hi anne,
sorry but you are going to be the subject of my first post!
i had a massive right side stroke in april 2011, my souvenir is a left arm and hand that is now largelyused for symetrical purposes, it does nothing, fortunately i am up and walking so i understand entirely the desire, no not desire, absolute need to tie your laces, it is totally unacceptable for a bit of string to ruin your day, apologies in advance as this will be a complicated explanation, but i hope not beyond you, like so many things once you know it is so easyo do, it took me a month of trial and error a few naughty words and perhaps some tears too, but here goes, this is what i do, not pretty but having just walked 70miles in spain on the camino de santiago de compostela it works! this is how i tie my right shoe with my right hand, once you get the idea doing the left shoe is just about identical,

first, choose shoes with long laces, for reasons i dont understand tying with anything other than round laces is harder, so try round ones until the dinner invites roll in to show off your new party trick,

put right shoe on! leave laces loose at the moment, dont panic...trust me i have had a brain injury


take hold of both laces and pull tight
next take the lace that comes out of the bottom left 'eyehole' of the shoe and pull it tight and trap it under the sole of your right foot this will keep it taught
next take the lace doing nothing on the right hand side of your shoe and without releasing the tension on the trapped lace pass itbehind and under
the taught (trapped lace) when that is done pull the right lace the one you have just passed behind thetrapped lace pull it tight this will form a simple, well it is not a knot, but you will recognise it... all the time keep the trapped lace trapped,
, next step is to take the loose end of the lace on the right side and form a very crude bow, now thread/pass this behind the taught trapped lace, having just tried this again i see i hold the crude bow in place with the fourth finger of my right hand this leaves my thumb and index finger free to pass the crude bow behind the trapped lace, hope you are still with me as the next thing is to squeeze the crude bow down the side of your fourth finger which will have a piece of lace running over it, now is the time for giggles because you have either just created your first one handed bow or the shoe is going out the window,


hope this helps, if nothing else it should get you unblocked and see a way how to do this yourself, once you have one bow yiu can reate a double and more secure knot by repeating the basic process, lots of laces hanging about? just tuck them away , dont break your neck now

good luck and very best regards,
andrew


I have found some great ideas/suggestions on the "RSD lifesavers" thread. Now I am asking for some more ideas. My RSD is left hand/arm and have issues of right hand from overuse for the last 1 1/2 years. I have adapted many ways to get things done....but does anyone have any helpful ways of getting things done 1 handed? Last month my OT gave me rocker knife and I was so happy to be able to cut some of my own food. It was a small thing for him, but BIG for me. i haven't figured out how to tie shoes one handed..and the list goes on and on.[/QUOTE]