The Only Magic Bullet I Have Found

Sometimes stroke survivors tune people out, but not necessarily for the reason you think.  When I am struggling with a task, I start talking to myself.  For example, when I heard my toe scuffing the floor because I did not lift my leg high enough in the 1st year I silently said "knee up, knee up."  If someone was talking to me at that moment I did not hear what that person said.  I cannot listen to other people when I am talking to myself.  If you want me to process new information or I want to participate in a discussion, I need to sit down.
 
Avoiding multitasking is a magic bullet because it has an immediate effect.  By not dividing my attention, I  focus all my energy on the part of my brain I need to use right now.  When I take a hot dish out of the the oven I stop talking to guests.  I need to monitor my hemiplegic hand to make sure it maintains a firm grip on the 400 degree handle.  When I drive during rush hour I turn off the radio.  I need to respond quickly to aggressive, unpredictable, impatient drivers.

I am not saying stroke survivors can never multitask.  However, it can take many repetitions before a task becomes so automatic that I can simultaneously pay attention to a second task. 
homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

Dysarthria is More Than Slurred Speech

I had a stroke in the pons which contains the bridge to the cerebellum which controls coordination.  Poor coordination of my lips, cheeks, and tongue made my speech severely slurred (dysarthria).  The good news is that I never lost the ability to understand what people were saying.  The bad news is that people could not understand me. 

Not being able to control my breathing made speaking difficult.  To speak you have to let your breath out slowly.  At first I would exhale explosively in one big gasp.  I had to take extra breaths to finish even one sentence.            I gradually regained the ability to say more before running out of breath.  It is still tiring to speak in a group because I have to take deep breaths to be heard.  Thankfully people never have trouble understanding me on the telephone.  I speak into an ear bud so I never have to raise my voice which requires more air.

My dysarthria has never fully disappeared.  When I am tired my speech is still somewhat slurred.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com