Comparing Different Rehabilitation Exercise Strategies for Improving Arm Recovery After Stroke

Eligibility Criteria

• 1. 18 to 84 years of age
• 2. Experienced a single stroke or multiple strokes \>3 days and \< 4 weeks prior to study enrollment, and currently admitted or accepted into Acute Rehabilitation program for stroke.
• 3. UE Fugl-Meyer Motor Score \<42/66
• 4. Absence of moderate to severe shoulder pain while using the movable wheelchair arm rest device (\<6 on the 10-point visual analog pain scale)
• 5. Absence of severe tone at the affected UE (score \<4 on the Modified Ashworth Spasticity Scale)
• 6. Deem to be an appropriate candidate for manual wheelchair by ARU clinicians. A patient who has been able to transfer into a wheelchair while at ARU (with or without assistance) and has tolerated sitting in the wheelchair for at least 30 minutes.
• 1. Subarachnoid hemorrhage
• 2. Presence of other neurological or psychological disorders affecting motor functions
• 3. Moderate to severe pain in the stroke-affected upper extremity (score \> 6 on 10-point visual analog pain scale), while using the movable wheelchair arm rest device
• 4. Severe tone at the affected upper extremity (score \> 4 on the Modified Ashworth Spasticity scale)
• 5. Severe aphasia (score of 2 or higher on the NIH stroke scale - question 9). PI may dismiss this criterion if the participant is deemed able to follow all study instructions.
• 6. Deficits in vision, language, attention, neglect, or other cognitive functions severe enough to interfere with safe operation of wheelchair or the movable wheelchair arm rest device.
• 7. Currently pregnant
• 8. Difficulty in understanding or complying with instructions given by the experimenter.
• 9. Inability to perform the experimental task that will be studied.
• 10. Not part of another upper extremity motor-related interventional study