The Question:
I had a stroke 5 years ago, in my 30s. I lost 80% of my left hemisphere and had to learn to walk and talk again. I’m so lucky that I have regained my mobility and speech – I know others who have only lost a tiny part of their brain, but due to where the stroke was, have lost speech.
My difficulty is that I can’t read or write. This makes daily life such a challenge – looking at timetables for buses, planning, meeting people, and I can no longer work.
My relationship broke down and I’d like to meet someone else but it’s so hard using dating apps when I can’t read and write. There’s no flow and everything takes ages to copy and paste for my phone to read it to me, so I think people will lose interest. Any ideas?
Jayden
The answer:
Hi,
Well done on your recovery for a start!
Are you using the accessibility features on your smartphone? iPhone has a built-in screen reader called VoiceOver, and the Android equivalent is called TalkBack. These will speak back to you what is on the screen and give auditory descriptions of screen elements, notifications and alerts. However, they definitely take a while to get used to navigating it. As your sight isn’t affected, a YouTube video tutorial might be beneficial!!
Another option is to use dating apps that allow you to send voice notes and videos – such as Hinge. This means you can be more free-flowing and show your personality as you are, rather than taking ages to send messages back and forth.
The other way is to go old school and meet people in person! Get involved in activities, etc, that you enjoy and meet people that way. They’ll have a common interest and see all elements of you, not the restricted version, battling with text messages!
Best,
Zoe
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