Activities that bring enjoyment and pleasure to the person with dementia

Depth Perception and dementia

Many people with Alzheimer’s dementia are unsteady on their feet. Issues with Depth Perception is a common problem. Traveling by Walker or Rollator while they walk gives them a sense of security when they’re otherwise unsteady on their feet.

The stress of walking through a park or shopping center for only a short while, often leaves someone with Alzheimer’s fatigued because their thoughts are compounded with other issues. Often, Alzheimer’s is also accompanied by Parkinson disease which leaves the patient unsteady on their feet.

Those with Alzheimer’s and Dementia can suffer from depth perception as well, which leaves them fearful of walking. They become unsteady on their feet and walk with a shuffling gate, pushing their feet forward rather than picking them up. Because Mom had issues with depth perception, she would hold my arm in a vise-like grip whenever we went for walks. She needed the comfort and security of a walker even though she had no disability and was perfectly capable of walking.

My Mom also suffered debilitating bouts of vertigo. This made it even more important that she have something to help balance herself, especially in case of a fall. At first, Mom absolutely refused to use a walker. She thought it tagged her as disabled and she would never admit to any sort of disability.

Even when we could coax Mom to use the walker, she would forget she had dizzy spells unless she was in the grip of one. Later in her illness when she lived at the Group Home, most of her friends used walkers or rollators. They preferred the steady reassurance and Mom finally consented to a rolling walker of her own. It was a relief to me because the alternative seemed a serious fall and possible broken bones.

Most of the ladies preferred the Rollator or Rolling Walker with a seat and basket. The ladies carried purses, toys and assorted toiletries in the basket while the staff created brightly colored name tags for each one.

It was common to find these ladies in the Group Home, assisted by the sweet nursing staff, decorating their walkers with ribbons and bows and flowers to coordinate with the current holiday. Despite their memory issues, there was never confusion about which walker belonged to whom, nor the season of the year as their rolling walkers shouted a brightly painted name tag and Bow for every holiday.

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A few Mobility Aids

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Mom and Me and Solitaire – How Long is Short Term Memory anyway

05/233 Comments

How Long is Short Term Memory

While my Mom still lived in her own home, except for weekends spent with us, I had a plan.

I knew Mom had short term memory issues but had no idea of the limits or how long short-term memory lasts. Just how far back did her memory go?

She knew who I was. She knew my brothers. Sure, occasionally she forget where she’d been the day before, but her memory wasn’t that bad. Not yet, I thought. She could still live alone as long as I checked on her every day.

Mom never wanted to see a nursing home, she’d said, and I would never have the heart to force her. Secretly, I was hoping she’d never get that bad. For now we were handling issues as they arose. And this weekend with us would actually be an experiment. We had added a few days and extended Mom’s weekend “sleep-over” to a 2 week stint. We were trying to prepare her gently for the day she would come to live with us permanently.

Hubby and my Mom always got along, no friction there. He is a Texas boy and loved nothing better than a vegetable garden. Mom was an Oklahoma girl and thought growing tomatoes was about as happy as one could get.

So I began to plan for the day when Mom moved in with all her belongings. Mom loved Solitaire and I had a home-based business which consisted of many hours of computer-time. Generally, Hubby and I sat side by side on networked computers, which I thought would suit my plan for Mom and me just fine.

When Mom arrived for her extended weekend visit, I decided to give my plan for her future “memory-care” a test drive.

I sat in front of my wide-screen Dell, while Mom grinned in front of the older, smaller HP like she was ready to test drive a new Cadillac. It was her first time on a computer and she was excited.

Mom would never be computer literate, I knew that. But she was smart, a quick learner and she’d retired from an electronics firm 15 years earlier. How hard could it be to teach her to point and click?

Mom loved card games. Evenings as a child found Mom’s family gathered around the wood table grandpa built for long games of Canasta, Gin Rummy or Pitch. When I was a child I begged her to teach me how to play that game with cards laid down in rows of seven.

Mom played Solitaire. She loved Solitaire and knew 15 ways to play it. Now, she was about to learn Computer Solitaire. Old memories die hard, I was hoping proved true in this case.

Mom smiled at me, then turned to face the screen in front of her, colorful cards blinking. Her eyes were as bright and blue as they’d ever been and I could see the excitement as she waited for intstructions. No sign of aging or the weakness that affected her brain. Her hair was still blond (though she’d long forgotten that it had always come from a bottle) and a fresh perm curled it gently around her face.

