One of the most long lasting consequences of my stroke is inability to touch type. The right hand is still not very coordinated, so I often can't figure out how to get to characters off the home keys. (That apostrophe in the last sentence was a struggle!) I am trying to get that coordination back by touch typing again. Like all such rehab, it is slow and frustrating. I am going to try and resume touch typing when I blog (or bog, as the case may be).
My neurologist told me that I was fortunate to be left-handed because in lefties, speech is often in the right hemisphere, and my left hemisphere stroke pretty well left my language capacity alone! Left hemisphere strokes cause right side paralysis, which is what I experienced!
I found this book to be informative:
ReplyDelete"The Left-Hander Syndrome"
He has an interesting theory on the cause of most left-handers, which explains why it doesn't seem to be directly inheritable. (I think studies show that only 1% of lefties are genetically attributed.) (My copy hasn't been returned, yet.)
Try using the Dvorak keyboard layout instead of QWERTY. The learning curve may not be worth it. But your fingers stay on the home row much more and so move less. All vowels and 5 most common consonants are on the home row. Also the 't' and 's' keys are placed so you can 'drum' your fingers from them to the 'h'. And the most common punctuation marks are hit with your left hand.
ReplyDeleteGlad you retained your language skills!
All the best,
Shimon