feeling a little bit lost

LJ123

New member
Nov 18, 2019
1
0
Hi i having been caring for my mum for about two years now. i have been given lots of advice BUT so much to take in .
Mum has trouble getting her words out sometimes,and it has been suggestive memory cards of pictures that she can pick up and this is what she wants to talk about. does anybody no a good webb site i can buy from.?
I have seen the memorabilia pack about toys she would played with when she was younger(mum was born 1933) i am thinking of buying these for her so we can talk about something.
 

DesperateofDevon

Registered User
Jul 7, 2019
3,274
0
Conversation is better after rest for Mum, but not getting upset at not finding the right words helps her - we laugh a lot & I joke - guessing subject matter etc. onlyworks when in a good mood! So not that often
Xx
 

Kingsbridge

Registered User
Dec 8, 2019
49
0
My mums speech has been effected by advanced dementia it's very difficult to understand what she wants to say and screams when I don't get it
 

DesperateofDevon

Registered User
Jul 7, 2019
3,274
0
I take cues from Dad as his speech is minimal now. Mum I can usually guess mostly, the frustration & distress is horrid.

you could write out the alphabet so your Mum can point at the letters
Don’t know if this will be of help
X
 

DesperateofDevon

Registered User
Jul 7, 2019
3,274
0
I’m sorry that you are going through this horrid disease! Let us know how you get on
Music is a good therapy
Also making picture books alphabetically
You can get rounded scissors that are suitable for preschoolers & not sharp enough to cut up anything but paper
X
 

Lawson58

Registered User
Aug 1, 2014
4,333
0
Victoria, Australia
You can also make your own picture cards using pics out of magazines or from catalogues in junk mail. The latter are usually quite simple pictures and would be quite suitable.
 

Vitesse

Registered User
Oct 26, 2016
261
0
Hi i having been caring for my mum for about two years now. i have been given lots of advice BUT so much to take in .
Mum has trouble getting her words out sometimes,and it has been suggestive memory cards of pictures that she can pick up and this is what she wants to talk about. does anybody no a good webb site i can buy from.?
I have seen the memorabilia pack about toys she would played with when she was younger(mum was born 1933) i am thinking of buying these for her so we can talk about something.
I tried memory cards, books etc, but found that my husbands attention span is so limited that he looked at them once or twice, but they now sit on the side. I have the same trouble as some of the others who have posted in that I am now failing to understand what he’s trying to tell me, and he gets frustrated and angry. He thinks he’s making perfect sense! The other day we sat down talking about holidays we’d had on the past, and I just wrote down the names of places he’d know, and we ended up having quite a good communication. Then we got the map out and found the places I had written down. I kept it to about 6 places and it seemed to work. I will be trying something like that again. Music doesn’t work for us, because his hearing is pretty bad.
Try the homemade options before spending a lot on other things. Also, our library has memory aids for dementia that you can borrow. Perhaps you could try that.
 

silver'lantern

Registered User
Apr 23, 2019
208
0
I guess it depends what stage the PwD is at, and if you want them as an activity to encourage a conversation on a certain subject or you are thinking to help with general conversation.
As an activity a themed set might work to encourage speech or prompting a conversation, or just for a connection with people. But as a conversation aid, my PwD was not interested. He said it was a childs toy for a start and also it took longer to look through the pictures to find a word he was looking for. We use verbal prompt as he is still able to have conversation, but cant find some words. He can describe things around it if we don't get it from the general theme of the conversation. I am not sure you need to be spending lot on ready made 'aids'. As an activity think about how often it would actually be used. You could, if you need aids, maybe use their own photos. From my experience my PwD doesn't like reminiscing activity as he says it reminds him what he has forgotten. To be fair he doesn't like any planned activity. So from that I would say everyone is different with dementia being the link. So maybe try making something first before you start spending money on 'aids'. Is there a library/group local to you that maybe has some ideas you can lend to try? In my opinion sometimes the 'aids' have been over thought and not really useful. Usually bought by family and friends trying to help. In practice they might not be a lot of use.
 

DesperateofDevon

Registered User
Jul 7, 2019
3,274
0
I guess it depends what stage the PwD is at, and if you want them as an activity to encourage a conversation on a certain subject or you are thinking to help with general conversation.
As an activity a themed set might work to encourage speech or prompting a conversation, or just for a connection with people. But as a conversation aid, my PwD was not interested. He said it was a childs toy for a start and also it took longer to look through the pictures to find a word he was looking for. We use verbal prompt as he is still able to have conversation, but cant find some words. He can describe things around it if we don't get it from the general theme of the conversation. I am not sure you need to be spending lot on ready made 'aids'. As an activity think about how often it would actually be used. You could, if you need aids, maybe use their own photos. From my experience my PwD doesn't like reminiscing activity as he says it reminds him what he has forgotten. To be fair he doesn't like any planned activity. So from that I would say everyone is different with dementia being the link. So maybe try making something first before you start spending money on 'aids'. Is there a library/group local to you that maybe has some ideas you can lend to try? In my opinion sometimes the 'aids' have been over thought and not really useful. Usually bought by family and friends trying to help. In practice they might not be a lot of use.
hateful disease
Sending love & hugs to you all
Xx