to appeal to any stroke survivor.

Scrabble Scrabble involves a variety of skills that stroke survivors can work on. Adding up the scores uses simple math, coming up with words requires cognitive flexibility, and the mechanics of the game involve simple grasp-and-release tasks.

Jenga Playing jenga involves physical and mental coordination while stacking blocks and trying to keep the tower from falling. Checkers The mechanics of checkers involve simple grasp-and-release movements that can help stroke survivors improve their motor skills while cognitive flexibility and problem solving are required to perform strategic moves.

Battleship Playing Battleship is good practice for stroke survivors with speech or word retrieval problems. Inserting pegs in the board also helps with fine motor skills. Connect Four Connect Four improves attention and motor skills. Scattergories Scattergories involves listing words in different categories that all start with the same letter. This helps with language and word retrieval. For stroke survivors with more severe cognitive impairments, Scattergories Junior may be more appropriate.

War War is a simple card game in which you flip over a card, and the person with the highest card wins. Playing war requires attention skills and hand coordination. Poker Playing poker helps challenge cognitive skills like sequencing and categorization.

Slapjack Slapjack is played by flipping over cards and slapping the stack whenever a jack or two of the same number in sequence are played. Playing Slapjack requires attention and motor skills as well as hand eye coordination.

This website offers a subscription service allowing customers to sign up to receive customized games designed to stimulate mental acuity, calmness, and memory skills. It serves both completely healthy individuals and patients. Use this free iPhone app to magnify labels and text up to 12 times. Many seniors with impaired vision discover value in using this cell phone tool. This free app, available in both an iPhone and an Android version, lets patients select training drills to enhance memory, cognition, speech, coordination, emotional control, and more.

If they choose to do so, customers upgrade to a paid version offering additional games and exercises. This free app reminds patients when to take scheduled medications. Spelling is not an issue. Is there any computer programs available to help with his recognition of words. He has been through some rehab. The Speech therapist says she can not help him anymore. When they meet all he does is read the newspaper. She feels he can do this at home. She has not offered any help with further advancement.

She says he is an unusual stroke case. He is at a 1st grade level in reading. Please help.. Answer : It sounds like your husband has alexia or now what is often called acquired dyslexia. You can search the internet and find various information on the disorder that may help.

Some exercises you might try with your husband include: 1. Sound out individual letters. Read words that are paired with a picture of the word. Listen to audiotapes while looking at the corresponding words. Watch TV with the written words at the bottom. Sometimes visual distraction can be a problem with reading. To remedy this, cut a window in a piece of paper and move the window over one word at a time so that you can only see that word when reading. Visit a neuropthamologist that has experience with stroke patients and have your husband's vision examined for impairments due to the stroke.

Some adaptive strategies that can be used include: 1. Text to speech software is available that can read documents or files aloud. There are also machines that can scan text and read it aloud. Talking books, books on tape, and reading radio are helpful. Read more about the above information at: www. It may be that reading will not improve greatly for your husband, and if that is the case, then I would definitely look into some of the adaptive devices that will read text to him.

Question : Can a post stroke victim with severe cognitive deficit be rehabilitated? My 84yr old mom enjoyed excellent health up until the second she had a hemorrhagic stroke 3 months ago. She was transported to a hospital and had a CT scan done within less than 30 mins of the incident. The ER doctor told us she had a large bleed on the left side of brain at the basal ganglia, also at the thalamus.

No surgery was recommended and we were told ' she wouldn't make it. She did respond to simple commends such as give me your hand, move your unaffected leg, wave goodbye etc. Due to her age and the severity of stroke, she was practically just left there waiting to die.

She suffered 2 bouts of aspiration pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and dehydration due to severe diarrhea from the tube feeding. She fought a great battle. Three weeks ago, she was medically stable to be transfer to a nursing home with rehab facility. During the time in the hospital, mom never received any therapy, only family members at bedside to massage and move her. The game can be difficult to start out for some people which is why our Occupational Therapists recommend starting just with the tiles and spelling your name out, along with some other simpler tasks.

This again can be a difficult game to start at first as it requires both fine and gross motor skills along with strategic thinking and strategies. This game might take a while however the benefits over a long period of time practicing can quickly reap benefits.

To increase the difficulty of the game, you can add a timer allowing only a short period of time to determine your move then carry it out. Jenga is a fun way to challenge hand-eye coordination as well fine motor skills. This game also is a very clear cause and effect game.

Always a fun and exciting game to play and the real benefit comes in stacking the blocks after they come crashing down! Everyone usually has a deck of cards. Cards offer the ability to progress your dexterity and strategic thinking.