Status
Not open for further replies.

TGB1

Distinguished member
Joined
Mar 23, 2013
Messages
197
Reason
Lost a loved one
Diagnosis
12/2012
Country
US
State
PA
City
Pittsburgh
Hi all,

I just wanted to say that we had a lovely (finally) spring day today and I got my mom outside. Granted, we had to get a blood test done, but she hasn't been out lately just cause its been so cold. She is 86 and was recently diagnosed with bulbar onset. She has a peg tube and has to write everything down now. She is thankfully still strong enough to use a walker, or walk with my support. She gets very embarassed for people to hear her try to speak, and I try to tell her that she doesn't have to try to talk to me, just be with me.
Anyway, I know that she may not remain strong for much longer, and it definitely did tire her out, but I could tell that she was enjoying being out in the world today. Thanks for listening. :)
 
TGB1, Glad you had a nice day together… It always feels good to get outside in the sun for a few minutes.

Have you considered getting her a tablet or cell phone that she could type on for her messages? There is a way you can use a cell phone without any service - just take out the sim card and use the text to voice option. Look around on the site, I believe someone has explained how to do it.
 
Oh Helen I wish she could text or use an ipad. Unfortunately she has just never picked up on technology. We tried a cell phone a while ago with disastrously hilarious results. Her mind is just a bit too jumbled for that now. Tablet writing is crude but it does work. I try not to think about what will happen when she is no longer able to write. One day at a time.
 
has she ever used a typewriter? Or dialed the phone? I agree it may be a little different from that but if she looks at it as just a message writing machine maybe he could get over her anxiety about it. I know it's hard especially with the cognitive challenges. Some time ago I downloaded a booklet that was on this forum to help patients lost their speech. I'll try to find it and try to e-mail it to you through private message or post it here.

Does she like to read? I found an app for my kindle fire that was designed for children it was mostly pictographs to express what they want to say… I don't have the name of it, but will check into it if you're interested. And she could use the Kindle fire to read books from the library as well.

My mom is 86 years old now and a few years ago I gave her my son's older Game Boy with some card games and some memory trainer games on it. Hated the memory game, loved the Game Boy and the card games! It took my stepdad about six months before he picked it up but then they ended up battling each other trying to use it… So I would recommend ( and you and your mom best) that you just give her something like a Kindle, put a couple of apps on it, put a couple of books on it, and leave it on the kitchen table for your mom. hopefully at some point she'll surprise you!
 

Attachments

  • speakbook3rdedition.pdf
    1 MB · Views: 443
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top