Improvement continues for years following a stroke or other brain injury. As survivors learn new skills and ways to do things, families must also adapt, letting go and learning to do less for the individual.

Work together toward increased independence. To start, list the four most stressful situations in which the survivor requires assistance. Discuss what parts of that task he or she could accomplish alone.

Then consider different ways of handling the task:

~ allow more time

~ reschedule for when survivor is rested

~ set up all necessary materials

~ use written aids - instructions, photos, pictures

Go for growth! You have little to lose, except stress, and much to gain.

Vidatak EZ communication boards "talk" for those who can't

Vidatak EZ Communication Boards

English-only & dual-language versions

If you or a loved one are unable to talk, you know what a struggle it can be to make yourself understood.

Lots of things can interfere with communication, including:

	a tube inserted in the throat to clear the passageways,
	illness that weakens the muscles of the voice or hand,
	stroke and trauma,
	various neurodegenerative diseases.

But now there is a versatile and inexpensive communication device that empowers its user to communicate a variety of emotions and needs with just the touch of a finger - the VidaTak communication board. Or, more precisely, the VidaTak communication boards.

The research-based, 11" x 17" dry erase VidaTak EZ board comes preprinted with symbols and icons. Just point to the symbol for hunger, thirst, anger, or pain, or to the picture of the human body to indicate a trouble spot. Or point to a simple "thank you" to express gratitude to family, friends, caregivers.

Designed by individuals who had lost the ability to speak, the VidaTak EZ board is newly modified based upon clinical research findings. And for the first time it comes in a multitude of dual-language versions.

Hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and India - including more than 1000 in the U.S. alone - rely upon the EZ board to reduce patient frustration and help regulate pain and anxiety medications, thus increasing patients' overall satisfaction with healthcare.

And now there is a new type of VidaTak board, this one reliant upon images alone for expressive communication.

Hospice & Palliative Nurses Association approval for VidaTak boards The VidaTak EZ Picture Communication Board, developed through a multi-year collaboration with researchers at Children's Hospital of Boston, has proven 95%+ reliable in using picture cues alone to convey messages/needs!

We are proud to offer you the research-based VidaTak boards, endorsed by the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. Together and individually, they give "voice" to folks at home, in rehabs and assisted-living communities - wherever people need to communicate without speaking.

Vidatak Picture Communication Board