speaking clock problem

[bivvyman]

My Mother who is 83 has Alzheimers and rings the speaking clock up to 15 times a day & the daily rate is increasing over the last few months , the current cost is £80 per month ! She remembers when the service was free & swears blind she doesnt use it , and blames the carers !! Bless her

We have tried large office type clocks, but this hasnt worked

I have POA and spoken with BT who say they can do nothing as the only way to prevent dialling 123 is to block all outgoing calls and this is not an an option .

Has anybody else had this problem and even better a possible solution, maybe some additional equipment . As you can see we can easily afford to buy a solution should one exist

Regards

 

[Áine]

um ........ are all phone companies the same? could another company offer a different service?

if mum wants to be told the time rather than reading off a clock, I wonder if you might be able to get a clock designed for sight impaired people.

had similar but different experience with dad. he couldn't press the right speed dial buttons for the various people in his world, despite my big labels etc etc ...... so would regularly phone the neighbour when he wanted me ...... and then get cross with the neighbour that she'd picked her phone up just at the moment he was wanting to speak to me! he'd also call and leave his shopping list on my cousin's answerphone 70 miles away ......... that startled her at first, but we kind of got used to it. his worst one was when i went abroad to some remote place, clutching my mobile phone and quite anxious about being there as I'd gone alone. I'd got myself topped up with credit and checked phone worked abroad etc before i went and felt safe that I could at least stay in touch with people. left the phone in my room on the first night whilst i went to eat ........... when i got back dad had called me ............. and just hung on waiting for me to answer. between his call (with my having to pay for receiving it) and my call to voicemail to get the 10 minute message of him breathing heavily waiting for me to answer ........... we'd drained all but one texts worth of credit. i texted a friend to go visit him and read him the riot act ........ he denied ever having phoned me.

 

[bivvyman]

Mother isnt sight impaired , she has just got into the habit of listning to the speaking clock , I dont know if switching to another phone supplier would overcome this problem

Regards

 

[Amy]

Hiya Bivvyman, I suspect this is going to be a tough one to solve, because mum is going back to old habits, and she is not going to be receptive to new ideas. I know my son had a clock from Argos where you hit the top, and it told you the time, I would be surprised though if your mum caught on. Do you have clocks near the telephones? Sorry can't be of much help.
Best wishes, Helen.

 

[xtina]

Hi there, my mum also has a massive monthly phone bill from the speaking clock and she also seems to do most of her calls "operater connected"

 

[Amy]

Hiya Xtina, welcome to TP; can be of no use to you either, as it wasn't a problem that we had, but I'm sure someone will come up with some suggestions.
Helen

 

[xtina]

Amy thanx for your reply. I've only just found this site and from some of the things i've been reading i hope to find some comfort at times when i am feeling low, like now. Its to late now for me to start on about things now as i have work in the a.m. Iwill definately be back soon as i have so much to find out and need a bit of support as i don't get much from my husband.

 

[mel]

Hi xtina
You will certainly get loads of support on this site....
When you feel the need just unload and you'll get lots of hugs and advice
Take care
Wendy
x

 

[Amy]

Hiya Xtina,
I echo what Mel says. There is a wealth of information on this forum, and people are always readyto share and ready to listen.
But I note that you say thay you are feeling low now, so I'm sending you a hug. I also note that you don't feel you get much support from your husband on this one; I think it can be very difficult - I think that there are times when my husband feels neglected because of the time I give my parents. There's always someone around on here who will have a chat.
Take care. Best wishes, Helen

 

[Helena]

Maybe your husband is fully justified in feeling he does not get enough of your time

After all many people with parents in their 80s with Alzheimers will be around 60 given the average lifespan of men many feel they may not have many years left to enjoy

What we need is a much better organised and funded care system for Alzheimers and other long term illhealth situations

 

[Amy]

Hiya Helena,
My mum is only in her early 70's and showed early signs of dementia about 15 years ago. I am 45. My mum is now in a Nursing Home, so it is not that I have to visit to do the practical caring, but that I want to be with her, because no funded care can love her as I do. My father is adapting to life alone, and needs support.
Funded care would not make me any more emotionally available - for me it is just a consequence of loving, and of being part of a family.
Helen

 

[Sandy]

Hi bivvyman,

Welcome to TP.

The best way to try and tackle these types of problems is to try and work out what needs your mum's behaviour is indicating. There is probably the need to want to know the time - in an orienting to the environment kind of way. It is also possible that she doesn't have the ability to understand the information on either an analog or digital clock.

The other possibility is that the familiar sound of the voice of the talking clock is a reassuring prescence when she is alone. Have you noticed any patterns to the calls regarding time of day and whether or not she is alone at the time?

It is possible that on of the speaking clocks used by people with visual impairments might be helpful. The RNIB shop stocks a few:

http://onlineshop.rnib.org.uk/browse.asp?n=11&c=5&sc=14&it=1&l=3

There is one of the more pricey models that has an English female voice speaking the time. There's a cheap and cheerful version with a synthetic voice but it has a very obvious green button to push for the time. Getting one with a reassuring voice that is super easy to use will be key.

As others have said, it can be very, very difficult for people with AD to learn new routines.

Take care,

Sandy

 

[bivvyman]

Hi Sandy

Thanks for your contribution . I done some work on the timings of the calls and they tend to be very early 4am 5am 6am , there seems to be a correlation to when she is going out that day, she goes to 2 day care centres . I'll buy a speaking clock and hope she uses it .

Best regards

 

[bivvyman]

Success

After complaining to BT about Call Barring , it turns out I had received the incorrect information .

With Call Barring I can block calls made via the operator , this will also block call to the speaking clock -

 

[bivvyman]

RNIB Talking Clock

Just purchased

http://onlineshop.rnib.org.uk/display_item.asp?n=11&c=5&sc=14&id=2345&it=1&l=3&d=0

Looks excellent & im sure it will help and would recommend to others