Say what you want how you want to say it then let any of them ask you what you said...say the same thing again if they don't get it they will stop asking!! Long as you know what they said that's all that mattered anyway!!

Even if you speak slower they may not understand either so Oh well that's life in the fast lane and it happens to me often cause I have a stammering speech now and since birth far as I know!! Just my thoughts!!!!

well.....if you find them looking at you and not answering, that would be a good indication. It's not something one wants to find out, but it may be helpful to realize it incase you wonder why someone didn't do something you thought you had explained to them. Maybe it would be helpful to just ask them to say they aren't following you, and if it's not something important, you could just say, oh never mind, or some such?

When I become excited or animate about something, I don't make sense either. It isn't that I'm speaking gibberish, exactly, but I'm not getting all of the information that is in my head out in my words. So friends and family look at me the same way. They can't follow what I'm saying because there is key information missing. Seems that when I write, I don't have this problem.

We've come to the point where, when this happens, they stop me and start asking questions to help me give them the information that's missing. Sometimes it's a lengthy process, but it seems to work. Eventually, we're all on the same page.

Mike says that he has to think about what he is gonna say before he says it. Sometimes when he talks to me and he doesnt get my attention first I have to ask him to repeat it and that is so frustrating for him. He says it take a lot of intestinal fortitude to talk where as before his stroke he was very well spoken and had no problem saying what he wanted. He also sometimes uses the wrong words and I have to sort through the meaning of the conversation to understand what he means. It is something that we work on by me telling him the wrong word he used and the correct word he should have used. This helps to get his speech back on track. If you dont know that it is broken you cant fix it so tell your family and friends to help you fix it and by bringing it to your attention when you do this. That is if you are comfortable with that. Just a suggestion. I don't think you want to continue to have them look at you that way and it like all things stroke, you have to retrain yourself with it. Hope that helps.

Susan: I agree with everyone. You can't work on what you don't know about. And you need to be able to depend on loved ones to tell you. It is not "protection" it is what you need to know to further recovery.

You must make people understand that you know they love and support you, but ignoring your deficits is not productive. They do not have to treat you with kid gloves, just say "Susan, back up a bit honey." You'll get it. Debbie

Thank you all so much for your responses. Being in denial about this isn't doing anything about it. It's time.

Susan