I watched her mouth drop open first, then her eyes widened before she exclaimed, “That’s Solitaire!” with a gentle finger touching the screen. “Oh my goodness, maybe I like computers after all,” she was giggling.

I was thrilled. My plan was going to work. I knew it would. She could play solitaire — and I could do my work, side by side, without incident. No Nursing Home for MY Mother! Her short-term memory was still intact. She recognized the faces, the cards, the game–even while framed on a foreign screen.

I placed her hand over the mouse, did a quick rundown of instructions and let her try it on her own. She used the drag and drop perfectly, picked it up like a pro. I was so thrilled I could squeal, while Mom and I were both giggling. I had tried previously to measure her short-term memory loss, but was never certain how long it lasted. Previously, she’d forgotten my words in mere seconds. But this seemed different somehow. “You should have told me computers were this much fun. I would have bought one a long time ago.” Mom said through pleasant laughter.

That had created a slight bolt of contention between us at one time. I had begged Mom to buy a computer for years, to stay in touch with her grandchildren and relatives back east, to play card games when she was bored, and to join message boards for the elderly or retired which I knew she would love. Especially now, post Alzheimer’s, I thought the computer idea might have helped retain more of her short term memory, the first thing to go when it comes to Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Mom had always been the friendly, greeter-type person. She’d never leave anyone in the corner alone but urge them into the fray. A people person, for sure! I laughed. It was joyful to see her having so much fun. She’d been more than a little depressed lately at her lapses of memory.

“I told you,” I said. “I knew you’d enjoy the Solitaire game for sure.”

Mom was loving this, without looking away once, she had moved many of the cards around the screen and almost beat computer Solitaire! We were both laughing at her new found dexterity with a computer mouse! Plus, I had been right all along. We could spend many happy hours after she came to live with me sitting side by side at the computers.

I thought of all the places and things I could show her on the computer, and could only imagine all the hours she would spend exploring an entirely new world for her. I was so glad I had planned ahead, thought of ways we could both occupy our time when she came to live with us permanently.

Mom stopped for a moment and turned her chair to face me. “What are you doing?” she wanted to know.

I explained about my job and the work I processed on the screen. She scooted closer and listened intently, nodding and bobbing her blond curls. I was beside myself with pleasure. Mom had never taken much interest in my home-based business, so my plan was already bringing additional benefits I hadn’t foreseen. She was really interested in what I was doing…

Then, suddenly Mom squealed loudly! and I jumped out of my congratulatory reverie about my super-duper plan. “What?” I turned to her, puzzled.

Mom was bouncing up and down in her chair like a five year old child, pointing at the computer screen, she could hardly speak. Her face filled with the glee and delight of a little child and a new toy. “Look at this…look at this…” She was pointing at the screen, shaking my arm, and breathless she exclaimed, “Just lookie here –I have solitaire on my screen! How did that get there? Can you teach me how to play it?”

My jaw dropped as I suddenly realized …………….I needed a new plan.

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Playing Cards make a great activity for the Alzheimer’s Patient. Though they are no longer able to remember “rules of play” for card games, they often remember how to count and like the pleasure of shuffling and sorting and stacking cards in numerical order.

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One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers for Brain Exercise

05/13Leave a Comment

BRAIN TEASERS

These Brain Teasers are good exercise for the BRAIN

If your loved one with Alzheimer’s dementia is unable to do them with you, I bet they will enjoy watching everyone else play the games.

My Mom use to love it when my son and husband played cards. She didn’t remember how to play but she would pull her chair right up beside them and giggle the whole time they played. She loved hearing and watching them, and becoming part of the play!

It has become common knowledge that Exercising our brain with word games, card games, computer use, and fun family activities such as the Nintendo Wii or Lumosity can actually delay any symptoms of dementia and keep our brains working better–longer. A busy active brain may be a healthier brain!

Some of the Mysteries and Brain Teasers in a few of these books will be more intense than a person with Alzheimer’s would be able to do. They shouldn’t be encouraged to do anything that takes them to the brink of frustration.

They can become easily frustrated if offered activities that they are unable to complete such as pushing buttons on a telephone. If doing a beading project, limit the number of beads available. If they are doing a painting project, limit the variety of paints so that their choices are smaller. Fewer choices, mean less frustration for the person with Alzheimer’s.

If they can’t play the game you want to play, offer them a coloring book or 35 piece Jigsaw puzzle. And be as interested in their game as you are your own. Everyone will have fun and learn something too. Don’t forget Ladies love baby dolls at every age. And grown Men love puppy dogs too.