Some people have a loss of the field of vision on the same side as the
paralysis. This is rather like wearing goggles with masking tape over either
the right or left side of each lens. These people will tend to bump into
furniture and be unable to find objects which are on the affected side. it is
possible to overcome this problem by deliberately turning the head to the
affected side and by scanning with the yes.
Some people have a partial or complete loss of feeling over the
paralysed side which is sometimes accompanied by a lack of awareness of
the position of the arm and leg. This can be dangerous: a leg with no feeling
can be bruised by knocking furniture or trapped by a projecting chair leg to
cause a fall. A hand may slide off the arm of a wheelchair onto the wheel, or
be burned by touching a hot stove. It is possible to learn to compensate with
the eyes for the loss of sensation and in time feeling may recover.
Meanwhile, make sure that the arm is supported by a chair arm or thigh
when sitting, and that the hand is supported so that the wrist cannot drop.
A more serious problem is unilateral neglect (which is a perceptual
rather than a visual or sensory problem). This involves ignoring the affected
side, writing across only half of a sheet of paper, eating food from one side
of a plate and even not recognising the affected arm and leg as part of the
body. It may mean ignoring everything that happens on the affected side so
that it is necessary to go round to the good side to get a response. Initially it
is best to position the person in bed or in a chair where stimulus will mainly
come from the good side, otherwise they may be almost totally isolated, but
increasingly introduce more stimulus from the affected side.
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