When you think about the consequences of a stroke, you perhaps think about physical limitations, maybe problems with speech – but one in five people are left with visual impairment: partial or total loss of vision to one side, known as hemianopia, which can severely affect their quality of life, making it difficult to read or to pick out particular objects in a crowded environment. (Via IndependentLiving.co.uk).
There are now two new web resources which can help stroke survivors improve their visual skills. Developed by UCL (University College London) and funded by the Stroke Association, Read-Right and Eye-Search are the first such rehabilitation tools in the UK. Read-Right helps to improve reading by encouraging users to read text as it scrolls across a screen. It is thought that this retrains the brain to perform more efficient scanning eye movements which can then be transferred to the reading of normal, static text. Eye-Search involves a series of online games that retrain eye movements, making it easier to find objects, such as a mobile phone on a crowded table.

Stroke survivors with visual problems can find out more here: Read-Right and Eye-Search.